The Flying Scot is a 1957 British crime film produced and directed by Compton Bennett and starring Lee Patterson, Kay Callard and Alan Gifford.[1] The film was released in the U.S. as Mailbag Robbery.[2]
The Flying Scot | |
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Directed by | Compton Bennett |
Screenplay by | Norman Hudis |
Based on | Jan Read Ralph Smart (an original story by) |
Produced by | Compton Bennett |
Starring | Lee Patterson Kay Callard Alan Gifford |
Cinematography | Peter Hennessy |
Edited by | John Trumper |
Music by | Stanley Black |
Color process | Black and white |
Production company | Insignia Films |
Distributed by | Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors |
Release date |
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Running time | 70 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
A gang plans to steal a half-a-million pounds' worth of banknotes from an express train.
TV Guide wrote, "The suspense is well built in this finely constructed feature":[3] while Sky Movies called it "An unheralded low-budget thriller which contains twice as much suspense as many more lavish productions. Taut, crisp, with a conspicuous absence of big name stars, it is a prime example of the British B movie at its best. With a bit of Hitchcock here and a touch of Rififi there (a 15-minute sequence is acted in complete silence), and a good touch of The Window (1949) with a boy who is a liar and nobody believes him, but... the suspense is built up to a climax which leaves one hoping that just this once, crime will be allowed to pay."[4]
It was one of 15 films selected by Steve Chibnall and Brian McFarlane in The British 'B' Film, their survey of British B films, as among the most meritorious of the B films made in Britain between World War II and 1970. They note that it was shot in just three weeks on a budget of £18,000 and describe it as "a film not just of suspense, but of real fascination".[5]
The films of Compton Bennett | |
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