DVD Review: Loot (1970)
I'm guessing that you're more familiar with the Loot soundtrack than the Loot film - the Keith Mansfield/Steve Ellis theme still keeps dancefloors busy over 35 years after its release. Does the film live up to it? Well, not entirely.
It's not a bad movie - how can a Joe Orton play, amended for TV by Galton and Simpson (Steptoe & Son/Hancock) and starring the likes of Richard Attenborough, Dick Emery, Hywel Bennett and Lee Remick be a complete disaster? It isn't - it just doesn't quite live up to expectations.
The story is all about the "loot". Two friends (Dennis and Hal - played by Hywel Bennett and Roy Holder) use the death of Hal's mother as a cover to rob a bank next door to the funeral parlour. The money is hidden in the mother's coffin, then taken back to the family home (which happens to be a hotel), But it needs moving out of the coffin and out of the house - and that's not easy with the vicious Inspector Truscott (Richard Attenborough) on the case.
Yes, it's a farce in the best traditions - over-the-top characters (including a murderous nurse, a mad copper, a surly hotel guest and a distressed widow), a dead body, bags of cash and the usual 70s smattering of smut. But as it's a farce, it's very much of that era and probably more effective as a play (where it started around six years previous).
Yet, it's still an entertaining film, with some great performances (Attenborough in particular) and driven along with a top-drawer soundtrack. No classic - and a plot that stumbles a bit near the end, but a great period piece with some very funny moments.
Did I mention the great theme tune?
Extras on the DVD:
None
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