The Flying Scot (film)

The Flying Scot
The Flying Scot
Directed by	Compton Bennett
Written by	Norman Hudis; Jan Read; Ralph Smart
Produced by	Compton Bennett
Starring	Lee Patterson; Kay Callard; Alan Gifford
Cinematography	Peter Hennessy
Edited by	John Trumper
Music by	Stanley Black
Release date	1957
Running time	70 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

The Flying Scot is a 1957 British crime film produced and directed by Compton Bennett and starring Lee Patterson, Kay Callard and Alan Gifford.^[1] The film was released in the U.S. as Mailbag Robbery.^[2]

Plot[]

A gang plans to steal a half-a-million pounds' worth of banknotes from an express train.

Cast[]

Lee Patterson – Ronnie
Kay Callard – Jackie
Alan Gifford – Phil
Gerald Case – Guard
– Charlie, the boy
Mark Baker – Gibbs
– Neat boy
– Father
– Drunk
John Lee – Young man
Patsy Smart – Mother
Margaret Withers – Middle-aged lady
– Drunk's Wife

Critical reception[]

TV Guide wrote, "The suspense is well built in this finely constructed feature":^[3] while Sky Movies called it "An unheralded low-budget thriller which contains twice as much suspense as many more lavish productions. Taut, crisp, with a conspicuous absence of big name stars, it is a prime example of the British B movie at its best. With a bit of Hitchcock here and a touch of Rififi there (a 15-minute sequence is acted in complete silence), the suspense is built up to a climax which leaves one hoping that just this once, crime will be allowed to pay."^[4]

It was one of 15 films selected by Steve Chibnall and Brian McFarlane in The British 'B' Film, their survey of British B films, as among the most meritorious of the B films made in Britain between World War II and 1970. They note that it was shot in just three weeks on a budget of £18,000 and describe it as "a film not just of suspense, but of real fascination".^[5]