The Bank Raiders ** (1958, Peter Reynolds, Sandra Dorne, Sydney Tafler, Lloyd Lamble) – Classic Movie Review 12,730

The serviceable and efficient 1958 British support crime thriller film The Bank Raiders focuses on Terry (Peter Reynolds), a petty criminal who signs up as getaway driver with a gang boss (Sydney Tafler)’s band of bank raiders.

Director Maxwell Munden’s 1958 long forgotten, and arguably perhaps best forgotten hour-long British second feature support thriller film The Bank Raiders focuses on Terry (Peter Reynolds), a tiny-scale but flamboyant petty criminal who signs up as getaway driver with gang boss Bernie Shelton (Sydney Tafler)’s band of bank raiders.

The bank robbery goes to plan and Terry gets his share of the loot, being told to lie low, but goes partying with greedy girl Della (Sandra Dorne), Later, with Detective Inspector Mason (Lloyd Lamble) on their trail, it is Shelton (Tafler)’s plan to abduct a woman in order to gag the only witness, and he also sends his henchman Linders (Arthur Mullard) to kill Terry (Reynolds), who seeks refuge in Della’s flat, and finally Reynolds plots to rob Tafler’s safe at gun-point.

The results are stagy but with plenty of more than tolerable moments. Reynolds, a lightweight but capable actor who specialised in being shifty, gets top billing, and he and Dorne are effective stars. But there is more interest and impact further down the cast with famed cockney character actors Sydney Tafler and Arthur Mullard, both of whom have key roles, and of course eventually became stars on British TV. Plus, there is Rose Hill (5 June 1914 – 22 December 2003), best known as Madame Fanny La Fan in the British TV  comedy series ‘Allo ‘Allo! from 1982 to 1992. With this cast, and this story, it is pretty near irresistible for fans of old Brit B-movies. In retrospect, it is quite an appealing product of this bygone age. As cheap as it obviously is, it is all quite serviceable and efficient.

The cast are Peter Reynolds as Terry Milligan, Sandra Dorne as Della Byrne, Sydney Tafler as Bernie Shelton, Lloyd Lamble as Detective Inspector Mason, Rose Hill as landlady, Arthur Mullard as Linders, Tim Ellison as Jack Conner, Ann King as Ann Seaton, Robert Bruce as Detective Sgt Bates, Jeanne Kent as Mrs Conner, and Roberta Woolley as Sonia Conner, and Dennis Taylor.

The Bank Raiders is written by Brandon Fleming, shot by Henry Hall and produced by Geoffrey Goodhart. It is made by Geoffrey Goodhart Productions (as Film Workshop) and released by J Arthur Rank Film Distributors in the UK in October 1958.

Running time: 62 minutes.

And it is not forgotten after all. It resurfaced on British TV in 2023.

Peter Reynolds.

English actor Peter Reynolds (born Peter Gordon Horrocks) lived with his little dog, in Sydney, Australia. He and his dog died in a fire in his flat in Oxford Street, Paddington, Sydney, on 22 April 1975 after he was smoking in bed.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,730

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