A Prize of Arms

Stanley Baker is the aptly named "Turpin" in this heist caper. He, alongside his pals "Swavek" (Helmut Schmid) and "Fenner" (Tom Bell) come up with plan to swipe the payroll from an heavily guarded army barracks. The plan is pretty ingenious and relies largely on the sheer brassed-necked audacity of ... the plan. So many people in uniform; coming and going; slipshod security checks; nobody really wanting to check up too closely on any one else... Surely they've a fighting chance of success? Well it takes way too long to get going and there are simply too many distractions in the plot to sustain the interest. Baker usually has an effectively snappy method of delivering his dialogue, and that works a bit here but for the most part it's all just a bit busy without achieving very much. Plenty of pyrotechnics on show; especially at the end but it's, sadly, a film I don't know that I'd bother watching again. read more