Daryl Duke | 1978 | Canada | 106 Min
This Canadian "sleeper" stars Elliott Gould as teller Miles Cullen, who figures out psycho Harry Reikle's (Christopher Plummer) scheme to rob his bank several days ahead of time. Cullen providently squirrels away 50,000 dollars in a safety-deposit box before Reikle strikes. After the robbery, the papers report the amount of the bank's loss. Reikle realizes that there's 50,000 extra bucks floating around that he hasn't gotten his hands on. The soft-spoken but sadistic Reikle puts the screws on Cullen to fork over the dough -- but Cullen has lost the deposit-box key. Also featured is Susannah York as the fluctuating-loyalty heroine, and a very young and hairy John Candy. Future L.A. Confidential scribe Curtis Hanson loosely adapted the Danish novel Think of a Number, by Anders Bodelsen. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Born October 21, 1929, Duke spent time laboring at a Canadian sawmill as a young man. At the age of 24, he joined Vancouver's premier CBC affiliate, CBUT, where he helped produce the network's first television programs in December 1953, then transferred to the Toronto branch of the CBC in 1958. From that seat, Duke produced additional television specials and documentaries, including episodes of This Hour Has Seven Days and Wojeck. When the late '60s arrived, Duke parlayed the success of his Canadian endeavors into a Hollywood-based television career.
