Wonderfully offbeat film!

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

A film about a complicated bank robbery. Doesn't sound too exciting does it? It starts very well with particularly stylish look and intriguing set up. The surprising thing is, that it continues like this throughout. Some complain about Peter Hall's 'clumsy' direction and I admit there are one or two moments when you wonder, why he did this or that but in the main its fine. I also imagined the robbery might get a bit tedious but no and we even get some humour, which considering how well Warner and Andress deal with it, we could perhaps have done with some more. But no matter, Andress shines throughout this film and the fact that she is naked for a lot of it is simply a bonus. Stanley Baker works very well with her, I wasn't sure about bed scenes with the pair of them, but its all good and this has to be one of his very best performances. Warner is maybe the only person who is a bit inconsistent but then considering the personae he has to convey he can be forgiven.

I did enjoy the script tight like Urusla's thighs, razor sharp dialogue, the love triangle, the comedy and the build up. One will see the ending from a mile, another won't see it coming at all. The fact it's shot in the money crazed city of London adds to the experience. Also the portrayal of the English-men with all their pretentiousness and stiffness in all the wrong places makes it a rewarding poke. The movie is directed with a swiss watchmaker's precision, twists and turns abound and it's just plain old fun, fun, fun! Clearly the cast, the writer and the director all wink towards the viewer and if you fail to notice you'll die of boredom.

In the first half, the elliptical narrative is very confusing for a first-time viewer; throughout the movie, the direction is sometimes unnecessarily gimmicky, employing fast cutting and close-ups a little too often. Still, the movie has some truly suspenseful set pieces (where you're afraid that even an accidental "wrong" glance may destroy everything), several nude scenes with Ursula Andress and a kicker of an ending. Much better than "Dollars" with Warren Beatty. (**1/2)

An excellent, intricate bank heist involving three uneasy partners (baker, andress and warner) who plot a raid on the vaults of baker's firm. The plan is aborted on several tries amidst great tension, until the elements finally fall into place on a "perfect friday". The added suspense of who will double cross who, along with a great finale, make for a fun film that has aged well in the subsequent hi-tech