CASH ON DEMAND

Peter Cushing and Andre Morrell

CASH ON DEMAND (1961). Director: Quentin Lawrence.

Harry Fordyce (Peter Cushing of Frankenstein Created Woman) is a tight-assed manager of a local bank. One afternoon into the bank walks amiable Colonel Gore Hepburn (Andre Morell of The Plague of the Zombies), who represents the firm of Home and Mercantile, which provides security for the bank. Once Fordyce and Hepburn are ensconced in the former's office, Fordyce receives a desperate phone call from his wife, who tells him that she and their little boy are being held prisoner. Hepburn then coolly tells him that if he wants the woman and child to live, he must help him rob the bank ... Cash on Demand is not only suspenseful, but beautifully acted by the two principals and the rest of the cast. It even manages a moment or two of pathos. It is a real and rare treat to watch those fine actors Cushing and Morell work together. Quentin Lawrence also directed the delightful Crawling Eye/Trollenberg Terror.

Verdict: A little gem from Hammer studios. ***.