Robbery at 3 O'clock

José María Forqué's 1962 film is among the most cited works in Spanish comedy. When the manager they love is ousted and replaced by a tyrant, the employees of a bank plan to rob their own branch; the preparation is meticulous, but on the day they mean to act, real robbers walk in. The plotting, fed by Mario Monicelli's Big Deal on Madonna Street, is the Spanish adaptation of the incompetent-criminals comedy. What makes it work is the ensemble: José Luis López Vázquez, Cassen, Gracita Morales and Manuel Alexandre were the best-known faces of Spanish comedy at the time. That it was made under Franco is notable; class discontent and complaint about working conditions got past the censors in comic dress. Who it's for: viewers who like classic Spanish comedy and heist films built on ensemble playing. Who it's not for: anyone indifferent to the political context of the period, or who will find the pacing of black-and-white classic comedy slow.