A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square - 1979 heist flick set in the United Kingdom.It is an engaging story of Pinky Jordan as a parole who manages to scam a bank job as an electrician.Things are going well - until he gets cornered by David Niven and his mob- who want to use Pinky's access to the bank and vault to stage a robbery.The movie is hampered by a goofy and at times ridiculous score(think Benny Hill theme meets lounge disco).This Geneon DVD release has no extras and is a decent transfer.The cast also includes Gloria Grahame,Elke Sommer,Jonathan Rhys Davies and featuring Richard Jordan as Pinky Jordan.Decent on location filming and a decent script make this a decent rental for fans of caper flicks. C+
Add a Review
-
DJJOEINC19 May 2007
-
intelearts6 February 2009Just ingenious enough to be plausible and still a lot of fun, this is a pure slice of the 1970s (Even the cops need haircuts badly!). Shot in and around London, the plot of the American ex-con who tries going straight but finds himself sent as an electrician to a bank in Mayfair, and then has the screws put on by crime lord David Niven, and finds himself plotting the crime of the century is well-handled.
I liked its simplicity and even innocence, it harks back to a time when caper films where just that, a caper, and violence wasn't a part of the deal.
All in all you could do a lot worse than watch this: it has enough twists and turns to give it some oomph and a cast that obviously had fun making it.
Nicely made and watchable. -
hitchcockthelegend29 September 2008When Pinky, a qualified electrician, is released from prison, his parole officer has found him a job working at a big city bank. When some of the crime underworld from his past learn of his position they plan to exploit it and rob the bank. Pinky is at first horrified because he really wants to go straight, but when a twist of fate happens Pinky begins to think one shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.
Also known as The Mayfair Bank Caper {amongst others!}, this is a hugely enjoyable piece that is quintessential 1970s. London and all it's highly dubious fashions are lit up like a Christmas tree in Ralph Thomas and Guy Elmes' cunningly crafty caper. If the viewer can accept David Niven as an aged crime lord of some evility {it's not easy i can tell you}, then A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square could well surprise you. The actors aren't pulling up any trees for sure, but it's really not hurting the picture at all, it has an honest fun quality that is never less than entertaining. The score and soundtrack is perhaps guilty of over jollification during the dramatic criminal moments, but it's a minor complaint to leave me thinking this is an under seen British gem.
Richard Jordan takes the lead role of Pinky (obviously hoping to lure in American viewers}, 70s heart throb Oliver Tobias {a mass of hair} is in there to keep the ladies interested, whilst the blokes get the pleasurable sight of Elke Sommer and her delightful legs for company. Moving along at a decent enough clip and containing a seriously rewarding finale, A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square deserves far better than the paltry 5.7 rating here on IMDb, but just how many people have seen it i wonder?, hmm, go on give it a go if you the chance, it's good stuff. 7/10 -
jon-28521 September 2001Really enjoyable film full of some great British character actors.
Excellent use of outdoor scenes, mainly of London, but not the usual recognisable holiday brochure zones.
Not a complicated plot, but who needs them. Just good fun, well executed and fine entertainment.
I've a reasonable copy of the film, lifted off the English television, English Pal, on VHS, and would be happy to let you have a copy if you need one. -
bkoganbing3 June 2011Like Michael Corleone Richard Jordan keeps trying to go straight in A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square and they keep dragging him back in again. But unlike Corleone, Jordan after a while likes the idea of making that easy tax free money. And with his skill he actually does make robbery look easy.
Jordan plays an American expatriate who gets training as an electrician while serving a sentence in Great Britain. His brain dead parole officer gets him assigned to work in a bank on their wiring. Does that ever interest criminal mastermind David Niven who was in prison with Jordan.
He forces Jordan to work with him and after a while not much force is needed. But the inevitable problems do come up and it's what happens to Niven and Jordan and their criminal gang that is the basis for this semi-lighthearted caper film.
Gloria Grahame has one of her last roles as Jordan's mother and the very last performance of Hugh Griffith is in this film. Griffith plays a pawnbroker and Jordan buys a telescope from him. What he does with the telescope I can't reveal, but it does show just how insecure that bank was for all their bragging about their security.
The title of course is based on the famous British pop song of the Thirties which a few American artists like Bing Crosby managed to record as well. The song is heard a few times, but the last bank heisted is in London's Berkeley Square and what do nightingale's do, but sing.
This is a nice caper film, somewhat reminiscent of The Brink's Job with a British touch. -
SimonJack31 January 2018In 1975, eight men pulled off what was then the largest bank robbery in the history of the United Kingdom. The Bank of America heist in Mayfair, London, netted an estimated £8 million in cash, jewelry and valuables. "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" was made just four years later. It is a fictional story based on the heist, with all fictitious characters and names.
The film has a large cast with several prominent actors of the day in cameo roles. David Niven was ill at the time, and the producers hurried to get some of the filming completed. As a result, the film appears choppy in places.
The main details of how the heist was pulled off are accurate, according to police reports and later documentaries. But the background of the main character, Pinky in this film, is doctored considerably. As are the details of how Scotland Yard caught the real inside man, Stuart Buckley, and his naming the other crooks. In reality, only £500,000 of an estimated £8 million was recovered. The heist included cash, jewelry and other valuables.
All of the cast do a fine job. Richard Jordan is the main character as Pinky. He is based on Buckley. The real Buckley had a minor criminal record and had been in prison a couple of times. And, he was an electrician. In the movie he is referred to a general service job that eventually leads to the bank. In reality, Buckley answered an ad by the Bank of America for an electrician and was hired directly by the bank - with no background check at all. Perhaps some of the real details were glossed over or changed in this earliest film of the heist for one or more reasons. The truth may have alerted other criminals to the poor to almost non-existent security at many banks at the time and led to a rash of attempted bank robberies then. Or, it may just have been too embarrassing for the Bank of America at the time, which it should have been.
The way that Buckley made the keys to the vault gates and discovered the double combinations is accurate. He waited all one night, crouched above the ceiling until the bank manager and other person with the combinations came to open the vault in the morning. And, he recorded the combinations as he watched them turn the dials below. But that's where the accuracy in this film ends.
In this film, Scotland Yard nabs Buckley almost by chance. With his record, he was among suspects whose homes the police checked. And they found the papers with the safe combinations written on them in one of Pinky's jackets. I couldn't believe that anyone as clever as Pinky would be quite that dumb as to not having destroyed those papers, or concealed them in some inconspicuous way. Well, the reality proved he wasn't as dumb as made out to be in this film. The police got to Buckley through his connections with the other crooks.
The police recovered cash and jewelry from Pinky's stash, as shown in this film. The movie doesn't show them getting any others, but they did get the shares of two others. When the Scotland Yard detectives confronted the real Buckley with those, he saw that his share was much smaller than the others. And, that's what Scotland Yard used to convince him to spill the beans. He was one of the first criminals in the UK to be granted Supergrass status. He would receive reduced sentence and be given protection while in confinement, then helped to relocate and change his name to avoid likely revengeful killing by any of the rest of the gang.
The character that Niven plays, Ivan, is based on a younger, established criminal, Frank Maple. Buckley had known him before and when they met up again and Buckley told him about his job in a bank and all that he was able to do and seek, Maple took it from there and planned the whole heist. But, unlike the motley bunch shown in this film, he recruited three top people for their special abilities. In time, they added three more men for lookouts and other help.
They pulled off the real robbery by eight men entering the bank right after its closing - with the front door key. They were dressed as businessmen and didn't arouse suspicion. And, one other big variation from the film was the capture of Ivan. The real Frank Maple escaped the U.K. for Spain and Morocco, and has never been found since.
As to the capture of the real Buckley (Pinky in the film), Scotland Yard intelligence had been watching a couple of the real big-time crooks, especially the safecracker. When the heist group began to assemble, they met often in a café. That's where Scotland Yard knew that something was in the works, and who they characters of this group were - including Buckley (Pinky).
So, it turns out that the crooks themselves had been careless and set themselves up for eventual capture. All except Maple were arrested within a couple days. One escaped custody. In the film, it's Pinky, but in reality, it was another crook. Scotland Yard eventually caught him in hiding several days later.
In the movie, Richard Johnson plays Inspect Watford. His character is based on the real Jack Slipper, the chief detective inspector. Scotland Yard tabbed him to head the investigation. He was the best and was known for having pursued Ronnie Biggs after the Great Train Robbery of 1963.
Other big names in this film are Elke Sommer and Gloria Grahame. Among the rest of the huge cast, some prominent actors of the day have cameos. They are Hugh Griffith, John Rhys-Davies, Joss Ackland and Alfred Molina. -
Prismark104 March 2017Upon its release, A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square aimed to be British heist film with a modern sheen (there is a scene in an early branch of McDonalds where the serving staff has an American accent) but it comes across as a passable but humdrum movie with a lot of familiar faces and some light comedy.
A slightly portly Richard Jordan (Pinky) plays a recently released ex-convict, an ace in fixing anything electrical whose parole officer has improbably got him a job in a high security bank.
Pinky working in such a place does not go unnoticed. David Niven (Ivan) is the suave but ruthless criminal mastermind who wants to break into the vaults and persuades him to help his gang.
Pinky resists as he wants to go straight but later wilts. Pinky does not trust Ivan to give him his fair share of the loot so has a back up plan with his best friend Oliver Tobias (Foxy) to help him out.
After the robbery Richard Johnson (Inspector Watford) discovers that Pinky's jacket had the combination numbers for the safe and puts pressure on him to cough up names.
The film has a lot of location shooting of late 1970s London, many of the female stars are there for eye candy such as Elke Sommer. Jordan is a likable lead, Niven is suave but he never convinced me as being menacing and of course you realise he was ill at the time this film was shot as he was suffering from Motor Neuron Disease which progressively got worse. -
lee_eisenberg22 November 2012I knew nothing about "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" when I started watching it. The title made me assume that it was about the hippie movement in the California college (until I saw the cover). It turned out to be pretty interesting, with Richard Jordan playing a man who gets out of jail and hopes to go straight but is recruited by a crime syndicate to abet their planned robbery. The story of an ex-con who has to go back to a life of crime has gotten overused throughout the years, but this is still a pretty fun movie. And not just because of a certain shot of Elke Sommer!
As with just about every heist-themed movie ("Topkapi" was the best ever), the heist itself is the coolest scene. It times everything perfectly, and then has a neat little surprise at the end. I certainly enjoyed it. Also starring are David Niven, Oliver Tobias, Gloria Grahame, Hugh Griffith (in his final role) and early appearances of John Rhys-Davies (Sallah in the Indiana Jones movies and Gimli in the "Lord of the Rings" movies) and Alfred Molina (the mayor in "Chocolat" and Doc Ock in "Spider-Man 2").
Cowboy indeed! (but what guy wouldn't be in Elke Sommer's presence?) -
HotToastyRag5 December 2023When Richard Johnson gets released from jail, he vows to go straight. However, he's in a Hollywood movie and therefore will get sucked back into a life of crime. He gets a regular job as a maintenance man in a bank, and he thinks everything's turning around for him. The ladies love him and he's keeping his nose clean. David Niven, though, has other ideas. The Niv is a mob kingpin who wants to use Richard's robbery skills to his own advantage. He does work in a bank, after all!
I sat through this movie for love of The Niv, but it really wasn't his movie. If you're not rooting for Richard Johnson, you're not going to care about the characters or the story. Elke Sommer is pretty superfluous, and frankly, so is The Niv. There was no reason to attract such an A-tier actor to the cast, and to put him in a one-dimensional role as "the bad guy". Poor Niv had nothing to do but look menacing, and with his big blue eyes, he didn't do it very well. Let's remember him in his prime, not in the years before he became tragically ill. -
ksf-216 February 2023Apparently very loosely based on an actual british bank job. Just out of prison, pinky is the electrician, working at a bank, where they don't seem to check references! He really is trying to go straight but gets caught up in a bank heist, which seems to go off perfectly. But, of course, the coppers are on to them. Pinky has the perfect alibi... he was shagging a bank employee, when they pulled the heist ! Some twists and turns in this one. Will he get away with it? It's all well done. After you have watched it, check out the trivia section. Not many details provided by wikipedia on the actual heist in 1975. The big names are david niven and elke sommer, who does a topless shower scene. I liked the film, but it may run kind of slow for some. And there are a couple scenes that we have to buy into. It's pretty vanilla compared to today's big, action filled films. Directed by ralph thomas. His last one. Thomas had made a series of "the doctor" films with dirk bogarde. Story by guy elmes. If you like bank heist films, you'll probably like it!
-
JULIANBRAY15 February 2005I provided location services on the this film every Sunday we would shoot in London's Berkeley Square. David Niven ever the gentleman thoroughly enjoyed the role, sadly to be his last. we had a moment of panic when a trunk load of fake Krugerrands (cast for the film..) tipped down a storm drain.
Imagine frantic crew opening all the drains to recover every last one. If you know and love London you'll love this comedy romp - also starts Richard Jordan who sadly died from a brain tumour. A good film, great crew ,superb cast. look for the current stars of coronation street then playing crowd scenes or extras.The car lot and Ivan's retail enterprises were all shot in west London, Chiswick the entire shopping parade and the American used car lot were dressed overnight, the car lot is still there as are the shops. A restaurant was suddenly turned into a funeral parlour. If you see the film on the listings make an effort to see it! By the way Sally Harrison the Bank receptionist was married to the production designer Tony Curtis..
April 2007 Just thought I would add a few extra comments on locations:
Pub: just off Berkeley Square Elke Sommers Cottage: in back Road alongide Twickenham Film Studios Ivans Used Car Lot: along Chiswick High Street and all shop locations near roundabout. Workshops (converting armoured vans)Factory on roundabout opposite Fullers Brewery Jail (see workshops above) Telephone box see Elke Sommers cottage ( it was the wooden studio prop box used in many films, look for the lighting cable at gound level and the wood hinges on the door!!! Computer room Honeywells near Olympia Graveyard - Chiswick - Grave just outside the boundary on common land Bank interiors, ceiling void and strongroom :Twickenham studios
And just to add David Niven ever the gentleman, joked and mixed with the crew, extras and so on......Niven would dine in the Connaught hotel bu join the crew for coffee! -
aky13-125 February 2007I recently bought this movie on DVD at a discount store for $5. Although it is a no-frills DVD on the Geneon label (just the movie that starts playing immediately - no menu, no special features) the picture and sound quality were EXCELLENT. The movie is based on the true story of one of the biggest bank robberies in history.
Richard Jordan, who I must admit to not having heard of, plays the lead - Pinky Green. A charming young man who had spent too much of his few years in prison and now wanted to go straight but is not allowed to do so! He portrays an American in England. David Niven plays the lead bad guy, also with the great charm for which he is famous. Bad, but with scruples as when he refuses to deny Pinky his "whack" for the job. Whack, in England, apparently is the fair share of the take and not a bullet in the head as in American gangster films! All the supporting cast do an excellent job producing a very believable movie.
What is perhaps best, to me, is that the whole movie is quite enjoyable and understandable (I frequently find myself lost in plot confusions and various characters) without ANY special effects. NO blood. No violence. Not even a single car chase! Just a well written story, well acted, well directed and well photographed! If I had any complaints about the movie, I would question the music. WHAT is bluegrass music doing in a bank heist story that takes place in England? -
This movie is an almost forgotten gem from 1979 which although in essence a comedy it was based on one of the UK's biggest ever bank heists. In fact one of the titles that this film is known by includes "caper" therefore that in its self is an indication of the type of movie. A of a bunch of lovable rouges, who are not the violent or psychotic types, who with cheek an guile pull off the biggest job of their lives. To be honest I don't really know too much about the real crime and can't comment if it accurately depicted the events that unfolded or the characters involved.
Richard Jordan handles himself very well playing PINKY Green and is very believable as an easy going small time American born crook who seems very comfortable with himself. I have to add that sometimes American actors struggle gel well with English actors in a British made film, the chemistry is not always there, however this is no problem for Jordon who fits right in with his role.
It's worth pointing out that Jordan himself was probably one of the most underrated actors of the 70's and 80's and never really got the recognition he deserved. He seemed to get stuck in supporting roles and B movies, not a fair representation of his acting ability. He has played a corrupt cop in THE FRIENDS OF EDDY COYLE, a sadistic killer in THE MEAN SEASON. In THE SECRET OF MY SUCCESS he played a sort of comical Gordon Gehco character and also in the 1980's EQUALIZER TV show he played a good guy. All of this displays the versatility of his acting skills while mixing with the likes of David Niven, Kurt Russell, Edward Woodward and Robert Mitcham.
In this movie he effortlessly plays his part as a small time crook with the eye for the ladies and you immediately take to his character and root for him from the beginning. You can't help liking Green, you see he really did want to go straight but once blackmailed it all seemed too much of an opportunity to pass up and in the end he relished the thought of all that money.
David Niven is the boss and calls the shots, the police inspector was brilliantly played by Richard Johnson who typically portrayed a smarmy but thorough London detective who clearly loves his job. The other supporting cast don't say too much but looking at them they were all very well known British character actors who often found themselves playing either villains or coppers(isn't that ironic). Elkie Sommers, Oliver Tobias do what they have to do and it's good to see Gloria Graham in a cameo role.
To some viewers particularly Americans it would seem ludicrous that somebody with Greens record could land a maintenance job at of all things a bank and come and go when he pleases. In addition the stunt he pulled at the crown court after sentencing was not as far fetched as it might seem, back in the 1960's and 70's security was not as nearly as tight as it is now.
As for the movie itself there are a couple of interesting observations. With small time crooks the haul here was too much. There have been other movies where this occurs too i.e. THE BRINKS MAT. It's not just the disposal or the hiding of the loot but with so many people involved somebody is going to be careless, is going to blab or just simply break once leaned on. In addition the authorities come down on very hard on local rouges when such huge robbery is carried out. Also, they say there is no honor amongst thieves but Ivan was adamant that PINKY got his whack. You only had too look at his stare in the dock, if looks could kill, a look of total betrayal! How could he have dobbed them all in after taking care of him? You have to ask yourself a question why is it that crooks can be so stupid? Did Green really think that he could sweet talk his way out of suspicion a second time around? Inspector Watford was not at all fooled by his innocent looking face as well as a well constructed alibi, the whole caper reeked of inside job. In addition you have to wonder why they leave so many clues? A note pad with the safe numbers jotted down, travel brochures for overseas trips, still leaving his telescope around as well as unusual behavior on the day of the robbery which was out of character.
With some decent but common sense police work Insp Watford quickly had the measure of Green, picked him up and soon had him singing like a canary. It just shows how despite well thought out planning things can unravel very quickly, there is never a clean getaway for every body, some are always going to get nabbed. Although it's worth pointing out that a lot of the money was never recovered.
All in all an entertaining movie, interesting shots of London and England in the late 70's, well paced, with a great ending. I would highly recommend this particularly if you enjoy capers. ( Note: I recently purchased a DVD of this but the transfer was obviously taken from a VHS tape and is of poor quality. Therefore do not pay too much for it!) -
A NIGHTINGALE SANG IN BERKELEY SQUARE is one of those little-seen films that everybody seems to have forgotten about these days, which is a pity because it turns out to be a decent, semi-serious comic crime film. It was a late feather in the cap for director Ralph Thomas, who directed those early CARRY ONs all those years before, and it stands head and shoulders above similar fare as one of the most unique films of the era.
Semi-comic films are notoriously difficult to pull off but this one gets the balance just right, I think. The movie is set in and around a bank where a gang of robbers are desperate to get inside the vault and plunder the priceless contents wherein. An on-form David Niven plays the leader of the gang and plays it just like he's in a comedy, whereas American lead Richard Jordan (LOGAN'S RUN) is the straight man believably driven to the edge by the turn of events.
Despite a quite lengthy running time, A NIGHTINGALE SANG IN BERKELEY SQUARE never runs out of steam and keeps you guessing right until the end. For a comedy there's a surprising amount of suspense involved in the narrative and the robbery scene itself is exemplary. The subsequent fall-out is also very well staged and the film finishes on a real high. A supporting cast of familiar faces and former greats (hello, Gloria Grahame!) add to what is a very pleasurable viewing experience. -
davejags13 January 2007I remember seeing this film in the mid 80's thought it a well paced and well acted piece. I now work quite often in Berkeley Square and the had to get a copy of DVD to remind myself how little the area has changed, although my office is newish it just 30 seconds away from "the bank". Even Jack Barclays car dealership is still there selling Bentleys and Rolls Royces.
It's look like the DVD is due a Region 2 release soon. The region 1 copy I is very poor quality. Let's hope they've cleaned it up.
Only the slightly dodgy escape sequence from the court spoils what would otherwise be a great film but I guess is in line with the caper tag the film goes with. -
duke-verity12 April 2005Delightful! It never pretends to be a masterpiece, but it's a mini-gem of late-Seventies British comedy. Given that the producers wanted to sell it abroad, it stars an American (the late character actor Richard Jordan), but at least he isn't the usual dull Hollywood hunk type. Surrounding him is the cream of British character acting talent, led by a wonderfully waspish and superior David Niven.
Niven's Ivan the Terrible naturally gets the best one liners and all the best reaction shots. He also manages to be surprisingly menacing and intimidatingly dangerous. The moment in the snooker club when he drops the charming facade and threatens Richard Jordan will come as a shock to those viewers who think of Niven as being only a light drawing-room comedy star. He is filled with genuine power and ruthlessness as we see all at once how Ivan earned his nickname. All the more surprising given how ill Niven was at the time. Shortly after filming this production he lost his powers of speech to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (known as Lou Gehrig's disease). This is the last picture Niven made where you can hear his own voice, being dubbed thereafter by the comic impressionist Sid Little.
Alongside him you can spot numerous familiar faces from Seventies cinema and television. Elke Sommer (flashing her breasts in true Seventies era politically incorrect bimbo mode), Oliver Tobias, Michael Angelis, Brian Croucher, Richard Johnson, John Rhys-Davies, Davy Kaye etc, etc. Davy Kaye gets one of the biggest laughs as he holds up a security guard caught making a phone call to the old UK analogue vinyl telephone music service Dial-A-Disc. "Who you ringing?!....Bloody Dial-A-Disc! You gormless git!"
Great shots of London street locations; making the film a period patina time capsule of red phone boxes with chunky round-dial manual handsets, black cabs driven by "Cor blimey, gov!" cockneys, and ladies and gents modelling all manner of deeply dodgy late-Seventies retro leisure-wear and hair styles.
Highly entertaining, quaintly dated in its fashions and attitudes, and the stuff of late night cult viewing. Perfect to watch at midnight after the pubs have shut; if you're of a certain age, are feeling a touch nostalgic; and have always wanted to see David Niven swanning about inside a branch of McDonalds, silently intimidating an American via the deployment of a retractable telescope! -
SceneByScene28 September 2016One of those lovely little films that would be more or less lost to the 21st-century viewer, were it not for the interest of certain Freeview TV channels, such as Talking Pictures, in broadcasting such gems.
Not a great film, it has to be said, but an opportunity to see the talented David Niven in what was sadly to be one of his last roles. Also catch the much-missed American actor Richard Jordan (whose portrayal of a terrifying killer in 1985's 'The Mean Season' has ever stayed in my memory) as the lead character. A charming - if not stretched - role for one of the leads of the film classic 'Logan's Run'.
There are a few crashing disappointments. The American actress of sultry 1940s/'50s film noir roles, Gloria Grahame, is criminally underused in the role of Richard Jordan's mother. And Elke Sommer's character ends up as nothing more than the role in which, unfortunately, she was always typecast: the token sexpot female. A waste of skills in both cases.
Re the musical score: there are a few inexplicable - & inappropriate to the scene - motifs in the incidental music that are redolent of a Benny Hill theme. Being a 'caper' movie does not also make it a farce! This badly judged feature might in fact have been more to with the film's director - Ralph Thomas - having had a film career that included directing a string of lightweight sex comedies such as two 'Carry On...' movies & the 'Doctor...' films. But in most scenes the score - by Stanley Myers, the composer of the entrancing 'Cavatina' theme tune from 'The Deer Hunter' - has moments of great perceptive interpretation of the storyline.
The film must also be noted for a few novitiate roles by now well-known actors: spot Alfred Molina in his second ever film role as a ferry port official; uncredited, too! And Duncan Preston (he of superb comedic roles in 'Dinnerladies' & 'Surgical Spirit') as a blink-and-you'll-miss-him policeman driver. Even John Rhys-Davies shows his future capacity to play a role with gravitas, in a small part as a solicitor.
Oliver Tobias takes a sizeable role, a charismatic man if ever there was one. And Joss Ackland has a cameo. The fact that Auckland's role as the prison warden is uncredited on the film's cast list surely must mean that he took the role for fun. What with David Niven's stature as an actor, especially as the 1st part of his superb & witty autobiography - "The Moon's a Balloon" - had recently hit the bestseller list, I should think several people got involved in the film just for a chance to act with the great man. In fact it would be nice to dream that lots of old film career friendships were consolidated in the making of this London-set film! The director Ralph Thomas had not made a film in five years when he made this 1979 movie; & it turned out to be the last film he made before retiring.
It is frankly preferable to gloss over the sad fact that this was to be the last film for too many of the actors. David Niven's quietly threatening & manipulative crime lord was one of his last film roles (and the last role he voiced himself after disease affected his voice). Plus this was the last film of Hugh Griffith. And Gloria Grahame only made a few more movies before passing away.
If you know London then the locations will be of interest to you. West London features heavily, as do central parts of the city. And I would even be so bold as to swear that I recognised the micro-house of Gloria Grahame's character, as the same split-level London house that was lived in by the character of Bodie (or was it Doyle?!) in TV's 'The Professionals'! I remember so well the trendy 1970s' house layout from watching the series reruns, because as a teenager I always used to daydream that my first flat would look like it! So, more fond memories...
A little 'find' on the Freeview TV schedule, well worth a perusal. -
mlbroberts5 November 2008A gem of a British caper-comedy. Poor American schlub Pinky Green (Richard Jordan, playing another bad guy but this time an adorable one) gets out of a British jail and tries to go straight, but his maintenance man job in a bank is too attractive for his never-reformed criminal friends, headed up by a really nasty Ivan (David Niven in one of his last roles). Pinky resists, but the lure of all that money is just too much for him. Things unravel and reravel and it's all joyous to watch. Jordan must have played 20 bad guys in his career, but he never played the same one twice - this one is just too lovable to hate. Niven never played a slicker bad guy, oil all over. Two fine actors we've lost that I wish we had back.
-
Steve M2 September 2000David "master of debonair" Niven plays the Big Boss (IVAN) who preys upon the unfortunate Richard Jordan (PINKY) by forcing the hapless ex-con to exploit his ill-found new position in a bank. Elke Sommer (Miss PELHAM) most effectively provides the female interest, whom Pinkie cannot simply cannot resist.
It seems they were unable to decide on one name for this film so instead they used four .... makes sense ???
Sadly, this turn out to be one of Niven's last roles.
Overall, this film is fun and well worth watching if you manage to catch one of its rare or late night TV screenings. -
greene5153 October 2005I've seen this amusing little 'brit flick'many times. The only problem is Its currently unavailable on video or DVD. I'ts certainly a contender for a DVD release. The much missed Richard Jordan plays 'pinky' an Ex-pat American, whose Just been released from prison,he finds himself A job as an Electrician in a bank, it all goes well until he finds Himself Embroiled in a bank heist with his ex cronies, David Niven Plays the mastermind Ivan, Its an enjoyable little romp, hopefully studio canal or anchor bay, will come to the Rescue. Look out for john Rhys Davies Before he struck it big with 'shogun' Raiders of the lost Ark 'Lord Of The Rings' In a small role as a barrister,
-
Woodyanders25 January 2022American ex-con Pinky Green (a fine and likeable portrayal by Richard Jordan) lands a job working as an electrician at a bank after he gets released from prison. Pinky is coerced by old criminal cohort Ivan (the always delightful David Niven) to help out with a daring robbery of said bank.
Director Ralph Thomas relates the enjoyable story at a snappy pace, maintains an amiable lighthearted tone throughout, and stages the exciting big heist with skill and flair. The sound acting from a capable cast rates as another substantial asset: Oliver Tobias as Pinky's loyal brother Foxy, Elke Sommer as sexy bank worker Miss Pelham, Gloria Grahame as Pinky's concerned mother, and Richard Johnson as the hard-nosed Inspector Watford. The jaunty score by Stanley Myers keeps things bubbling along. A nifty movie.