Money Movers (1978)

Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Bruce Beresford and starring a cast of fine Australian actors, Money Movers is a fast-moving, ultra-violent tale of armed robbery.

A counting-house is a veritable fortress, so the theft of $20 million of payroll would be an impossibility – without a little inside help. And so the staff of Darcey’s Security Services help in the planning, development and execution of the robbery.

Among the superb performances are Charles Tingwell as Mr Henderson the smooth crime king; Ed Devereaux as Dick Martin, the ex-cop who drives for Darcey’s Security and Lucky Grills as Robert Conway, the manager of the counting-house where millions of dollars are shoved into pay envelopes before being shipped to their clients.

Others who are bloody, bold and resolute in a terrific cast are Ray Marshall (who calls stop-work meetings to facilitate robbery arrangements), Alan Cassell as Sammy the bent copper with good connections both in the force and outside it, and Hu Pryce as Griffiths, whose police career in Britain was clouded – we are given a couple of hints – by a touch of queerness.

Bryan Brown and Terence Donovan also have key roles.

The film is loosely based on a 1970 armoured car robbery in Sydney where $587,000 was stolen from a Mayne Nickless armoured van and a 1970 incident where armed robbers impersonated policemen and broke into the offices of Metropolitan Security Services, stealing $280,000.

The plot is based on a novel of the same name by Devon Minchin, who was for a long time head of his own industrial security company so the detail is right.

Eric Jackson
Terence Donovan
Leo Bassett
Tony Bonner
Dick Martin
Ed Devereaux
Mr Jack Henderson
Charles ‘Bud’ Tingwell
Mindel Seagers
Candy Raymond
Dawn Jackson
Jeanie Drynan
Brian Jackson
Bryan Brown
Sammy Ross
Alan Cassell
Robert Conway
Lucky Grills
David Griffiths
Hu Pryce
Ernest Sainsbury
Gary Files
Ed Gallagher
Ray Marshall
Lionel Darcy
Frank Wilson

Director
Bruce Beresford

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