Blueprint for Robbery

I nearly turned off after the first few minutes because the characters in the opening scenes seemed so bland. But I'm glad that I stuck with it because it turned out reasonably well, though as has been mentioned in other reviews the direction could have been sharper. And some of the acting wasn't great.

The only name that I recognised on the cast list was Robert J Wilke in a small role as a police captain; it's the only time I've seen him on the side of the law - usually he's a bad guy.

I laughed when it proved so easy to gain access to the building through an outside door, especially when there were so many security devices inside. And the hoodlums didn't hesitate before entrusting their loot to just one man for more than two years. "That's going to add very badly," I thought.

I am a great lover of caper - heist - movies. And this one is a very good as rare too. It is based on a true story, the Brink's robbery that took place in Boston in 1950. William Friedkin and Marvin Chomsky already made films about this affair.

It tells with many details how the hoods proceed to steal the bullion.

There is not really a leading character in this story, not great actors either. And it makes it more interesting.

It is however a grade B movie, shot with a tiny budget. Do not expect car chases and gunfights.

I am surprised that no other IMDb user has commented it yet.

I recommend it for those who can catch it on a TV broadcast these days.

One of my favorite films of the 70s is William Friedkin's The Brink's Job. It is a great comedy loaded with a lot of familiar character players and it's jus great fun. This fil Blueprint For Robbery takes the same story with a far different and more serious treatment.

If you've seen The Brink's Job you'll recognize quite a bit from the plot and some of the characters. The cast here isn't as well known as the other, but Bill Friedkin had quite a bit more budget to work with.

As in the other a gang is assembled all with a different skill set. The details of the caper itself follow closely with the Friedkin film. And two of the gang is looking to double cross the others.

J. Pat O'Malley who played a lot of winsome Irish character plays an old time safecracker. Robert Wilkie who played mostly villains in his career is the detective who solves the crime. A young Marion Ross has a marvelous bit as a woman seeking advice from Jay Barney who is one of the gang disguised as a priest visiting O'Malley in prison.

Blueprint For Robbery is a B picture from Paramount playing the bottom half of double bills in1961. If yo saw this with whatever feature Paramount was showing you got your money's worth.

I watched some of the scenes being filmed for this movie in 1960 when I worked at Barker Brothers warehouse. That is in Los Angeles, not Boston. The building at 530 Molina at the intersection of Palmetto Street in the Warehouse District East of Alameda Street was the location for the Brink's building. Barker Brothers warehouse is across the street from there. The scenes looking out the hotel window at the building being robbed were filmed from a furniture warehouse. You can Google the 530 address and see that the building is still there and Barker Brothers old closed warehouse which was supposed to be the hotel ground floor entrance is also still there. The building North of there was also used as the hotel exterior. The movie rings true throughout. It has good characters and many familiar character actors appearing in this fast paced black and white film. The production is not cheap but it is primitive compared to today's explosion circus atmosphere norm. I highly recommend this if you like the old Cagney/Bogart/Raft movies. Look for great old cars that were new at the time the movie was being made.

... a hard working actor and no Father Murphy in the whole of Boston, (lol)... they all fork out extra here with a high standard. Directing, camera angles and great suspense for the heist. Production is good FOR the limited budget. I don't know Boston but I suspected it was L. A.

Glad somebody mentioned the cars... love 60s cars!