From the Archives
Richard Fleischer directed Armored Car Robbery, a heist film noir starring Charles McGraw, Adele Jergens, and William Talman.
Armored Car Robbery tells the story of a well-planned robbery of cash from an armored car when it stops at a sports stadium. The heist goes awry and a tough Los Angeles cop sets off in pursuit of the culprits
Mastermind Dave Purvis is a professional criminal who devises a scheme to rob an armored car on its last pickup of the day. He recruits Benny McBride, who then brings Mapes & Foster.
Benny needs money because his wife Yvonne, a striptease dancer, has lost interest and is seeing another man. Unbeknownst to Benny, that man is Purvis.
The robbery, at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, begins as planned but goes badly wrong when police patrol car passes by. Purvis kills one of the officers and he and fellow robbers make their getaway.
Lt. Jim Cordell, the dead policeman’s partner, takes it upon himself to bring in his partner’s killer, throwing himself into the case with a rookie officer.
Meanwhile, Purvis’s gang unravels as distrust and paranoia build up. Benny, wounded by police during the heist, is killed by Purvis as he demands his share of the loot and attempts to seek medical help. Foster is killed by the police as the three attempt escape.
After Mapes gets away, he looks up Yvonne at the Burly Q, intending to use her as means to find Purvis, who has kept all the loot. The waiting police, however, arrest Mapes and learn of Purvis’s identity.
After further manhunt, Lt. Cordell and his team corner Purvis and Yvonne at Los Angeles Airport, and Purvis is crushed by a plane taking off as he tries to escape across the runway.
Cast
Charles McGraw as Lieutenant Jim Cordell
Adele Jergens as Yvonne LeDoux
William Talman as Dave Purvis
Douglas Fowley as Benny McBride
Steve Brodie as Al Mapes
Don McGuire as Detective Danny Ryan
Don Haggerty as detective driving final pursuit car
James Flavin as Lieutenant Phillips
Gene Evans as William ‘Ace’ Foster
