This was an unusual film noir, that has an interesting crime, but is more noteworthy for its history.
The story is about four veterans who are home from the war and taking advantage of the G. I. bill to get a college education. Al, Brick, Roy and Ronnie are a tight knit group, no less for their shared experience serving our country overseas, but also being older and trying to navigate college amongst younger and more innocent kids. The film starts on a school break with the four friends taking a little trip to blow off some steam in Reno. They end up at Harold's Club...which is noisy and packed (wonderful film footage of this famous casino both inside and out, they had an elevator car park where man operated lifts moved your car into spots in a tightly packed vertical garage).
Once they return to campus we get a taste of their college life...including some of the extracurricular activities like a nightclub where Al's lovely girlfriend, played by the young and fresh on the scene Kim Novak, sings. Then, thanks to their visit to Harold's and the taunt that no one could rob it, Ronnie comes up with a fool proof plan to rob Harold's only to return the money...just to prove it can be done.
It's a fairly simple plan that involves a recording on a reel to reel (another little bit of history), the manufacturing of a money cart like those used at Harold's, and the Wild West costumes which will blend in to their frontier days an annual Wild West event held at Harold's.
The costumes are great and the history (including dealing with PTSD) even better. Kim Novak is in fine form and worth seeing...also, this film introduced me to Guy Madison. He was incredibly handsome and did a wonderful job playing the role of Al...the level headed one, who had a bright future to look forward to. I am looking forward to checking out more films starting Guy Madison...the rising star in the 1950's.
This is a big recommendation from me, although I would call it noir-light as it doesn't seem to have done of the elements that you might expect in a film noir film. I would recommend this to fans of heist films, WWII buffs, history buffs, and fans of casinos or the casino lifestyle...oh! And Kim Novak fans, of course.
The story is about four veterans who are home from the war and taking advantage of the G. I. bill to get a college education. Al, Brick, Roy and Ronnie are a tight knit group, no less for their shared experience serving our country overseas, but also being older and trying to navigate college amongst younger and more innocent kids. The film starts on a school break with the four friends taking a little trip to blow off some steam in Reno. They end up at Harold's Club...which is noisy and packed (wonderful film footage of this famous casino both inside and out, they had an elevator car park where man operated lifts moved your car into spots in a tightly packed vertical garage).
Once they return to campus we get a taste of their college life...including some of the extracurricular activities like a nightclub where Al's lovely girlfriend, played by the young and fresh on the scene Kim Novak, sings. Then, thanks to their visit to Harold's and the taunt that no one could rob it, Ronnie comes up with a fool proof plan to rob Harold's only to return the money...just to prove it can be done.
It's a fairly simple plan that involves a recording on a reel to reel (another little bit of history), the manufacturing of a money cart like those used at Harold's, and the Wild West costumes which will blend in to their frontier days an annual Wild West event held at Harold's.
The costumes are great and the history (including dealing with PTSD) even better. Kim Novak is in fine form and worth seeing...also, this film introduced me to Guy Madison. He was incredibly handsome and did a wonderful job playing the role of Al...the level headed one, who had a bright future to look forward to. I am looking forward to checking out more films starting Guy Madison...the rising star in the 1950's.
This is a big recommendation from me, although I would call it noir-light as it doesn't seem to have done of the elements that you might expect in a film noir film. I would recommend this to fans of heist films, WWII buffs, history buffs, and fans of casinos or the casino lifestyle...oh! And Kim Novak fans, of course.