A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square | |
---|---|
Directed by | Ralph Thomas |
Written by | Guy Elmes (story and screenplay) |
Produced by | Benjamin Fisz |
Starring | Richard Jordan Oliver Tobias David Niven Elke Sommer Gloria Grahame Hugh Griffith Richard Johnson |
Cinematography | John Coquillon |
Edited by | Peter Boita |
Music by | Stanley Myers |
Production company | Benjamin Fisz Productions |
Release date |
|
Running time | 102 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square is a 1979 British heist film directed by Ralph Thomas, written by Guy Elmes and starring Richard Jordan, Oliver Tobias and David Niven. It is subtitled "based on one of the biggest robberies in London". The film takes its name from the 1940 published song "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square".
Pinky (Jordan) is released from prison and has decided to go straight from now on, but takes a job as a maintenance man at a large bank, which gives him a lot of undue attention from "Ivan the Terrible" (Niven), the local hoodlum. By using Pinky, Ivan hopes to rob the bank, and Pinky starts to like the idea of going back to his old ways.
Ralph Thomas later said the film "had quite a superb cast" and "he was really quite fond" of the movie "but I didn't do it as well as I should have done because by the time we started it David was already sick, and so we had to do the best we could as quickly as we could and it didn't come off as I'd hoped. But it was still a fun film and we enjoyed making it." [1]
It was shot at Twickenham Studios and on location around London. The film's sets were designed by the art director Lionel Couch.
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"A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" is a British romantic popular song written in 1939 and published in 1940, with lyrics by Eric Maschwitz and music by Manning Sherwin.
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