The Good Die Young (1954)

Four men in desperate financial straits band together to commit a robbery: an ex-war hero (Laurence Harvey) living off his wealthy wife (Margaret Leighton), an AWOL soldier (John Ireland) with an adulteress wife (Gloria Grahame), an unemployed American (Richard Basehart) whose pregnant wife (Joan Collins) is dominated by her mother (Freda Jackson) and an ex-boxer (Stanley Baker) whose wife (Rene Ray) has used their savings to bail out her brother (James Kenney). Based on the novel by Richard Macauley and directed by Lewis Gilbert (ALFIE). This British film noir concentrates on the men and their wives and the reasons for their eventual involvement in a post office robbery, the actual heist section comes toward the end of the film. Considering the amateur status of the fledgling naive thieves, the film's nihilistic ending is expected. If the film has any major fault, it's that if we can see the heist is doomed from the start then why can't the men? There's always been something oily about Laurence Harvey as an actor that's off putting but here, it works perfectly. His character is a real snake. There's not much Joan Collins can do with the demure wife part but everyone else is good. With Robert Morley, Patricia Owens, Lee Patterson and Marianne Stone.