Despite a central role for Dick Emery, this is not so much a crime-comedy (as billed) but more of a crime-drama. The 'comedy' that does exist here is not in the form of jokes or slapstick but more in the general spectacle of this unassuming old lady who, at the cusp of her retirement, decides to mastermind a robbery.
Her early scene in the sleazy, den-of-thieves nightclub where she drinks three zombies (cocktails) is comic enough without needing jokes. It's played straight and is the better for it. Dick Emery also plays his gangster role straight which works well, he could easily have played more roles like this.
The ensuing crime as it unfolds is engaging to watch, despite having obvious cracks and flaws that the viewer can see coming a mile off, this is no Agatha Christie. But it's a cut above the usual fodder that the Danziger brothers churned out in this period and made even more watchable for being in technicolor.
It also boasts the introduction of Christine Gregg who's character courts that of actor Pete Murray (who just turned 100). Also features an early appearance from actor Anton Rodgers.
Overall it is a fairly basic crime plot, more like a TV episode than a feature film but there is an extra quality to it - almost like an episode of Tales of the Unexpected. To see this old lady so steeped in the unlikely criminal underworld gives it a feel of The Ladykillers, albeit from a near opposite angle.
If you enjoyed that or, say, the 1966 movie 'Who Killed the Cat' then you would most likely enjoy this too.
