The defence The Big-Idea Head
“Form is the argument.”
Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.
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Cash on Demand
Crime · Drama · Thriller · 1961
A charming but ruthless criminal holds the family of a bank manager hostage as part of a cold-blooded plan to steal £90,000.
Movie details
Cash on Demand
“How to rob a bank... and get away with it?”
1961 Crime · Drama · Thriller 1h 20m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.6 / 10
Community rating
A charming but ruthless criminal holds the family of a bank manager hostage as part of a cold-blooded plan to steal £90,000.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Cash on Demand?
For the defence
The Big-Idea Head
“You watch with your brain, not your gut.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
The Night of the Hunter
Crime · 1955
In Depression-era West Virginia, a serial-killing preacher hunts two young children who know the whereabouts of a stash of money.
Odds Against Tomorrow
Crime · 1959
An old-time crook plans a heist. When one of his two partners is found out to be a black man tensions flare.
Robbery
Crime · 1967
In this fictionalised account of the Great Train Robbery, career criminal Paul Clifton plans an audacious crime: the robbery of a mail train carrying millions in cash.
Pushover
Crime · 1954
A police detective falls for the bank robber's girlfriend he is supposed to be tailing.
Cassandra's Dream
Crime · 2007
The tale of two brothers with serious financial woes. When a third party proposes they turn to crime, things go bad and the two become enemies.
Straight Time
Crime · 1978
After being released on parole, a burglar attempts to go straight, get a regular job, and just go by the rules. He soon finds himself back in jail at the hands of a power-hungry parole officer.
Shadow of a Doubt
Thriller · 1943
In sleepy Santa Rosa, restless young Charlie’s world brightens when her sophisticated Uncle Charlie arrives for a long visit. But as his behavior grows increasingly strange, she begins to suspect that her beloved uncle may be hiding a terrible secret—and that danger has quietly entered her home.
Killshot
Crime · 2008
Beautiful Carmen Colson and her ironworker husband Wayne are placed in the Federal Witness Protection program after witnessing an "incident". Thinking they are at last safe, they are targeted by an experienced hit man and a psychopathic young upstart killer.
Crime Wave
Crime · 1953
Reformed parolee Steve Lacey is caught in the middle when a wounded former cellmate seeks him out for shelter. The other two former cellmates then attempt to force him into doing a bank job.
Criss Cross
Crime · 1949
An armored-car guard must join a robbery after being caught with his ex-wife by her gangster husband.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Quentin Lawrence
Written by
Lewis Greifer · David T. Chantler
Peter Cushing
Harry Fordyce
André Morell
Colonel Gore Hepburn
Richard Vernon
Pearson
Norman Bird
Arthur Sanderson
Kevin Stoney
Detective Inspector Mason
B
Barry Lowe
Peter Harvill
Edith Sharpe
Miss Pringle
Court is in session
Put Cash on Demand on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Technique in search of a pulse.”
Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.