Armored Car Robbery (1950)

I love this movie so much

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Very straightforward cops n robbers flick, barely an hour long, packed with action but little characterization (except for rookie cop Don McGuire who gets the best lines). Still very enjoyable. Like many, I was confused about the ballpark Wrigly Field but there was one in LA. It was home to the minor league LA Angels, a farm team to the Chicago Cubs. It was torn down in 1969.

Brazen thieves plot to rob an armored car; when things start to go awry, they gradually find out who their friends truly are in this film noir entry from Richard Fleischer. Clocking in at less than 70 minutes, this is a brisk thrill ride with barely a second wasted and there are several intense moments as the criminals debate the risks of getting their injured friend to a doctor and so on. The film missteps though by given equal focus to the policeman investigating the crime and the criminals themselves; while Fleischer's decision to show both sides in equal depth makes this refreshingly different to the average noir out there, it also places us in an awkward, distanced position in which it is hard to choose a side to root for. As the cop in charge, Charles McGraw is given some extra character dimension as his partner was killed by the thieves, something that causes him to take the case very seriously, and yet, the criminals remain the most charismatic characters here, especially William Talman who doesn't like "anything written down". While the quality sometimes varied, Fleischer always made interesting films and this one is no exception, though it is certainly far from his most involving film.

Both Derivative and Influential, This Richard Fleischer B-Movie from RKO was the Kind of Thing that Fleischer Excelled. It's a No Nonsense Noir with the Ever Increasing "Police Procedural" Element that Started to Change Film-Noir Starting About 1950.The Darker Psychological Aspects of the Genre were Pushed to the Background and America Began Flexing and Propagandizing its Muscle, Using Technology and Bureaucracy as Weapons to Announce Proudly that the US was "On Top of the World".This Tight Toned Film is Highlighted by L.A. Locations, Some Sharp Photography, an Insane and Brutal Villain (Hamilton Burger), some Solid Support (Steve Brodie, Adele Jergins), a Bit of Snappy Patter, (after viewing some spilled blood in the getaway car, tough as nails cop Charles McGraw after hearing the robber bled some...McGraw growls..."Not enough for me.".The Fast Pacing and the Clipped Exposition are Woven to Create a Semi-Classic of the Heist Genre. McGraw and Fleischer are in Their Element and This is the Kind of Thing that RKO was Known and Admired For.

Richard Fleischer directed this compact thriller that stars William Talman as Purvis, a clever criminal mastermind who is employed by a gangster named Benny to pull off a daring armored car robbery because his mistress(played by Adele Jergens) is losing interest in him. What he doesn't know is that she is having an affair with Purvis! The heist goes wrong when a cop is killed, whose friend and fellow policeman(played by Charles McGraw) becomes determined to avenge. Meanwhile, Purvis kills Benny, and runs off with his mistress, in a desperate bid to escape capture. Well-directed film has good performances and exciting action. A model of its kind.