Bellman and True (1987)

Director:

Richard Loncraine

Writers:

Richard Loncraine (writer)
Desmond Lowden (novel)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

Hiller, a computer expert, was bribed by group of bank robbers to obtain details of the security system at a newly-built bank...

Plot Keywords:

Computer | Bank Robbery | Based On Novel | Independent Film

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Bernard Hill	...	Hiller
Derek Newark	...	Guv'nor
Richard Hope	...	Salto
Ken Bones	...	Gort
Frances Tomelty	...	Anna
Kieran O'Brien	...	The Boy
John Kavanagh	...	Donkey
Arthur Whybrow	...	The Peterman
Jim Dowdall	...	The Wheelman
Peter Howell	...	The Bellman
Kate McEnery	...	Mo
Anne Carroll	...	Pauline
Richard Strange	...	Man with Walkman
Peter Jonfield	...	Security Sergeant
Andrew Paul	...	Young Security Guard

Runtime:

UK:150 min (3 episodes: TV version) | 117 min (VHS/DVD version)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Dungeness, Kent, England, UK

Company:

Euston Films

Trivia:

The title is taken from the 18th century ballad "Do Ye Ken John Peel", a song about fox-hunting. It is presumably a rather obscure allusion to the way that the bank robbers have hunted down Hiller and won't let him go again.

Goofs:

Continuity: The headlights on the car after it squeezes between two buildings.

Quotes:

[Telling The Boy the story of "The Continuing Saga of Sod's Law - You Just Can't Win", an idealised but thinly-disguised version of his own life with his wife, "The Princess", who has now left him for a new lover, the owner of the Rover 2000S]
The Boy: The Princess? Was she there?
Hiller: Yeah.
The Boy: The Princess who smoked French cigarettes and was beautiful when she wasn't looking.
Hiller: We only had one rule. We didn't let anyone in who had a Rover 2000S. 2000 Smegma.
The Boy: Why?
Hiller: [bitterly] Because people with Rover 2000 Smegmas live in four-bedroom fake Georgian houses. They marry St Bernard dogs called Darling. And they have nasty little kids in green jumpsuits who come in through the window on a wire and say "Gosh!" and all that sort of thing.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Remade as Firewall (2006)

This is the REAL McCoy

A fired computer programmer (Bernard Hill) has been hired by a gang of bank robbers to steal confidential computer information from his previous employer. The problem is, the information is encoded. He takes his son along with his payment and runs away but gets stuck when the money runs out. He returns home only to be confronted by his "new" employers. He is forced to decode the information he stole so that the robbers can use it. His son is kept hostage until he has what they want. It gets more involved when the plans change and he has to go along on the robbery to disable the alarm system. This movie is a great heist movie. The video release has been edited so much it doesn't explain important parts in the plot. There is a unedited version out there that shows more details but is usually only shown in full on TV.

This movie was the original for which the 1993 movie The Real McCoy was based on. Only this one is better!