ARMORED CAR ROBBERY (director/writer: Richard Fleischer; screenwriter: from a story by Robert Angus & Robert Leeds/Gerald Drayson Adams/Earl Felton; cinematographer: Guy Roe; editor: Desmond Marquette; cast: Charles McGraw (Lt. Jim Codell), Adele Jergens (Yvonne), William Talman (Dave Purvis), Douglas Fowley (Benny), Steve Brodie (Al Mapes), Don McGuire (Ryan), Don Haggerty (Cuyler), James Flavin (Phillips), Gene Evans (Ace Foster); Runtime: 68; RKO; 1950)
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
An exciting film noir robbery escapade set in LA, one that set the standard for such films. The film focuses on William Talman as the vicious leader of the hoods, Dave Purvis, and the hard-nosed Charles McGraw is Lt. Jim Codell, the detective trying to nail the cop killer and robber.
Purvis is a very careful man, with no police record, someone who moves frequently, changes his name often, requires his pals to memorize his phone number and not write anything down, as his aim is to leave no loose ends.
His pal Benny McBride (Fowley) is a burlesque promoter married to a star burlesque queen Yvonne (Jergens). He's financially on the ropes and troubled that he loves her so much and is scared of losing her as she threatens to leave him for the feller she's having a secret affair with unless he comes up with some big dough. He sees a way to get that money through Purvis and sets him up with two low-level hoods, Al Mapes (Brodie) and Ace Foster (Evans), as Purvis tells them of his plans to heist an armored car that will make its last stop in front of LA's Wrigley Field.
The robbery doesn't go off as planned, as a patrol car cruising that area responds and Purvis kills Codell's longtime partner, Lt. Phillips, while Codell seriously wounds Benny. Codell is assigned a rookie cop, Danny Ryan (McGuire), as a replacement, as Codell remains relentless in his pursuit of the gang.
The gang switches cars and changes into oil-field worker uniforms in Long Beach, CA, as they try to avoid a roadblock while heading to their waterfront hideout. When Purvis kills Benny because he insists on getting a doctor, Ace ditches the car with his body in it by the pier but is spotted by a patrol car. When the three try to escape by motorboat, Ace gets killed, Mapes escapes on the boat, while Purvis has all the money and escapes by foot to contact Yvonne. He's been having a secret affair with her and the two plan to skip town together in two weeks when her stripper contract is up.
The police close in on them when they put a tail on Yvonne and arrest Mapes who shows up to collect the money from Purvis. They find the motel Purvis is staying at by searching Benny's room and finding the phone number on a matchbook, but they just miss Purvis.
Warning: spoiler to follow in the paragraph.
Cordell then has Ryan act as Mapes, as he meets Yvonne to lead him to Purvis. The film reaches a suspenseful climax with the cops tailing the dangerous Purvis. Ryan is shot as Purvis knows he's a cop who is impersonating Mapes, but his plans to fly out of LA by a private plane are thwarted by Cordell who meets him at the airport. While trying to escape, he's run down by an in-coming commercial plane and the suitcase of money scatters all over the runway.
Director Richard Fleischer shot the film in a taut manner, while the photographs of the dark LA locale added grit to the film. He also got fine performances from McGraw as the relentless cop out to get the one who killed his partner, Talman as the menacing mastermind of the gang, and Jergens as the twisted sexpot who knows how to entice men.
REVIEWED ON 9/8/2001 GRADE: B+
Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"
http://www.sover.net/~ozus
ozus@sover.net
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ
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