Foreign policy is about to send a division of soldiers overseas to a hot spot. This means, of course, that a sizable sum of money is assembled at the base camp -- you may send a British soldier to die, but you don't hold up his pay. Stanley Baker, Helmut Schmid and Tom Bell have assembled to rob the army with an enormously clever plan.
The first half of the movie, which is all about the three criminals on the base in Her Majesty's uniforms, going about preparing their job, is very slow, so slow, in fact, that I considered the possibility that this had been written to be a comedy in the first half; officious officers and red tape alternately impede and help the three crooks. It's in the second half, when the plan is executed, that the movie comes alive. Playing the start for comedy probably would have rendered the second half mush; instead, the audience gets hints as to what will happen, with enormous pay-offs.
Nicholas Roeg co-wrote the original story, still trying hard to get into the director's chair. That would take another eight years. Roeg didn't even get to be cinematographer here, but Gerald Gibbs and Gilbert Taylor manage very nicely, particularly with the finale.
The first half of the movie, which is all about the three criminals on the base in Her Majesty's uniforms, going about preparing their job, is very slow, so slow, in fact, that I considered the possibility that this had been written to be a comedy in the first half; officious officers and red tape alternately impede and help the three crooks. It's in the second half, when the plan is executed, that the movie comes alive. Playing the start for comedy probably would have rendered the second half mush; instead, the audience gets hints as to what will happen, with enormous pay-offs.
Nicholas Roeg co-wrote the original story, still trying hard to get into the director's chair. That would take another eight years. Roeg didn't even get to be cinematographer here, but Gerald Gibbs and Gilbert Taylor manage very nicely, particularly with the finale.