While the Three Stooges were mostly dead by 1974, the film really seems as if it would have worked better with them (probably before they died...but either way). After all, instead of a clever and subtle comedy, "The Bank Shot" ends up being a kooky one...a kooky one that just doesn't quite work. The film definitely was meant to be a comedy...but it's so over-the-top at times that I think it would elicit more groans than laughs. Oddly, however, the film does NOT feature comedians. If you're going to do a kooky caper film, why pick George C. Scott (a definitely unfunny sort of guy) to star in the film?! And, why add those giant bushy Cookie Monster-like eyebrows to him? Is this supposed to somehow make him funny? Given the right material and direction it still might have worked...such as his performance in Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove". But here in "The Bank Shot"...it's just disappointing.
The story begins with Walter (Scott) in prison for bank robbery. His idiotic friend, Al (Sorrell Booke), arrives posing as Walter's lawyer. Why? Because he knows of a bank that is just waiting to be robbed...and he wants Walter to escape and then mastermind the robbery. Well, considering EVERYONE is incredibly stupid in the story, it's amazingly easy for Walter to just leave prison. In fact, that's a HUGE weakness of the story....everyone is stupid and behaves stupidly. And, they are so inept it wouldn't take a criminal mastermind to organize this caper!
It turns out that a bank is undergoing renovations and the bank is being temporarily housed in a mobile home. Walter's plan isn't to hold up the bank in the traditional way, but steal the entire bank! Can they get away with it? And, is anyone in the film actually smarter than a tomato?
A different actor in the lead and/or a different director who understands subtlety, as well as a re-write might have made the story work well. But as it is, it's just a kooky time-passer starring one of the greatest actors of his day...in a film completely ill-suited for his talents. A few funny moments...but only a few.
By the way, in one scene the police are shown backing all their vehicles up a long distance. If you look at the pedestrians, you can actually tell that they just ran the film backwards...as they are walking backwards as well as the cars. I'm not sure if this was deliberate...or they were incompetent.
The story begins with Walter (Scott) in prison for bank robbery. His idiotic friend, Al (Sorrell Booke), arrives posing as Walter's lawyer. Why? Because he knows of a bank that is just waiting to be robbed...and he wants Walter to escape and then mastermind the robbery. Well, considering EVERYONE is incredibly stupid in the story, it's amazingly easy for Walter to just leave prison. In fact, that's a HUGE weakness of the story....everyone is stupid and behaves stupidly. And, they are so inept it wouldn't take a criminal mastermind to organize this caper!
It turns out that a bank is undergoing renovations and the bank is being temporarily housed in a mobile home. Walter's plan isn't to hold up the bank in the traditional way, but steal the entire bank! Can they get away with it? And, is anyone in the film actually smarter than a tomato?
A different actor in the lead and/or a different director who understands subtlety, as well as a re-write might have made the story work well. But as it is, it's just a kooky time-passer starring one of the greatest actors of his day...in a film completely ill-suited for his talents. A few funny moments...but only a few.
By the way, in one scene the police are shown backing all their vehicles up a long distance. If you look at the pedestrians, you can actually tell that they just ran the film backwards...as they are walking backwards as well as the cars. I'm not sure if this was deliberate...or they were incompetent.