This movie is about a theme you rarely see nowadays. A group of bad guys isolate a town and take it over. This gives rise to many questions about the possibility, but then each question takes valuable time to answer, making it more possible than you might think. The bad guys are robbers in this case, as opposed to a movie that would be made nowadays, in which every writer tries to outdo each other with cold blooded sadists. These characters could be the man shopping next to you at the grocery. That gives this movie an appeal lost in today's market. It doesn't take itself too seriously, and yet gives a serious enough account to be entertaining. The high hat characters were typical of the time, and actually more realistic than people give credit for, with their "City Hall" mentality. The other characters are well drawn. Good acting helps, too, and so does the atmosphere, in which each scene is well defined. A movie such as this will either sacrifice entertainment value for realism, or vice versa. This is fairly well balanced, but thankfully it leans more to entertainment value. The end twist comes a bit too fast for the modern writing style, but it is good natured and likable. Looks to be done on a small budget, and it comes through as a champion of the small budget movies.
