moonspinner55 Incarcerated thief--with a colorful rap-sheet of offenses--is tipped off by a former crony about a little bank near Los Angeles just waiting to be robbed; he breaks out of prison and surveys the bank in question, deciding it would be better to make off with the entire mobile building rather than just the safe. Scrappy adaptation of Donald E. Westlake's novel (a follow-up to his similarly-themed "The Hot Rock", itself filmed in 1972), this half-assed comedy-caper is poorly photographed and directed, but does benefit from energetic supporting players and some mild laughs in the opening. It falls apart after an hour or so, with George C. Scott (sporting exaggerated eyebrows and a peculiar, Ed Wynn-like speaking voice) badly miscast in the lead. *1/2 from ****

Woodyanders Crusty criminal mastermind Walter Upjohn Ballantine (a marvelously grouchy performance by George C. Scott) breaks out of prison and devises a wild plan to rob a bank by stealing the whole building (!). The big gig goes off without a hitch, but the aftermath of said gig goes disastrously awry. Meanwhile, gruff, hard-nosed Warden Streiger (a deliciously broad portrayal by veteran character actor Clifton James) tries to nab Ballantine before he gets away. Director Gower Champion, working from a tight and witty script by Wendell Mayes, relates the engagingly wacky story at a constant zippy pace and maintains a properly zany tone throughout. The tip-top cast have a ball with their colorful roles: Scott keeps his dignity and a straight face amongst the loopy other characters, James chews up the scenery with lip-smacking gusto, ravishing redhead knockout Joanna Cassidy adds considerable sex appeal with her delightfully spunky turn as flaky'n'lusty financial backer Eleonora, plus there are nifty contributions by Sorrell Booke as Ballantine's bumbling partner Al G. Karp, Bob Balaban as Karp's eager beaver nephew Victor, Bibi Osterwald as the dotty Mums Gornik, Don Calfa as antsy driver Stosh Gornik, and Frank McRae as hot-tempered safecracker Herman X. Harry Stradling, Jr's crisp cinematography, John Morris' suitably quirky and lively score, a nice unexpected ending, and the overall infectiously goofy comic sensibility all further enhance the prevalent blithely silly charm of this immensely funny hoot.

Enchorde Recap: Karp is planning a heist. And for that he needs a true criminal mastermind, Walter Upjohn Ballentine. Problem is, Ballentine is behind bars at Steiger's Institute. And Bulldog Steiger never lets anyone escape, especially not Bellentine. However, Ballentine breaks out and heads out to LA to plan this heist. And what a plan it is... he is not about to just rob a bank. He is about to steal a bank! Comments: A very interesting idea. But the end result is just average. Why? My personal opinion is that most of the characters just pulls it down. Written as a bunch of amateurs to bring about some comic effect, I just found them disturbing. It was really Ballentine that knew what he was doing, the rest of them was mostly just dumb. I found them annoying.Well, still a good heist, and a good heist is always appreciated. So the story saves the movie. Not much more to say, really.5/10

boblipton I do not understand why the movies cannot handle Donald Westlake's comic writing. They miscast them, based on who is hot. They cut out the scenes tat might be cinematically interesting. They miss the points of all the jokes and don't understand the characters. Only when Westlake does the script -- as in THE GRIFTERS or HOT STUFF -- does the point come through. Give this a miss.