I'll watch anything with Peter Cushing in it. And the fact that I was on the lookout for classic thrillers meant there was no escape from watching
Cash on Demand (1961).
This film is a somewhat modern take on the timeless story "A Christmas Carol," where a miserly banker must learn the value of his family and employees. And time for his lesson is running out, as a conman wriggles his way into the bank manager Fordyce's (Cushing's) office, and convinces him that his wife and child will die if he does not assist the conman in emptying out the bank's bloated safe. Good thing Fordyce is a constant, fastidious pain in the ass, or his underlings would never have surmised that something fishy was underfoot. The twists and turns as Fordyce goes against his own rigid nature for the sake of his family was quite thrilling.
The conman (Andre Morell) was fantastic - he was a completely effective and entirely believable social manipulator, which was such a refreshing view of vintage criminality given that we tend to associate the term social manipulator with more modern, identify-based schemes. It was nice to see this film move beyond the stayed trope of a bad guy pointing a gun. It was much more conniving, and the thief and his methods get right under your skin.
I recommend this to all fans of Cushing or crime thrillers- it won't disappoint.
K. Rating: 4.5/5
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| Everything this man touches turns to gold |
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