Loot

Loot (1970)

Tagline: "The Great Nude Bank Robbery"
 
Starring: Richard Attenborough, Lee Remick, Hywel Bennett, Roy Holder, Milo O'Shea

Featured Racecourse: Brighton

Director: Silvio Narizzano
Producer: Arthur Lewis
Writers: Ray Galton & Alan Simpson (screenplay), Joe Orton (play)

Release Date: May 1970
Runtime: 101 mins

IMDB: Based on the play by Joe Orton, this film follows the adventures of two pals who have pulled off a bank robbery and have to hide the loot. Fortunately one of them works in a funeral parlor and they have a coffin to spare. Then there's the gold-digger nurse and the gonad-grabber detective and a host of other wonderful characters.

Where to Buy: Amazon
Film Links: IMDB, Wikipedia

Personal Review


Hal (Roy Holder) lives in the McLeavy hotel with his father (Milo O'Shea), his dying mother (Jean Marlow) and her nurse (Lee Remick). Hal's best pal Dennis (Hywel Bennett) works in an undertakers next to a bank and the pair of them have planned the perfect robbery. When Hals mum dies and her body is taken to the undertakers, the pals get naked and break into the bank vault next door and steal the loot which is then hidden in Mrs McLeavy's coffin. Trouble is the body won't fit in the coffin now and so begins a raucous ordeal where the boys have to conceal the body and the contents of the coffin from the hotel occupants and the bent police Inspector Truscott (Richard Attenborough) who is hot on their tail. Add to that the gold digger nurse, the grieving father Mr McLeavy and the demanding hotel guest Mr Bateman (Dick Emery) - shenanigans and buffoonery are the order of the day.

This movie was based on a Joe Orton play of the same name and Silvio Narazziano's psychadelic seventies screen adaption with it's garish hotel and funky dialogue wouldn't be out of place in an Austin Powers movie. It was good to see Richard Attenborough return to the streets of Brighton some twenty-one years after the making of 'Brighton Rock', this time playing an officer of the law as opposed to a gangster. However, Inspector Truscott, with his toothbrush moustache and strange accent, is quite violent and partial to the odd bollock grapple and nipple twist so Pinky Brown would have been quite impressed. The likeable bank robbing pals were played by Hywel Bennett (Dennis), who was probably best known for his role in the early eighties sitcom Shelley, and Roy Holder (Hal) who played Timothy Lumsden's brother-in-law Frank in the eigthties sitcom Sorry. The sexy gold digging nurse Fay was played by American actress Lee Remick and I was quite taken by Milo O'Shea who played Mr McLeavy - he had great dialogue and his facial expressions were hilarious. Finally it was great to see Dick Emery in this movie playing the demanding solitary hotel guest Mr Bateman, he didn't have many lines or scenes but what he did do was priceless - especially when he turns the TV on as the family are saying prayers around Mrs McLeavy's coffin.

We don't get to see any horse racing in this film but luckily the mock entrace to the McLeavy hotel was situated on Bear Road which is exactly opposite the Brighton racecourse home straight. There are some excellent scenes as vehicles enter and leave the hotel clearly showing the undulating and cambered home straight with the stands in the distance. There is even a car chase at the end of the film where Dennis & Hal race side by side with Truscott down the Brighton track and therefore I have taken editorial licence and decided to include this film on the website. Looking on Google maps the hotel entrance on Bear Road in the film actually leads to a road called Belle Vue Cottages - the link road to Warren Road is still visible but it's now blocked off and overgrown.

Loot is such a bizzare movie that it's actually quite funny (committing a bank robbery in the nude says it all) and it was great to see breathtaking views of Brighton racecourse as well as another glimpse of Richard Attenborough. (Rating 6/10) 

Favourite Quotes
Dennis: "I've never had a copper before"
Hal: "Well, they've had you plenty of times"


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