Three ambitious but unsuccessful bank robbers – Bernard (Dave King), Alfie (Norman Rossington) and tame toff Harry (Daniel Massey) – buy an old fire engine to use as a getaway vehicle, knowing that all traffic will stop to allow the engine to pass.
After some tutoring by languid ex-fireman Dennis Price and help from Robert Morley as an engagingly dedicated arsonist, the gang are on their way. Unfortunately, they unexpectedly find themselves having to deal with a real fire.
As a panellist on the ever-popular Call My BluffTV show, Patrick Campbell had a wit and erudition that was matched only by that of his rival team captain, Frank Muir.
However, there are few of those qualities evident in Campbell’s derivative and dull screenplay (co-written with Vivienne Knight) for this substandard comedy caper, which is now mainly of interest for providing Maggie Smith with her second screen role.
Bernard Dave King Arson Eddie
Robert Morley Harry
Daniel Massey Withers
Dennis Price Colette
Coral Browne Alfie
Norman Rossington Chantal
Maggie Smith Dai
Dudley Sutton Bronwen
Diane Clare Fire Chief Evans
John Glyn-Jones Mayor Evans
Eynon Evans
Director
Michael Truman
Video
Related Posts
Clash by Night (1964) This superior British B-movie has a group of newly-sentenced prisoners en route to serve their sentence, only to find the…
Cracksman, The (1963) This endearing comedy attempted to transfer comedian Charlie Drake’s style of humour to the big screen. Despite being co-writer Drake's…
Last Voyage, The (1960) The agonising tensions that go with the death struggles of a sinking luxury liner are presented with stark realism in The…
Early Bird, The (1965) With the dairy he works for threatened with closure after a large company (Consolidated Dairies) moves onto their turf, calamity-prone…
Getaway, The (1972) Carter "Doc" McCoy (Steve McQueen) is about as tough as they come. A criminal as unscrupulous as he is intelligent,…
Ladies Who Do (1964) Charwoman Mrs Cragg (Peggy Mount) retrieves a discarded cigar from the wastepaper basket of city tycoon James Ryder (Harry H…
Willy McBean and His Magic Machine (1965) Rankin Bass originally planned to release Willy McBean and his Magic Machine as 260 television episodes in 1961 but instead opted to…
Dilemma (1962) This British thriller is full to the brim with suspense and black comedy. Respectable music teacher Harry Barnes (Peter Halliday)…
