Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Bank Shot (1974)

Director: Gower Champion

Wrtiers: Wendell Mayes, Donald E. Westlake

Composer: John Morris

Starring: George C. Scott, Joanna Cassidy, Sorrell Booke, G. Wood, Clifton James, Bob Balaban, Bibi Osterwald, Frank McRae, Don Calfa, Harvey Evans, Hank Stohl, Liam Dunn, Jack Riley, Pat Zurica, Harvey J. Goldenberg, Jamie Reidy

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The Biggest "Withdrawal" In Banking History!

Plot: A bank, temporarily housed in a mobile home while a new building is built, looks like an easy target. On the other hand, why not steal the whole bank and rob it in a safer location?



My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

How about that trailer, huh?  I love it!  The movie?  Not as much.  It's definitely got it's feet firmly planted in comedy.  I didn't laugh much but when I did it was loud.  The cast does a wonderful job and Joanna Cassidy takes the cake for MVP in this picture.  She's so much fun and she brings an awful lot of energy to the picture.  It's neat hearing music from John Morris that's not from a Mel Brooks picture but it gets really silly.  I'm sure that's exactly what the director, Champion, wanted.  This was Champions last film as director and only his second feature with a few TV credits prior to this one so maybe he wasn't a great choice although he did a good job.  I mean, just check out this amazing shot.


This neat little sequence lasts for less than a minute but I couldn't take my eyes off it.  There's just something missing that keeps this from being a great comedy.  It's short at only 83 minutes which turns out to be a good thing.  And what a coincidence that I watched two movies back to back with the exact same running time (the other was MR. ACE (1946))?  Maybe it just needed more gags.  Anyway, fans of any of these actors will not go wrong by watching this and it's loaded with familiar faces.



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