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From Amazon.co.uk
Bernard, Harry and Alfie are three charming but unsuccessful crooks who smash and grab tactics rarely come off. On their way for another stint behind bars they see the traffic part for an on call fire engine and hatch a new plan. Upon their release they set out to acquire a fire engine to use as the perfect getaway vehicle on a jewelry robbery. But when they are mistaken for real firemen their plan slowly begins to unravel. When Harry gets scared by the appearance of the police he accidentally runs into a dress salons changing room. He meets the beautiful Chantal who might just hold the key to finally pulling off a successful heist.
Product Description
United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), English ( Subtitles ), WIDESCREEN (1.85:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Interactive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: Three losing crooks are featured as Stooge-like misfits (sans slapstick) in this conventional comedy by director Michael Truman. Bernard (Dave King) is the ringleader, while Harry and Alfie (Daniel Massey and Norman Rossington) do their best to contribute to the trio's success -- and fail each time. First the group screw up their escape after a robbery because they are stuck in traffic by a fire engine. That gives them the idea of getting a fire engine to pull off a heist, and that goes wrong because they are detoured to a real fire. Next, they recruit an ex-fireman with a record for setting blazes himself (Robert Morley) in the hopes that a decoy fire can take attention away from the bank they want to rob. With their batting average, the bank seems fairly safe. ...Go to Blazes
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful
By William Taylor
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
A lovely perfect crisp and sharp DVD transfer of this relatively obscure 1962 comedy, in excellent colour and widescreen.
It's a gentle, typically British comedy concerning a trio of bumbling, likeable crooks who decide to use a fire engine as their perfect get away vehicle! Sounds completely daft I know, but it somehow seems plausible in the context of this story. A great cast is featured with a host of familiar faces, Robert Morley, Daniel Massey, Dennis Price, Norman Rossington, and a very young Maggie Smith. Derek Nimmo appears amusingly in a cameo role as an agitated young man whose flat has been flooded and who foolishly enlists the aid of our heroes to pump out the water! Coral Browne is her usual camp self as the proprietress of an ailing fashion house which ultimately serves as a base for the bank robbery.
The film also has some very interesting London location filming, showing both the Hammersmith Flyover and the Barbican estate during the course of construction, and the period touch I always like to see, trolleybus wires over the streets in the opening scenes! Many of the exterior shots were obviously filmed on a large studio set, which I'm pretty sure was the same one used for Cliff Richard's "The Young Ones" made the same year. It looked very familiar to me.
I can't really recall any other comedy having this theme, apart from Will Hay's 1939 "Where's that fire?", not on DVD unfortunately. Another film I can recommend without reservation, 100% entertaining and nostalgia for all of us of the very highest quality.
It's a gentle, typically British comedy concerning a trio of bumbling, likeable crooks who decide to use a fire engine as their perfect get away vehicle! Sounds completely daft I know, but it somehow seems plausible in the context of this story. A great cast is featured with a host of familiar faces, Robert Morley, Daniel Massey, Dennis Price, Norman Rossington, and a very young Maggie Smith. Derek Nimmo appears amusingly in a cameo role as an agitated young man whose flat has been flooded and who foolishly enlists the aid of our heroes to pump out the water! Coral Browne is her usual camp self as the proprietress of an ailing fashion house which ultimately serves as a base for the bank robbery.
The film also has some very interesting London location filming, showing both the Hammersmith Flyover and the Barbican estate during the course of construction, and the period touch I always like to see, trolleybus wires over the streets in the opening scenes! Many of the exterior shots were obviously filmed on a large studio set, which I'm pretty sure was the same one used for Cliff Richard's "The Young Ones" made the same year. It looked very familiar to me.
I can't really recall any other comedy having this theme, apart from Will Hay's 1939 "Where's that fire?", not on DVD unfortunately. Another film I can recommend without reservation, 100% entertaining and nostalgia for all of us of the very highest quality.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By Chris
Format:DVD
This film is one of my childhood favourites and I have been waiting a long time for its release on DVD as I keep missing it whenever it is on TV, Although the DVD is not released as yet and I cannot comment on the features of that etc, The film is excellent with comic performances from all involved especially a young Maggie Smith, Robert Morley is excellent as always along with all the other cast. definitely a worthwhile film and I am hoping my kids will enjoy it just as much as me.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By Bakerlite 47
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have to agree with everything Chris says, have also been waiting a long time for it's release. This very good film has rarely been on tv and to my knowledge not for many years. A Fire Engine may not be the best getaway vehicle after all.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
ANOTHER BRITISH GEM
This is another British gem, a comedy from the early sixties, with a cast of pure talent from the period. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Graham
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fun film
The concept of inept villains robbing something badly and then not getting away with it is one so used in the canon of British cinema that one can only marvel at what foreign... Read more
Published 2 months ago by The Great Elmyra
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fun
As they say - they dont make 'em like that any more' and they dont.
Clean, simple madcap fun from an era where humour didnt rely on sex or violence or cruel sarcasm.
Clean, simple madcap fun from an era where humour didnt rely on sex or violence or cruel sarcasm.
Published 3 months ago by Mre B. Benham
5.0 out of 5 stars
Still good after all these years.
Funny, clean and good. That sums up this dvd. It may be old but it is funny the way films used to be, no bad language whatsoever, a film for all the family... 5 stars from me.
Published 5 months ago by P. D. Willetts
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nostalgic comedy
Like other reviewers, this is one of my childhood favourites and the sort of thing I would watch, in black and white, on Sunday afternoon TV. Read more
Published 5 months ago by R. J. de Bulat
5.0 out of 5 stars
Go to blazes
Good old fashioned English humour,some carry on stars and other great comedians ,help to make this a funny film great for all the family
Published 5 months ago by paul pippard
4.0 out of 5 stars
A little dated now but worth a watch
I showed this film many years ago when I used to work as a projectionist at the Odeon cinema in Chelsea London, at that time I found it very funny and it has remained in my memmory... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Keith Phillips
3.0 out of 5 stars
Widescreen Hmm
Just a quickie to let buyers know that this isn't a 16:9 widescreen disc, at least the copy I received wasn't. Read more
Published 7 months ago by spectrus
5.0 out of 5 stars
go to blazes
its a very good film with some old faces in will watch it again dave king is very good as is robert morley.
Published 9 months ago by T. J. French
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic British Comedy In The Ealing Studios Tradition
I've looked out for this comedy gem on DVD on a regular basis for many years and at last it's here. Normally I wait a while for the prices to come down once the interest has... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Copnovelist
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