The Great Bank Robbery

This is a funny piece of work by Exorcist author Blatty. Hey, it has every character actor on the list in crazy situations which play off our ever-loving Western Movie stereotypes. It was done before the great ones like Blazing Saddles, Rustler's Rhapsody and The Villain. See it and judge for yourself. The cast is great and the situations amusing.

This was an excellent "escape" movie. I mean, if you wanted to escape reality for a couple of hours...this is a humorous way to escape. It truly was almost a laugh a minute. You could keep ahead of the action and guess what was coming. It did not disappoint you! It was a FUNNY movie. With all the chases going on and so many main characters to follow; it truly kept your mind occupied and kept you following the ever-changing plot lines. The inter-mingling of so many sub-plots just added to the overall effect of the movie. Just when you thought you had seen the end of the plot line, there was even more intermingling between the various groups involved in "Harmony". Does anyone know where I can buy a copy for home viewing? DC III

I actually enjoyed this. Saw it on TCM and was glad I stumbled upon it flicking the channels.

It's fun.

It's not as slapstick as BS as I said, but it entertains, and is a little deeper comedy wise than some folk give it credit for. It's meant to be very stereotypical... the story line, characters etc Only the song in the Church i felt was not needed... felt a little Disney-ish.

The lead actress Kim Novac is absolutely stunning, worth watching just to see her. Will def be looking in to other films she made. Reminded me a bit of a cross between Doris Day and Goldie Hawn.

This is one of those movies that makes some of us laugh out loud no matter how many times we watch it, while it leaves other people cold, and to my mind that's one kind of classic. Calling it a "comedy" may be a little misleading, because it's more of a live-action cartoon -- it's not so much funny as it is silly, but it's silly in ways that have as much to do with the dialog as with the physical comedy. To me it has much in common with the Marx Brothers classics. So it's rather beside the point to discuss how good the acting wasn't, when to some of us just watching Kim Novak and Clint Walker trying to do comedy is itself highly entertaining. And although it does illustrate its moral ("Crime doesn't pay"? "Cheaters never win"?) in a form suitable for children (and also teaches the valuable lesson that bad people can be acting as clergymen, but that doesn't undercut religion itself), I think adults generally enjoy this film more than kids do. But not all adults.

Warner Bros made a great PR note that Kim Novak was to star in her first Warner Bros film The Great Bank Robbery. At first when I heard it I was dismayed because Kim Novak took second billing to Zero Mostel who true to his name the fine actor had 'Zero' box office, and also because I believe Kim replaced Melina Mecouri, not a good sign for a major star of the then magnitude of Kim Novak's stardom. Also Kim Novak had just starred in the flop The Legend of Lylah Clare at MGM and I thought Kim took the first big paycheck offered to her; I was wrong. Ms Novak is gorgeous and delightful in this zany comedy directed by Hy Averback and co starring WB rugged Clint Walker along with a cast of fine character actors. This film is a delightful surprise.