A Prize Of Arms [1962] [DVD]

Product Information

Which ARMS is, from beginning to end, epitomizing the heist thriller where two British crooks with one German undercover-infiltrate a British military compound before an overseas mission since the armory will be loaded with cash... all for the taking... A PRIZE OF ARMS is quite similar stylistically to Stanley Baker's HELL DRIVERS, although not quite as good as that movie. It's an engaging little piece that tells of a trio of crooks who set an elaborate plan into action to rob an army payroll. The plan involves them infiltrating an army camp and posing as soldiers before they truly set the wheels in motion.

Foreign policy is about to send a division of soldiers overseas to a hot spot. This means, of course, that a sizable sum of money is assembled at the base camp -- you may send a British soldier to die, but you don't hold up his pay. Stanley Baker, Helmut Schmid and Tom Bell have assembled to rob the army with an enormously clever plan.

Sharing his enthusiasm for the gigantic snatch are old Army colleagues Swavek (Helmut Schmid), a Polish explosives expert, and Fenner (Tom Bell), a daring young stop-at-nothing driver. For the rest of the day they try to integrate themselves into the workings of the base, including being vaccinated for Overseas service, to avoid attracting attention. As night falls, they change into military police uniforms and head for the pay headquarters again, announcing on arrival that they have had reports of a fire. They begin searching the rooms. Bird Man of Alcatraz, The (1962) Burt Lancaster played the famous 'Bird Man' Robert Stroud, a man serving a life sentence at Alcatraz who takes comfort… Play Dirty (1969) Captain Douglas (Michael Caine) is a British Petroleum executive assigned to work with the British Army in North Africa during…

This makes for tight, focused story-telling throughout, with no time for the usual romantic sub-plots and the like to pad out the storyline. In fact, there are no actresses in the film whatsoever. The use of a flamethrower in some crucial scenes also makes for novelty value and this feels way ahead of its time in that respect. Zoli is also known for its excellent barrels, an art perfected while manufacturing and regulating double-barrel rifles, which is notoriously demanding. Building upon the success of existing clay guns, Zoli continues to introduce new models with the latest features sought by shooters to enhance their shooting experience, and hopefully increase their scores. The troops are being drafted overseas to the Middle East, which accounts for the large amount of cash now being held at the camp. “When you’re sending an army abroad, you can’t send a cheque after ’em. You’ve got to take the dough,” Turpin explains. Herein Bell's bitter thus unpredictable personality enhances an already built-in nervy pace that... directed by veteran Cliff Owen with a story by Nicolas Roeg... has very little downtime as the eclectic uniform-clad gang shuffle through separate sections of the compound to undo various contraptions -- for the overall mission to work as a whole...British films from this period tended to lag behind their American counterparts on many levels and a common criticism was that "British cinema was radio with pictures" . It's interesting this film was released a couple of years before ZULU which even today is probably the epitome of what can be termed British Hollywood and that several cast members , Baker ,Magee and Edwards featured in both films , but in its own way A PRIZE OF ARMS is low key but an involving heist thriller

Once everyone is out, Schmid, the explosives man hits the safe while Baker pulls out a flamethrower that they had hidden beforehand with the gasoline filled extinguishers. Bell watches the outside door as Schmid blows the safe and Baker flames the place. Once they have the cash bagged up, they load it on a stretcher. Perfect Friday (1970) This little-known swinging 60s caper film sees Stanley Baker in fine form as uptight deputy bank manager Mr Graham who… The three plan the operation with meticulous thoroughness using an old garage and its environs as a sort of assault course to practice with a flame thrower and explosives to perfect their grand plan.The trio, now dressed as Military Police, burst into the payroll office. They tell the guard and staff that they had a call about smoke. They start to search the building grabbing up the extinguishers they brought in earlier. These are actually filled with gasoline. They start several fires in empty rooms etc. When the smoke hits the main office they tell everyone to exit and hit the alarm to the fire brigade. The alarm of course does not go through as the wires had been cut earlier. This nail-biter is an underrated and overlooked 60s heist movie that I thoroughly recommend catching. Eva (1962) Stanley Baker is Tyvian Jones, a successful Welsh novelist living the fast life in Italy, whose burgeoning career and marriage… The Z-Sport HR, with 32in barrels, weighed a shade over 8½lb with two extended chokes fitted, and is 50 1 / 8 in long. The barrels are sufficiently light at 3½lb to give an almost neutral point of balance just ¼in (6mm) ahead of the hinge trunnions. This is an achievement and ensures the weight falls directly between the hands, helping the gun feel lighter than it is and be responsive. It handled smoothly and was not flighty.

A PRIZE OF ARMS - 1962 Stanley Baker, Tom Bell and Helmut Schimd headline this gritty heist film from the UK. The trio have a plan to hit an Army payroll office for a cool 100,000 pounds. The base troops are being shipped off to the mid-east on a political emergency.

That's the plan anyway, led by square-jawed no-nonsense Stanley Baker as a stern ex-officer partnered with British bad boy (and new guy/wiring expert) Tom Bell, who usually fitfully portrays thugs that argue with their superiors...