***SPOILERS*** Yes, I agree with the other reviewers. It is a shiny bauble in the cheap costume jewelry of the cheap floozie as girlfriend, and cheap suited detectives that turn her out. Yeah, she was cheaply pretty in a crummy sort of way.... yeah, you get the picture. I just accidentally saw this dark diamond on TCM's Noir Alley (if you're gonna write about or do a film noir, ya gotta have an alley); It is great. Both the movie, and the TCM series.The point I'd make is that I knew right away that they were gonna get caught when Purvis didn't finish Ryan. It's a giveaway. Problem they had back then was that the Hollywood censorship authorities had a rule about crime not paying. Still, I wonder if the sweet, sexy tramp was charged and convicted, or if she turned state's witness. I wonder if any cops picked up some extra cash when nobody was looking. After all, it WAS being blown around on the airfield runway, wasn't it? Extra retirement fund, you might say... just wondering, you know. Interesting about Charles McGraw MUCH more interesting than Dr. Phil, wouldn't you say)? IMDB has him on file. I just ragged on "Better Call Saul" in another review, and this is a great reason why. It seems that Hollywood forgot how to make tight, close quarters dramas. Now, they cram commercials down your throat, and treat you like you don't matter, and You take it. Protest it and demand a return to great entertainment. THIS production is, and will remain a 10.

Richard Fleischer, who did the wonderful "Narrow Margin" directed this neat B movie from 1950, "Armored Car Robbery." It's a good thriller, and if you think you've seen some of it before it's because Stanley Kubrick used some of it in his film, "The Killing." The story concerns a gang who robs a payroll truck at Wrigley Field in LA. It's not a raving success. The law, led by Lt. Cordall (Charles McGraw), gets onto them right away, there are injuries, deaths, betrayal, and murder.Since Lt. Cordall's own partner is killed in the shootout that follows the heist, he takes the case personally. William Talman, before he played Hamilton Burger on Perry Mason, played a lot of nut jobs in films, and this is one. The film also features Adele Jurgens as a burlesque queen. Her husband also died in the robbery, but she's in bed with Talman. (He's injured and Talman shoots him.) Fleischer knew how to do fast movies; he was less successful when he had bigger opportunities.

Who would go to see a film called "Armored Car Robbery"? It sounds like a documentary, or maybe a how-to flick for yeggs. A zippier title would have been more fitting for this taut little noir film, in which intrepid cops (using all that hi-tech early 50s gadgetry) track down a gang of crooks who pull a clever heist right outside a crowded athletic stadium. This is a very early effort for Richard Fleischer, who would later direct box office hits such as SOYLENT GREEN and THE BOSTON STRANGLER. The story moves along at an unflagging pace, with William Talman keeping our attention as the slightly unhinged brains of the gang. It's a great post- war period piece, and deserves to be aired more often.

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.