Product Description

In this taut thriller William Campbell stars as a locksmith forced to crack a bank safe deposit box in order to save his girlfriend (Karen Sharpe) from a ruthless mobster (Berry Kroeger). Also stars Anita Ekberg.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #65670 in DVD
• Brand: Paramount
• Released on: 2006-06-06
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Black & White, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 72 minutes

Amazon.com
A film noir set-up unfolds in the opening minutes of Man in the Vault: while relaxing one night at a bowling alley, a humble locksmith named Tommy Dancer (William Campbell) finds himself dragged into a bank heist plot because of his dexterity with lock-picking. It only takes 72 minutes for Tommy's nightmare to unfold, and yet the storyline seems uncommonly convoluted; rival gangsters are involved, Tommy strikes a volatile match with a slumming Beverly Hills dame (Karen Sharpe), and a moll plays a seemingly extraneous role--not that there's anything wrong with that, when the moll is the young Anita Ekberg. The ultra-cheap production values deflate the effort to put some noir atmosphere into the thing, but the main problem is leading man Campbell, who was a cross between Vince Edwards and a young Tony Curtis, but without the attitude. (He had been in The High and the Mighty--like this film produced by John Wayne's Batjac company--and went on to many TV roles.) Still, there are moments, and director Andrew V. McLaglen tries to work some ingenious visual touches into the mix. Berry Kroeger makes a truly decadent villain, while Batjac regular Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez gives comic relief. The film comes very early in the credits of McLaglen and screenwriter Burt Kennedy, both of whom became associated with Westerns later in their long, fruitful careers. The movie keeps returning to the bowling alley ("Art Linkletter's La Cienaga") thereby setting up one of the strangest scenes of noir menace ever filmed. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

a reasonably-good crime thriller
MAN IN THE VAULT, produced by John Wayne's Batjac production company, is a well-paced and impressively-cast crime thriller, which reunited "High and the Mighty" co-stars William Campbell and Karen Sharpe.

Tommy Dancer (William Campbell) is an unemployed professional locksmith, forced into assisting a daring bank raid, after his girlfriend Betty (Karen Sharpe), a feisty society debutante, is swept up into the plot.

Filled with some great performances, MAN IN THE VAULT is an enjoyable excursion into a shady world of corruption and greed, and never wears out it's brisk 70-minute running time. Both William Campbell and Karen Sharpe are attractive and well-used in the leads; with Anita Ekberg, Paul Fix and Barry Kroeger in strong supporting roles.

Fairly Interesting Drama
MAN IN THE VAULT is a fairly interesting drama about a locksmith (William Campbell) who unwittingly becomes involved in a plan of local mobster (Berry Kroeger) to steal a cash of money from a bank safe deposit box. Campbell is reluctant to get involved in the scheme until Kroeger holds Cambell's girlfriend (Karen Sharpe) forcing him to cooperate. Andrew V. McLaglen directed this taut little film from a compact script by Burt Kennedy. William H. Clothier's excellent black & white photography gives the film a much needed film noir look. The highlight of the film is Campbell's suspenseful venture into the vault to make copies of the keys of the safe deposit box holding the cash in broad daylight. Anita Ekberg gives the film a little glamour as a girlfriend to one of Kroeger's gaggle of shady associates. Campbell is adequate as the leading man and gives a straightforward performance though his approach is rather juvenile at times. On the whole, MAN IN THE VAULT is a bit routine yet manages to remain somewhat appealing throughout.

Imaginative Labors
Despite an uninteresting cast, the scriptwriter and director make this movie a very inspired effort. I did wonder about Anita Ekberg's role. Her role is rather shallow and ambiguous not to mention confusing. I am a little confounded as to what her character actually had to do with the plot. Bill Campbell, on the other hand, has the great screen impact of a Robert Mitchum or Robert Ryan. Too bad it all didn't work. This film could have been a success.