Armored Car Robbery
| Armored Car Robbery | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Richard Fleischer |
| Produced by | Herman Schlom |
| Written by | Screenplay: Gerald Drayson Adams Earl Felton Story: Robert Leeds Robert Angus |
| Starring | Charles McGraw Adele Jergens William Talman |
| Music by | Roy Webb Paul Sawtell |
| Cinematography | Guy Roe |
| Editing by | Desmond Marquette |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
| Release date(s) | June 8, 1950 (United States) |
| Running time | 67 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Armored Car Robbery is a 1950 American film noir shot in a semi-documentary style, directed by Richard Fleischer, and starring Charles McGraw. The movie was filmed on location in Los Angeles, California.[1]
Armored Car Robbery is one of the first of the heist movies, a sub-genre of the crime film. Fleischer (son of animator Max Fleischer) would go on to direct big-budget films, but he is perhaps best remembered for this and The Narrow Margin (1952), which date from his time working for RKO Radio Pictures. (Fleischer's first movie had been the 1948 comedy So This Is New York, starring Henry Morgan.)
The film tells the story of a well-planned robbery of cash from an armored car when it stops at a sports stadium. Yet, the heist goes awry, a police officer is shot dead, and a tough Los Angeles cop named Cordell (Charles McGraw) sets off in hot pursuit of the culprits.
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[edit] Plot
Mastermind Dave Purvis (William Talman) is a professional criminal who devises a scheme to rob an armored car on its last pickup of the day. He recruits Benny McBride to his gang of thieves.
Benny needs money because Yvonne (Adele Jergens), his striptease artist wife, has lost interest in him and is seeing another man. But the man she is two-timing Benny with turns out to be Purvis.
The robbery itself, at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, begins as planned but then goes badly wrong when a passing police patrol car intervenes. Purvis kills one of the police officers from the patrol car and he and his fellow robbers make their getaway. Lt. Jim Cordell (Charles McGraw), the dead policeman's partner, takes it upon himself to bring in his partner's killer and throws himself into the case, assisted by a rookie offsider.
Meanwhile, Purvis's gang unravels bit by bit as distrust and paranoia begins to build. Benny, wounded by police during the heist, is killed by Purvis as he demands his share of the loot from the robbery and attempts to seek medical help. Gang member Al Mapes (Steve Brodie) gets away and looks up Yvonne at the Burly Q where she works, intending to use her as a means to find Purvis, who has kept all the loot for himself. The waiting police, however, arrest Mapes at the Burly Q and learn Purvis's identity.
After a further manhunt, Lt. Cordell and his team corner Purvis and Yvonne at Los Angeles airport, and Purvis is crushed by a taking-off plane as he tries to escape across the tarmac.
[edit] Cast
- Charles McGraw as Lt. Jim Cordell
- Adele Jergens as Yvonne LeDoux aka Mrs. Benny McBride
- William Talman as Dave Purvis aka Martin Bell
- Douglas Fowley as Benny McBride
- Steve Brodie as Al Mapes
- Don McGuire as Detective Danny Ryan
- Don Haggerty as Detective Driving Final Pursuit Car
- James Flavin as Lt. Phillips
- Gene Evans as William 'Ace' Foster
[edit] Reception
[edit] Critical response
The staff at Variety magazine gave the film a mixed review, calling it an okay film, and wrote, "RKO has concocted an okay cops-and-robbers melodrama ...[and] McGraw, Don McGuire and James Flavin, as cops, do very well. Talman and his cohorts put plenty of color into their heavy assignments. Adele Jergens attracts as a stripteaser and Talman's romantic interest."[2]
Time Out Film Guide review lauded the film and called the it "a model of its time." They wrote, "Almost documentary in its account of the heist that goes wrong and the police procedures that are set in motion, making excellent use of LA locations, it relies on superb high contrast lighting to meld reality into the characteristic noir look."[3]
[edit] Noir analysis
According to American studies and film professor, Bob Porfirio, Armored Car Robbery possesses the "film noir visual style" of the many RKO crime and suspense films of the early 1950s, such as: high-contrast photography integrating studio and location shooting, expressionistic lighting, deep focus, and haunting music (by Roy Webb).[4]
Film critic Roger Fristoe, believes director Richard Fleischer pushed the boundaries of the Motion Picture Production Code. One edict was that "Methods of crime shall not be explicitly presented or detailed in a manner calculated to...inspire imitation." Armored Car Robbery, however, had a blunt title, explicit violence and a detailed account of the planning and execution of the crime. As such, even though the criminals are caught, Armored Car Robbery tested the waters and helped set the stage for other film noirs and heist films like: The Asphalt Jungle (1950) and The Killing (1956) which shares some similarities.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ Armored Car Robbery at the Internet Movie Database.
- ^ Variety, staff film review, January 1, 1950.
- ^ Time Out film guide, review, 2008. Last accessed: January 26, 2008.
- ^ Silver, Alain, and Elizabeth Ward, eds. Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style, film noir analysis by Bob Porfiero, page 13, 3rd edition, 1992. Woodstock, New York: The Overlook Press. ISBN 0-87951-479-5.
- ^ Armored Car Robbery at the TCM Movie Database.
[edit] External links
- Armored Car Robbery at the Internet Movie Database
- Armored Car Robbery at the TCM Movie Database
- Armored Car Robbery film clip at Turner Classic Movies Media Room (Wrigley Field Segment)
