This exciting low budget heist thriller with its themes of greed, betrayal and revenge packs so much pace, punch and power into its relatively short running time that it's impossible not to get caught up in the action right from the start. The events on screen unfold with great speed and clarity and feature shoot-outs and chases as well as passages where things get very tense. Its story of a well planned heist that goes wrong is exceptionally well written, often violent and has a very memorable denouement.The movie was shot in typical docu-noir style featuring both brightly lit scenes and ones where expressionistic lighting is used to good effect. A great deal of the action is set in various actual locations in Los Angeles and this adds considerable authenticity and interest to the whole undertaking. The predominantly straightforward style of direction used by Richard Fleischer is ideal for this hard-hitting drama and good use is also made of high camera angles in some scenes.Sharply dressed criminal Dave Purvis (William Talman) has previously prospered through being utterly ruthless, extremely careful in all that he does and very meticulous in how he plans jobs. He regularly covers his tracks by changing his name frequently, never staying in one place too long and exercising great caution to ensure that nothing is ever written down which could potentially be used as evidence against him. Having arrived in L.A. he devises a plan to rob an armoured car outside a baseball stadium and in preparation, anonymously calls the police on a number of occasions and reports that a robbery is taking place so that he can record the various response times with the aid of his stopwatch.Benny McBride (Douglas Fowley) runs a local theatre and Purvis invites him to take part in the heist. McBride agrees without hesitation because he wants the money to win over his estranged wife, Yvonne LeDoux (Adele Jergens) who's an avaricious burlesque dancer who's also secretly having an affair with Purvis. McBride brings in two other men and the gang go ahead with the heist as planned.A problem arises for the gang after they break into the armoured vehicle and the alarm is raised, because a police patrol car already in the area responds and arrives on the scene much sooner than expected. The two police officers, Lieutenant Jim Cordell (Charles McGraw) and his partner Lieutenant Phillips (James Flavin) immediately find themselves involved in a shoot-out and both men are seriously injured before the gang make their getaway with the loot. In the period that follows, the gang's unity gets undermined by conflict and suspicion before Purvis attempts to double cross the other men and escape with all the proceeds of the heist.Lieutenant Phillips dies from his injury and Cordell, together with his new partner Detective Danny Ryan (Don McGuire) make use of a number of different methods to track down Purvis and his gang. Cordell's determination to avenge the death of his partner is intense and he remains incredibly driven in his mission right up until the story's impressive and well-choreographed conclusion.Charles McGraw as the tough cop and William Talman as the totally untrustworthy gang leader are excellent and Adele Jergens is also very good as the femme fatale who's only interested in money.

Most noir enthusiasts would, I'm sure, agree that the modern heist thriller was basically born with John Huston's 'The Asphalt Jungle (1950).' But it wasn't alone for long. Just one month after its release, Richard Fleischer released his own heist flick, a low-budget B-movie with no star power (unless you count supporting player Charles McGraw, who was no stranger to film noir – see 'Roadblock (1951)'). With its very brief running-time, 'Armoured Car Robbery (1950)' strips away all unnecessary fat, leaving hardly a moment to draw breath as the gang of thieves execute a brilliant heist, before losing out to the authorities, all in 67 minutes. The one classic crime element we're denied is the preparation for the heist itself. When the four co-conspirators first approached the intended site of attack, I thought that they were going through a trial-run as part of their planning, but, no, they went straight for the hit. As such, most of the film is concerned with how their "perfect" heist unravels, like a ball of yarn with a trailing thread.The film's low-budget is readily seen in its production values. Rather than the shadowy, stylised noir photography with which we're most familiar, cinematographer Guy Roe instead opts for a documentary-style realism. The performances also reflect this approach, though there are some some strong actors in the mix. William Talman, as Dave Purvis, is a classic criminal mastermind, a calculating genius who engineers every movement to the nearest second. Square-jawed McGraw, whom I maintain is a dead ringer for Kirk Douglas, is also excellent as tough cop Cordell, who's eager to dish out retribution for the death of his long-time partner (James Flavin). Icy dame Adele Jergens plays an alluring exotic dancer, though her role in the film is mostly passive. A swift and blunt piece of storytelling, 'Armoured Car Robbery' lives up to its matter-of- fact title, not putting anything new on the table, but utilising its resources well. The ending, with thousands of dollars in notes flittering across an airport runway, seems to have inspired Kubrick in 'The Killing (1956).'

**SPOILERS** By the numbers armored car robbery that goes sour within the first minute of it's execution with the cops unexpectedly coming on the scene. As everything was going like clockwork in knocking off the $500,000.00 Wrigley Field ballpark ticket recipes, that the parks armored car picked up, policemen Let. Jim Cordell, Charles McGrew, and his partner Let. Phillips, James Flavin, came on the scene that resulted in a deadly shootout. Let Phillips ends up getting shot and killed and his partner Let. Cordell is now more then determined to get his killers.Let. Phillips' killer and head of the robbery gang is the elusive and almost unknown, because of his clean or non-existent rap sheet, and extremely careful Dave Purvis, William Talman. Purvis had recruited three local hoods to help him pull this half million dollar robbery off Al Mapls, Steve Brodie, Ace Foster, Gene Evens, and Benny McBride, Douglas Fowley. Benny who ended up getting shot by Let. Cordell has now become a liability to Puvris in slowing down his, and both Mapes' & Fosters, getaway attempt. It later turns out that Purvis who's also been having an affair with Benny's old lady, burlesque dancer Yvonne LeDoux (Adele Jergens), behind his back ends up blasting the badly wounded hood when he got a a wee bit too greedy. Knowing that he hasn't that long to go Benny wanted his share of the loot before he finally kicks off.This was probably, on Benny's part, to pay off his bills and get his credit rating straightened out so that he can go out of this world on a clean, financial, slate.Purvis and the remanding members of his gang never get that far in that Purvis is more interested in screwing them out of their share of the loot then getting away Scot-free with his 50% of it. Purvis had planned, even when Benny was alive and healthy, to take off with all the cash and Yvonne as well with him ending up screwing those who helped him steal it!The police end up getting the remaining two members of the armored car robbery team out of the picture, gunning down Foster and capturing Mapes, which leaves open an avenue of escape for Purvis and his moll Yvonne whom the cop are totally unaware off. That's until they inspect Benny's hotel room and find evidence of his connection to them. A photo of Yvonne and a telephone number, on a pack of matches, that lead directly to Purvis!Crime does not pay police drama with Let. Cordell and the LAPD tracking down Dave Purvis, who thought that he had all the cards, to the Los Angles Airport as he and Mrs.McBride, or as she's known professionally as Yvonne LeDoux, were about to take off for Mexico with their ill gotten gains. ****SPOILER ALERT****Purvis knowing that he's finally been screwed, after screwing everyone else in the movie, tries to make a run for it but doesn't go to far. Purvis goes just far enough to get a really close shave in the propeller of an incoming airplane!

A good low-budget noir. (Though the budget looks pretty darn low, it has a lot of big names.) The plot itself is somewhat routine. Cps vs bad guy. Really bad leader vs his underlings. The matter-of-fact title tells a whole lot of the story.However, Adele Jergens is the draw here. She plays a burlesque dancer. (And we see her routine a couple times. Even today, it looks tawdry.) Though this came out before my time, newsstands kept girlie magazines from years and years -- decades, even -- in stock. I remember as a kid wondering about the weird shoes these women were posing in. Well, Adele Jergens looks like the quintessential bleached-blonde naughty girl of the 1950s-60s. And she was a good actress, too.More of her would have leavened the plot./ As it is, it's too many guys who look and sound alike -- all of them fine actors but enough gets to be enough.