Strongroom

The BFI is having something of a purple patch with their current releases from their vaults and this rather obscure British ‘B’ movie is a very welcome addition to the list.

At around eighty minutes, Strongroom (1962) was made cheaply, with a cast of British stalwarts of the era, and is lean and taught.

The plot is straightforward. Three low-key villains, Griff (Derren Nesbitt), Len (Keith Faulkner) and his brother Alec (W Morgan Sheppard) have been casing a bank for weeks. With the movements of the bank staff worked out they decide that the long Easter weekend is the prime time to do the job.

But as with best laid plans there’s unexpected complications and while they get the money they also have to deal with the bank manager Mr Spencer (Colin Gordon) and his secretary Rose (Ann Lynn) who were still in the building.

Being masked their identities are safe so they decide to lock them in the strongroom. Its only later they realise that their air is finite and it’s unlikely that they will survive the weekend. They decide on a solution but this is not the only complication that they encounter.

From the opening shot of the staff going about the ritual of locking up the strongroom to the final, the film has the viewer on a knife edge. Writer Richar Harris crafts fairly believable situations with excellent dialogue which the cast take full advantage of.

What makes the film all the more notable is that there are various strands woven in with barely a ripple. The police (not at their sharpest it has to be said), locksmiths, family issues, and the conflict between the villains themselves all are skilfully intertwined.

I’ll suggest that it’s unlikely there will be many films this year that create, build and maintain the tension as well as director Vernon Sewell does in Strongroom.

Strongroom opens in selected cinemas in the UK & Ireland from 30 January 2026, and will be released on BFI Blu-ray on 23 February and on BFI Player on 23 March.