The Counterfeit Plan
The Counterfeit Plan is a 1957 British crime film directed by Montgomery Tully and starring Zachary Scott and Peggie Castle.[1]
| The Counterfeit Plan | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Montgomery Tully |
| Produced by | Alec C. Snowden Richard Gordon |
| Written by | James Eastwood |
| Starring | Zachary Scott Peggie Castle |
| Cinematography | Phil Grindrod |
| Edited by | Geoffrey Mulla |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Anglo-Amalgamated (UK) Warner Bros. (US) |
Release date |
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Running time | 80 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Plot summary
A gang of criminals, led by sociopath Max Brandt (Zachary Scott), escape from France and set up a counterfeit operation to make British £5 and American $1 notes in the cellar of a large English country house now owned by Louie Bernard (Mervyn Johns). Brandt forces Bernard, who worked for the British Government during WW2 making foreign counterfeit currency, to make the master die plates by holding his daughter, Carole (Peggie Castle), an artist, as a hostage. When Bernard finds out that Brandt has tried to rape his daughter and has killed his housekeeper, Gerta (Chili Bouchier), because she witnessed the attempted rape, he anonymously posts one of the forged £5 notes to the police with a letter describing the counterfeit operation. When Brandt is told about this by Duke (Lee Patterson) he confronts Bernard. Meanwhile, the police slowly close in on the gang's headquarters.
The film features professional snooker world champion Horace Lindrum in a small role playing himself. This is used as cover for one of the meetings with other criminals to discuss the sale of the forged British £5 notes to them. Another similar meeting is camouflaged as a boxing match.
Cast
- Zachary Scott as Max Brant
- Peggie Castle as Carole Bernard
- Mervyn Johns as Louie Bernard
- Sydney Tafler as Harry Flint
- Lee Patterson as Duke
- Eric Pohlmann as Frank Wandelman
- Robert Arden as Bob Fenton
- Chili Bouchier as Gerta
- John Welsh as Police Inspector Grant
- Aubrey Dexter as Joe Lepton
- David Lodge as Sam Watson
Production
The film was the first of three between Amalgamated Productions and Anglo-Amalgamated. It was very popular in the UK.[2]
References
- The Counterfeit Plan at the BFI Database
- Tom Weaver, The Horror Hits of Richard Gordon, Bear Manor Media 2011 p 19
External links
- The Counterfeit Plan at IMDb
- The Counterfeit Plan at AllMovie
- The Counterfeit Plan at the TCM Movie Database
- The Counterfeit Plan at the American Film Institute Catalog