A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (film)
{{Short description|1979 British heist film}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox film
| name = A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
| image = A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square.jpg
| caption =
| director = Ralph Thomas
| producer = Benjamin Fisz
| writer = Guy Elmes (story and screenplay)
| starring = Richard Jordan
Oliver Tobias
David Niven
Elke Sommer
Gloria Grahame
Hugh Griffith
Richard Johnson
| music = Stanley Myers
| cinematography = John Coquillon
| editing = Peter Boita
| studio = Benjamin Fisz Productions
| distributor =
| released = {{Film date|1980|05|14|ref1={{cite news|title=Advertisement|newspaper=Evening Standard|date= 13 May 1980|page= 18}}|df=y}}
| runtime = 102 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
}}
A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square is a 1980 British heist film directed by Ralph Thomas, written by Guy Elmes and starring Richard Jordan, Oliver Tobias and David Niven. It is subtitled "based on one of the biggest robberies in London". The film takes its name from the 1940 published song "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square".
Ralph Thomas later said the film "had quite a superb cast" and "he was really quite fond" of the movie "but I didn't do it as well as I should have done because by the time we started it David was already sick, and so we had to do the best we could as quickly as we could and it didn't come off as I'd hoped. But it was still a fun film and we enjoyed making it."Collected Interviews: Voices from Twentieth-century Cinema by Wheeler W. Dixon, Southern Illinois University Press, 2001, p.113
Plot summary
Pinky (Jordan) is released from prison and has decided to go straight from now on, but takes a job as a maintenance man at a large bank, which gives him a lot of undue attention from "Ivan the Terrible" (Niven), the local hoodlum. By using Pinky, Ivan hopes to rob the bank, and Pinky starts to like the idea of going back to his old ways.
Cast
{{div col}}
- Richard Jordan as Pinky
- Oliver Tobias as Foxy
- David Niven as Ivan
- Elke Sommer as Miss Pelham
- Gloria Grahame as Ma
- Richard Johnson as Inspector Watford
- Michael Angelis as Pealer Bell
- Brian Croucher as Gregory Peck
- Edward Peel as Jack Diamond
- Peter Cartwright as Major Treadwell
- Hugh Griffith as Sid Larkin
- Davy Kaye as Sid the Yid
- John Rhys-Davies as Solicitor
- Robert Raglan as Judge
- Sally Harris as Jill
- Ewen Solon as Commander Ford
- Bruce Boa as Morgan Stanfield
- Elizabeth Adare as Barrister
{{div col end}}
Production
The film was based on a real robbery in London in 1975.{{cite news|title=Showbeat|newspaper=The Clydebank Press|date=11 May 1979|page=11}}
It was shot at Twickenham Studios and on location around London in 1979. The film's sets were designed by the art director Lionel Couch.
The movie was given a charity premiere but appears to have not been screened theatrically.{{cite news|title=TV guide|newspaper=The Guardian
|date=23 January 1981|page=20}}
Also known as
- The Big Scam
- The Biggest Bank Robbery{{Cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b74cc7bc4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171103093820/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b74cc7bc4|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 November 2017|title=The Biggest Bank Robbery (1980)|website=BFI}}
- The Mayfair Bank Caper (video title)
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|0079630|A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square}}
- {{rotten-tomatoes|a_nightingale_sang_in_berkeley_square_1979}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160610142448/http://www.britmovie.co.uk/films/A-Nightingale-Sang-in-Berkeley-Square_1979 Film page] at Britmovie
{{Ralph Thomas}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, A}}
Category:1970s English-language films
Category:Films directed by Ralph Thomas
Category:Films scored by Stanley Myers
Category:Films shot at Twickenham Film Studios
Category:English-language crime films
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{{1970s-UK-film-stub}}