Armored Car Robbery

On the side of law and order this time, B-grade veteran Charles McGraw plays Lt. Jim Codell, an L.A. cop implacably determined to bust a gang of villains headed up by William Talman's bad guy, Dave Purvis, who murdered his partner in a bungled robbery. 

The film starts much better than it finishes, as, despite the short running time once the plot disposes of the gang, neither Purvis nor his moll, a burlesque performer, Yvonne LeDoux (Adele Jergens) are particularly appealing or interesting and Fleischer doesn’t come up with anything to distract us as the film barrels its way straight to its standard crime-doesn’t-pay resolution. Not withstanding, for anyone who likes a bit of pulp fiction, with a neat plot and excellent period location photography and efficient performances, this end-of-an-era B grade has enough to justify itself.

The ending, with a shoot-out at an aerodrome, a dead gangster and money fluttering across the tarmac had to have been lifted by Kubrick for The Killing, 1956).

 

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