''The Counterfeit Plan'' is a 1957

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by

Montgomery Tully Montgomery Tully (6 May 190410 October 1988) was an Irish film director and writer. Film career Born in Dublin, Tully studied at the University of London, and originally entered the film industry as a director of documentaries. Later, Tully wo ...

and starring

Zachary Scott Zachary Scott (February 21, 1914 – October 3, 1965)Obituary '' Variety'', October 6, 1965. was an American actor who was known for his roles as villains and "mystery men". Early life Scott was born in Austin, Texas, the son of Sallie L ...

and

Peggie Castle Peggie Castle (December 22, 1927 – August 11, 1973) was an American actress who specialized in playing the "other woman" in B-movies. Castle was Miss Cheesecake in 1949. Early life Castle was born as Peggy Thomas Blair in Appalachia, Wis ...

.''The Counterfeit Plan''
at the BFI Database

Plot summary

A gang of criminals, led by sociopath Max Brant (

), escape from France and set up a counterfeit operation to make British £5 and American $20 notes in the cellar of a large English country house now owned by Louie Bernard (

Mervyn Johns Mervyn Johns (born David Mervyn John; 18 February 18996 September 1992) was a Welsh stage, film and television character actor who became a star of British films during the Second World War. Johns was known for his "mostly mild-mannered, lugubri ...

). Brant 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 (

), an artist, as a hostage. When Bernard finds out that Brant has tried to rape his daughter and has killed his housekeeper, Gerta (

Chili Bouchier Chili Bouchier (born Dorothy Irene Boucher; 12 September 1909 – 9 September 1999) was an English film actress who achieved success during the silent film era, and went on to many screen appearances with the advent of sound films, before progre ...

), 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 Brant is told about this by Duke (

Lee Patterson Lee Patterson (March 31, 1929 – February 14, 2007) was a Canadian film and television actor. Life and career Patterson was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, as Beverley Frank Atherly Patterson. He attended the Ontario College of Art and D ...

), he confronts Bernard. Meanwhile, the police slowly close in on the gang's headquarters. The film features professional

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...

world champion

Horace Lindrum Horace Lindrum (born Horace Norman William Morrell, 15 January 1912 – 20 June 1974) was an Australian professional snooker and billiards player. A dominant snooker player in Australia, he lived in Britain for long periods and played in the maj ...

in a cameo appearance 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

as Max Brant *

as Carole Bernard *

as Louie Bernard *

Sydney Tafler Sydney Tafler (31 July 1916 – 8 November 1979) was an English actor who after having started his career on stage, was best remembered for numerous appearances in films and television from the 1940s to the 1970s. Personal life Tafler was bor ...

as Harry Flint *

as Duke *

Eric Pohlmann Eric Pohlmann (german: Erich Pohlmann; born Erich Pollak; 18 July 1913 – 25 July 1979) was an Austrian theatre, film and television character actor who worked mostly in the United Kingdom. He is known for voicing Ernst Stavro Blofeld, th ...

as Frank Wandelman *

Robert Arden Robert Arden (11 December 1922 – 25 March 2004) was an English film, television and radio actor born in LondonAaker, Everett (2006). ''Encyclopedia of Early Television Crime Fighters''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . Pp. 20-23. who worked and live ...

as Bob Fenton *

as Gerta * John Welsh as Police Inspector Grant *

Aubrey Dexter Aubrey Dexter (March 29, 1898 – May 2, 1958) was a British stage and film actor. Partial filmography * '' East of Shanghai'' (1931) - Colonel (uncredited) * '' Loyalties'' (1933) - Kentman (uncredited) * '' Out of the Past'' (1933) - David ...

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.Tom Weaver, ''The Horror Hits of Richard Gordon'', Bear Manor Media 2011 p 19

References

External links

* * * * 1957 films 1957 crime drama films British black-and-white films British crime drama films Films directed by Montgomery Tully Counterfeit money in film 1950s English-language films 1950s British films {{crime-drama-film-stub