Armored Car Robbery in the no frills style of noir that characterized RKO Studios is the story of just that. The execution and then police investigation of the robbery is subject of this film. It plays like an episode of Criminal Intent with the action shifting back and forth from the cops as represented by Charles McGraw and the crooks headed by William Talman.
He's quite a piece of work in this film, Talman. He's proud of the fact that he's never even been pinched for anything, hence he's not on anyone's radar. His three accomplices, Steve Brodie, Gene Evans, and Douglas Fowley can't say that however.
Also in the mix is the high maintenance stripper wife of the luckless Fowley. That would be Adele Jergens who split these kind of parts with Marie Windsor. Jergens has been trading up and Fowley would like to get the guy she's been cheating on him with. He doesn't have a clue that it's Talman.
The Armored Car Robbery takes place in front of Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, it's the last stop on the route. That Wrigley Field was also named for the same guy who owned the Chicago Cubs and was the home of the Triple A Los Angeles Angels franchise of the Pacific Coast League. It's gone now, but just like the friendly confines in Chicago, LA's Wrigley Field was situated in a residential neighborhood as you see in the film.
The robbery is successful, but Fowley is wounded and McGraw's partner is killed. Then the tension builds. McGraw is tough and smart, but Talman is ruthless and no fool. It all ends in quite a nice shootout climax.
Like last year's The Town which also featured a robbery of a ballpark, Armored Car Robbery doesn't quite have that film's budget. But RKO studios specialized in getting these kind of films done right and tight. Armored Car Robbery is a great example of what this studio specialized in.
