
Blue Streak
1999
Two bank robbers, Dennis and Hal, are on the run from the police after a successful heist. Needing somewhere to hide the loot, they turn to a funeral parlour where they stash the cash in Hal's recently-deceased mother's coffin. Taking the coffin, they turn to Hal's father and hide it in the bathroom of his hotel. Before long the hotel is host to the eccentric Inspector Truscott.
Silvio Narizzano
Inspector Truscott
Nurse Fay McMahon
Hal
Mr. McLeavy
Dennis
Mr. Bateman
10/21/2022
6/10
I have seen this play on stage a few times and I must say that it really does work better there. On screen, even though that does allow for greater location flexibility, the story/farce is just a little too undercooked and slapstick here for my liking. It all centres around "Hal" (Roy Holder) and his pal "Dennis" (Hywel Bennett) who have managed to rob a bank. One works in a funeral parlour, so they hit on the idea of stashing their ill-gotten gains in an as yet unoccupied coffin and to lie low for a while. Hot on their trail is the razor-sharp, wandering-handed, "Insp. Truscott" (Richard Attenborough) and as their secret proves difficult to keep, they have to manage the venal expectations of nurse "Fay" (Lee Remick) too. Like so many of it's genre, the humour is very visual and unsophisticated. Again, on stage that exudes a certain adult pantomime feel to it. On screen, that misses much more often than it hits and the pair of them carrying around their cash in the altogether whilst delivering some rather crude, innuendo-ridden, dialogue smacked more of a "Carry On Coffin" type affair. The ending has a twist and that does raise a smile and Milo O'Shea injects a gentle mischief now and again, but that's not enough to carry the rest of this rather crass and mediocre comedy drama.
1999
1968
2003
2006
1995
1969
1997
1984
1975
1999
2009
2000
2001
1985
2008
2023
2002
2008
2004
1995