Bank Shot (1974)

Director:

Gower Champion

Writers:

Wendell Mayes (writer)
Donald E. Westlake (novel)

Release Date:

31 July 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Criminal Masterminds? Don't Bank On It.

Plot:

A bank temporarily housed in a mobile home while a new building is built, looks like an easy target to break into...

Plot Keywords:

Master Thief | Release From Prison | Beautiful Woman | Financier | Bank Robbery

Cast

George C. Scott	...	Walter Upjohn Ballentine
Joanna Cassidy	...	Eleonora
Sorrell Booke	...	Al G. Karp
G. Wood	...	Andrew Constable
Clifton James	...	Streiger
Bob Balaban	...	Victor Karp
Bibi Osterwald	...	Mums Gornik
Frank McRae	...	Hermann X
Don Calfa	...	Stosh Gornik
Harvey Evans	...	Irving
Hank Stohl	...	Johnson
Liam Dunn	...	Painter
Jack Riley	...	Jackson
Pat Zurica	...	Man in privy
Harvey J. Goldenberg	...	1st policeman

Also Known As:

The Bank Shot (USA) (long title)

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:11 | USA:PG | Singapore:PG

Company:

Landers-Roberts Productions

Quotes:

[Hearing the initial plan to rob the bank]
Walter Upjohn Ballentine: I'm going to get up from this table. I'm going to walk to the nearest police station, and I'm going to turn myself in. And they will take me back to Stryker's funny farm, where at least I was safe...
[He looks around at the others]
Walter Upjohn Ballentine: ...and sane. And I pity the poor schmuck who tries... to stop me.

Fluffy Comedy with great laughs!

This may be the one that George C Scott cringed about, but WHAT a laugh it was! Certainly not an intellectual feast, but why should every movie be just that? I like my mind to be tickeled, but laughs are always welcome and badly needed to! This is one of those movies that is small and light and fluffy and is simply truly great entertainment, simply because it is so unpretentious. If you want a break from every day life, this is great watching with gags galore, and it is precisely Scott's very annoyed attitude that makes it work. His "Leave me alone you crazies" attitude makes the other characters carry through a vision of a crazy world, that is despite its outrageous insanity closer to the truth of every day senselessness than we all would admit. I first saw this one as a kid, and I can still laugh about it. It is from the same period as "Harold and Maude" and while by no means carrying any social or philosophical comments like Harold and Maude, it certainly has that irreverent flair of the 70s. Does a movie always have to be serious? Whatever happened to simple laughter and charme and the kind of babedom and sexiness displayed by a young Joanna Cassidy? Every character punched through and was flavorful and strong. I will also take this movie's camera-work over anything done with the 90s vintage (and still in use) "new look" stupid jiggling camera and zoomiezoom wiggle-jiggle and zoom-in-zoom-out-pretending-to-be-documentary stuff that makes me sea sick and makes me hit the "off" button regardless of what the story line may be! This one is one of my all time favorite comedies , and I don't care what critics think or Scott thought! It feels right and it lives in a different world. Now isn't also what movies can be all about?