Bellman and True
| Bellman and True | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Richard Loncraine |
| Produced by |
George Harrison Christopher Neame Denis O'Brien Michael Wearing |
| Written by | Desmond Lowden (from his novel) |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Colin Towns |
| Cinematography | Ken Westbury |
| Edited by | Paul Green |
| Distributed by |
Independent Television (U.K.) Island Pictures (U.S.A.) Production: Christopher Neamendmade Films |
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Release date
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1987 |
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Running time
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112 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Bellman and True is a 1987 film based on the novel of the same name by Desmond Lowden. The film was written and directed by Richard Loncraine. It stars Bernard Hill, Derek Newark and Richard Hope.
The title comes from an old Cumberland song titled "D’ye Ken John Peel," specifically the lyric:
Yes, I ken John Peel and Ruby too.
Ranter and Ringwood, Bellman and True.
From a find to a check, from a check to a view,
From a view to a death in the morning.
The title uses a pun in the term Bellman which in the film’s case refers to a criminal who specialises in disabling intruder alarm systems.
Hiller (Hill) arrives at Paddington station with The Boy (O’Brien) following a stay in Torquay. As they arrive they do not realise they are being followed by Gort (Bones) who tails them as they check into a hotel near the station. A few days later The Boy is kidnapped by Gort and Hiller is also captured and taken to a derelict house in central London where he meets up with Salto (Hope). It transpires that Hiller is a former computer programmer who stole a computer tape for Salto containing details of the security system at a bank near Heathrow Airport. The Boy is Hiller’s wife’s son and he looks after him after The Boy’s mother ran away with another man.
Hiller and The Boy are kept captive in the house while Hiller is forced to decode the information on the tape. When he succeeds Salto realises that he has all the information he needs to rob the bank. Salto obtains the necessary finance for the robbery and recruits The Guv’nor (Newark) to mastermind the robbery. During the planning stages, The Bellman (Howell) identifies that the alarm system for the bank is very sophisticated and that it has a number of safeguards to prevent it being interfered with. Hiller is able to advise on how to beat the countermeasures and is recruited as the new Bellman for the robbery. The gang decide that they will rob the bank just before Christmas when it will hold one of the largest amounts of cash in its vaults.
On the night of the robbery the gang intentionally trigger the alarm to fool the guards sent to investigate that the bank has been broken into. The guards assume the call is false whilst the gang actually use a small window of time to enter the bank allowing The Peterman (Whybrow) to determine how to access the basement area. They utilise the fact that after the fourth callout, the guards will remain in the bank with the alarm disabled until the following morning whilst the gang are in the basement breaking into the vault.
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