The Bank Raiders

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The Bank Raiders
"The Bank Raiders" (1958 film).jpg
Original British quad poster
Directed byMaxwell Munden
Written by Brandon Fleming
Produced byGeoffrey Goodheart
Starring Peter Reynolds
Sandra Dorne
Sydney Tafler
CinematographyHenry Hall
Edited by Inman Hunter
Production
company
Geoffrey Goodhart Productions (as Film Workshop)
Distributed by J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors (U.K.)
Release date
  • October 1958 (1958-10)
Running time
62 mins
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The Bank Raiders is a 1958 British second feature [1] crime film directed by Maxwell Munden and starring Peter Reynolds, Sandra Dorne and Lloyd Lamble. [2] It was written by Brandon Fleming.

Contents

The film was one of several British crime films starring Reynolds. [3]

Plot

Small-time hoodlum Terry is the driver in a successful bank robbery. He gets his share of the loot and is told to lie low. Instead, he goes on the town with Della, a gorgeous, but greedy, party girl. Terry is questioned and released by police. Bernie Shelton, the gang boss, kidnaps the only witness. Then he sends his goon Linders to kill Terry, but Linders gets shot instead. With police after him, Terry seeks shelter in Della's apartment. When Della learns that Shelton, a man who spurned her, was behind the raid, she promises to run away with Terry, if he will confront his boss at gun-point to get the rest of the loot.

Cast

Critical reception

Monthly Film Bulletin said "This routine second feature falls well below the standard of the usual efficient supporting film. The three principals give capable performances, but the players of the smaller parts are considerably less convincing. The total result is decidedly humdrum." [4]

Radio Times called it "A dismal B-movie ... Designed as something to have on the screen while the queue was being let in to the cinema, it's cheap and cheerless wallpaper, though connoisseurs of early TV sitcoms might relish the sight of heavyweight Arthur Mullard, who usually turned in performances as the village idiot." [5]

Allmovie wrote, "Bank Raiders delivers value for money in its brief 60-minute time span." [6]

In Directors in British and Irish Cinema, Robert Murphy called the film "a singularly unconvincing depiction of life in the English underworld." [7]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "poor", writing: "Rock-bottom 'B' film, very badly acted with the exception of the three stars." [8]

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References

  1. Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 178. ISBN   978-1-8445-7319-6.
  2. "The Bank Raiders". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  3. Vagg, Stephen (11 November 2024). "Peter Reynolds: Forgotten Cad". Filmink. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  4. "The Bank Raiders". Monthly Film Bulletin . 25 (288): 141. 1958 via ProQuest.
  5. Turner, Adrian. "The Bank Raiders (1958)". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016.
  6. "The Bank Raiders (1958) - Maxwell Munden | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie".
  7. Murphy, Robert (2006). Directors in British and Irish Cinema: A Reference Companion. British Film Institute. p. 446. ISBN   978-1844571260.
  8. Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 280. ISBN   0-7134-1874-5.