Robbery Under Arms1957

Director
Jack Lee

Actors

Peter Finch (Captain Starlight)
Ronald Lewis (Dick Marston)
David McCallum (Jim Marston)
Maureen Swanson (Kate)
Jill Ireland (Jean)
Ursula Finlay (Grace)

Two brothers join their father in Captain Starlight’s bush ranger gang in 19th Century Australia.
In 1865 Australia, the two Marston brothers, bold Dick and sensitive Jim, are drawn into a life of crime by their ex-convict father Ben and his friend, the famous cattle thief Captain Starlight. They help take some cattle their father and Starlight have stolen across the country to Adelaide, where they are sold, with Starlight impersonating an English gentleman claiming to own the rustled herd. The two brothers take their share of the money and go to Melbourne. They read that Starlight has been arrested, and return home, where they and their father narrowly escape arrest to go off to the Bendigo gold fields to make honest money, they hope. Unhappily for them, they get embroiled in a bank robbery staged by Starlight and his gang and, once again, are on the run, one and all.
“’Robbery Under Arms’ is a well-made straightforward drama. Jack Lee’s direction splendidly captures the Australian atmosphere. Lee is admirably supported by lenser Harry Waxman who fills the screen with sweeping camerawork, suggesting the vastness of the Australian canvas.” – Variety
“There is atmosphere aplenty in Harry Waxman’s attentive, perceptive Eastmancolor cinematography.” – derekwinnert.com
“’Murder’ I sez and Murder is what we see here. ‘Robbery’ has the look and feel of an American Western, replete with cattle rustling, gold-mining, bank robberies and horseback pursuits.” – Mystery*File