{"id":14038,"date":"2016-08-19T02:38:59","date_gmt":"2016-08-19T06:38:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=14038"},"modified":"2016-08-19T03:25:16","modified_gmt":"2016-08-19T07:25:16","slug":"dvd-cash-on-demand-1961","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=14038","title":{"rendered":"DVD: Cash On Demand (1961)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IconsOfSuspense\"Film<\/strong>:\u00a0Excellent<\/p>\n

Transfer<\/strong>: \u00a0Very Good<\/p>\n

Extras<\/strong>: n\/a<\/p>\n

Label:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Sony<\/a><\/p>\n

Region:<\/strong>\u00a01 (NTSC)<\/p>\n

Released:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0April 6, 2010<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Suspense \/ Cime \/ Caper \/ Drama<\/p>\n

Synopsis:<\/strong>\u00a0A martinet bank president\u00a0is forced to aide a slick thief rob his own branch in less than 90 minutes.<\/p>\n

Special Features:<\/strong>\u00a0 (none)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

Review:<\/strong><\/p>\n

During the 1950s and early 1960s, Britain\u2019s Hammer Films produced blazing colour horror movies\u00a0based on classic Universal monsters \u2013 vampires, mummies, werewolves \u2013 and chilling occult thrillers, but amid these sexier productions were suspense-dramas grounded in reality. Anchor Bay licensed a few more than 10 years ago, including the mob-themed drama The Frightened City<\/a><\/strong> (1961) with Sean Connery playing a thug, and one of Val Guest\u2019s best films, the failed heist \/police procedural drama Hell is a City<\/a> <\/strong>(1959), headlined by the great Stanley Baker and shot largely on location in Manchester.<\/p>\n

Cash on Demand<\/strong> (released by Sony as part of the 3-disc set Icons of Suspense: Hammer Films) \u00a0is another small suspense-drama that\u2019s lesser-known, even though it stars Peter Cushing in a non-horror Hammer production. Like Fightened City<\/strong>, Hammer kept the budget low and running time brief, and hiring a wealth of talent from television.<\/p>\n

Writers David T. Chantler (The Adventures of Superman<\/strong>, The Invaders<\/a><\/strong>) and Lewis Greifer (Emergency-Ward 10<\/strong>, Doctor Who<\/strong>) adapted Jacques Gillies\u2019 play, while director Quentin Lawrence tackled the drama in real-time, making the whole endeavour unfold like a taut live teleplay. Lawrence directed very few feature films \u2013 the massive bulk of his work involved teleplays and episodic TV \u2013 but Cash<\/strong> shows his adeptness for pacing and ratcheting up intensity through tight edits, claustrophobic close-ups, and choreographing the dynamics of a fine cast.<\/p>\n

Cushing plays bank president Harry Fordyce as a severely retentive martinet, applying the white glove test to everything within his reach and gaze, and subjecting employees to a strict code that could easily get them fired for an inflated infraction, as happens to second-in-command Pearson, played by the ever-reliable Richard Vernon (Goldfinger<\/strong>, TV\u2019s Persuasion<\/strong>, Roll Over Beethoven<\/strong>). A ten pound slight almost ensures his dismissal days before Christmas until security inspector Col. Gore Hepburn (Andre Morell) arrives unannounced, and within a few minutes manages to completely control Fordyce with threats of brutal torture to his family if his needs aren\u2019t followed to a similar code of absolute fidelity.<\/p>\n

The drama within Cash<\/strong> rolls between various ironies \u2013 Fordyce\u2019s survival depends on Pearson\u2019s cooperation and sympathy; Hepburn reduces Fordyce to a Pearsonian weakling; and Fordyce\u2019s ability to instill fear and loyalty among his core staff is severely weakened \u2013 but it doesn\u2019t take long to realize Gillies\u2019 play is an extremely clever spin on Charles Dickens\u2019 A Christmas Carol<\/strong>. Like Scrooge, Fordyce is a cold-hearted miser with no friends who shuns staff joy and is perfectly willing to stomp out Christmas because it\u2019s irrelevant to the efficiency of business, if not illogical.<\/p>\n

Lessons are learned by the end, and while the finale doesn\u2019t have Fordyce hugging the staff under Christmas decorations, it shows him bending a little, <\/em>which is more realistic. Like his performance in the 1954 BBC Sunday Night Theatre<\/strong> TV production of George Orwell\u2019s 1984<\/a><\/strong>, Cushing is superb, realizing Fordyce\u2019s arc from imperious ruler to a more enlightened, professionally humiliated president. In the final scene, Fordyce\u2019s willingness to celebrate the season with his employees comes from a state of shell-shock, and there\u2019s no guarantee of whether he\u2019ll be a greater participant or a no-show.<\/p>\n

Morell had shared screen time with Cushing in Hammer\u2019s elegant version of Arthur Conan Doyle\u2019s The Hound of the Baskervilles<\/a> <\/strong>(1959), and this pairing features a vastly different dynamic. Morell\u2019s Hepburn relishes the emotional, professional, and physical blows given to Fordyce –\u00a0 as a crook, he\u2019s more amiable with the staff than their wealthy overlord \u2013 and he clearly enjoys turning the power structure upside-down with a simple threat: ‘Do exactly as I say, or the missus will have her memory fried beyond recovery by accomplices.’<\/p>\n

Fordyce is warned not to take Hepburn\u2019s natural charm and wit for granted, which Morell conveys in\u00a0equal measures, switching from being loud and witty to hushed and steely-eyed. It\u2019s a great performance which both star Cushing and director Lawrence allow to ebb and flow, while the secondary cast watch from an apprehensive distance as closed door, executive machinations morph into suspiciously odd events.<\/p>\n

The final wrap-up may be a little neat, but Hepburn\u2019s ongoing gloating and his convincing lies to Fordyce sublimate any audience doubting of the power dynamics as Fordyce struggles to explain to the police and colleagues of his predicament and innocence in the finale.<\/p>\n

Sony\u2019s transfer is fine \u2013 there\u2019s a bit of obvious compression, as the film shares space on a dual layer disc with Stop Me Before I Kill<\/strong> (1960) \u2013 but the lack of extras ensure this non-horror gem within the Hammer catalogue remains an unexplained oddity; one suspects Hammer\u2019s reasons for pursuing non-horror material was simply good business sense: broadening the release slate, and albeit with sometimes lower budgets, allowing contract stars to indulge in other genres, keeping them happy as Hammer plotted out further monster sequels to exploit its star players.<\/p>\n

Titles in Sony’s Icons of Suspense Collection include Stop Me Before I Kill! \/ <\/strong>aka The Full Treatment\u00a0<\/strong>(1960), Cash on Demand<\/strong> (1961), The Snorkel<\/strong> (1958), Never Take Candy from a Stranger<\/strong> (1960), and These are the Damned<\/strong> (1962).<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2016 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

External References:<\/strong>
\nEditor’s Blog<\/a> — IMDB<\/a> \u00a0— \u00a0Composer Filmography<\/a>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nVendor Search Links:<\/strong>
\nAmazon.ca<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.com<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During the 1950s and early 1960s, Britain\u2019s Hammer Films produced blazing colour horror movies based on classic Universal monsters \u2013 vampires, mummies, werewolves \u2013 and chilling occult thrillers, but amid these sexier productions were suspense-dramas grounded in reality…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[4519,4580,2959,4579,2322,4583,4582,4581],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-3Eq","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14038"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14038"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14072,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14038\/revisions\/14072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}