Classic Ealing crime comedy starring Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway. Meek, respectable Henry Holland supervises gold bullion deliveries to the bank where he is a trusted employee. But behind his modest exterior lurks a criminal mind harbouring unbounded ambition. His dream of stealing one million pounds worth of gold bars starts to assume reality when he teams up with foundry owner Pendlebury and two professional crooks.
Ealing Studios had quite a year in 1951. Not only did the company produce the witty satire The Man in the White Suit, it also released this superb and subtle crime-film spoof. The inimitable Alec Guinness stars as the mild-mannered bank agent who discovers he has a devious criminal mind and decides to steal a million in gold bullion. Guinness is well supported by the impressive Stanley Holloway, Alfie Bass and Sid James as members of the gang he recruits. Watch out, too, for a blink-and-miss-it appearance from Audrey Hepburn. Director Charles Crichton tips his hat to such genre staples as the studio's own The Blue Lamp and the more hard-boiled gangster movies produced by Hollywood in the film noir era, and TEB Clarke deservedly won an Oscar for his beautifully constructed story and screenplay. Guinness lost out to Gary Cooper in High Noon in the best actor category.
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Henry Holland | Alec Guinness |
| Pendlebury | Stanley Holloway |
| Lackery | Sidney James |
| Shorty | Alfie Bass |
| Mrs Chalk | Marjorie Fielding |
| Farrow | John Gregson |
| Miss Evesham | Edie Martin |
| Station sergeant | Clive Morton |
| Parkin | John Salew |
| Turner | Ronald Adam |
| Wallis | Arthur Hambling |
| Godwin | Gibb McLaughlin |
| Chiquita | Audrey Hepburn |
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Director | Charles Crichton |
