cult film freak: NICOLA PAGETT & BILLY MURRAY ON 'THE SWEEENEY: STOPPO DRIVER'

Written by James M. Tate / 4/15/2022 / No comments / action , aubrey morris , british , british neo noir , dennis waterman , gangster , getaway driver , john thaw , nicola pagett , seventies , sweeney

NICOLA PAGETT & BILLY MURRAY ON 'THE SWEEENEY: STOPPO DRIVER'

4/15/2022 | No comment

Billy Murray & John Thaw in The Sweeney: STOPPO DRIVER Year: 1975 Rating: ***1/2

Another action-packed opener that winds up in a den of thieves with loads of pulpy dialogue... and a titular STOPPO DRIVER in this first SWEENEY season, played by Billy Murray, drives like... as described by John Thaw's Inspector Regan... Evel Knievel in that rudimentary chase that winds up killing the crime family's own driver, and they want this whipper-snapper wheelman for their own, so far as kidnapping his just-married wife...

But story-wise the DRIVER winds up riding backseat to the likes of gambling-house moll Nicola Pagett, who, along with her crooked brothers and father (including a rowdy card playing Aubrey Morris), could have had a gritty gangster series of their own, which is what made THE SWEENEY often play out like a gritty criminal's anthology series with our mainstay SWEENEY partners Thaw with Dennis Waterman serving as their inevitable foil.

Nicola Pagett in THE SWEENEY: STOPPO DRIVER

Billy Murray in THE SWEENEY: STOPPO DRIVER

Nicola Pagett in THE SWEENEY: STOPPO DRIVER with Aubrey Morris

Nicola Pagett in THE SWEENEY: STOPPO DRIVER with Paul Angelis

Carrie Lee Baker (driver's bride) in THE SWEENEY: STOPPO DRIVER

Nicola Pagett in THE SWEENEY: STOPPO DRIVER with Aubrey Morris

Share This Post :

Tags : action , aubrey morris , british , british neo noir , dennis waterman , gangster , getaway driver , john thaw , nicola pagett , seventies , sweeney

James M. Tate

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

FAVORITES SHORTLIST

1)OTLEY 2)HELL IS A CITY 3)ROBBERY 4)THE FEARMAKERS 5)CANYON PASSAGE 6)VIOLENT SATURDAY 7)HOT CARS 8)JUNGLE STREET 9)ANATOMY OF A MURDER 10)THE CROWDED SKY 11))THE MAN FROM LARAMIE 12)SHARKS' TREASURE 13)SWEENEY TWO 14)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 15)HARDCORE 16)THE SYSTEM 17)WHITE HEAT 18)AL CAPONE 19)THE SERGEANT 20)FALLEN ANGEL 21)NIGHT CREATURES 22)CURSE OF THE DEMON 23)ASH WEDNESDAY 24)THE BREAK 25)AIR PATROL 26)DUEL IN THE JUNGLE 27)EASY LIVING 28)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 29)FRENZY 30)THE ROARING TWENTIES 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)STANLEY BAKER 4)MARLON BRANDO 5)JACK NICHOLSON 1)VIRGINIA MAYO 2)SUE LYON 3)GENE TIERNEY 4)MERRY ANDERS 5)FAYE DUNAWAY DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)STANLEY KUBRICK 4)ORSON WELLES 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)JOHN LANDIS 7)JOHN GUILLERMAN 8)VAL GUEST 9)JOHN CARPENTER 10)MICHAEL WINNER