Hammer thriller / crime caper “Cash on Demand” is often touted as the best British b-movie ever made and it genuinely has a good claim to that “title”. The screenplay by the duo of David T. Chantler and Lewis Greifer (from a play by Jacques Gillies) is a thing of beauty, full of great dialogue and escalating threat. Its plot, however, is a relatively simple affair: a small-town bank is visited by Colonel Gore Hepburn (André Morell) who introduces himself to cantankerous and obsequious bank manager Harry Fordyve (Peter Cushing) as an inspector from the bank’s insurance company. It soon turns out that he is an expert conman and thief with a cunning plan to rob the bank. Director Quentin Lawrence does superbly well with what in virtually a one set movie – Fordyce’s office – squeezing plenty of tension and suspense out of the scenario through some superb acting performances and the verbal dexterity between the characters. There are a couple of surprise twists and turns, but it is the power of the acting that elevates the film. Richard Vernon is very good as the mild-mannered, put-upon bank clerk Pearson, who cleverly masks an insightful steely side. André Morell is excellent as the slick, crafty (apparently) upper-class thief. He is wonderfully smug and self-confident throughout with a manner and demeanour that anyone would be liable to fall for. Equally good, however, is Peter Cushing who puts in one of his best-ever performances. It is a performance that evolves and shifts throughout the film and that is totally believable. He starts the film as a cantankerous stickler, who is haughty and unpleasant to his staff, who in turn look at him with a degree of disdain. His love for his wife soon becomes apparent, however, and as the plot unfolds his stiff demeanour gradually falls away to reveal a new much more sympathetic person beneath the hard-nosed veneer. The dialogue exchanges between Morell and Cushing are expertly timed and the two play-off each other to great cat-and-mouse effect. There is an obvious rapport and chemistry between the two actors that manages to transform “Cash On Demand” from a potentially run-of-the-mill b-picture into a brilliant wee thriller and possibly the best that Hammer produced in this genre. ( )