STREAMING SATURDAYS! Peter Cushing in CASH ON DEMAND, the Christmas Sleeper You Didn’t Know You Needed

sistercelluloid ♦ November 22, 2025 ♦ 7 Comments

Welcome to another edition of STREAMING SATURDAYS, where we bring you free, fabulous films to watch right here!

Imagine if Ebenezer Scrooge were scared straight not by four ghosts but by a criminal mastermind who utterly beguiled Bob Cratchit. That’s pretty much the set-up in CASH ON DEMAND, a woefully overlooked Hammer classic from 1961.

Two days before Christmas, a genial man calling himself Colonel Gore-Hepburn (André Morell) strides into a small Haversham bank, claiming to be an insurance inspector. He’s quickly ushered to the office of the branch manager, Harry Fordyce (Peter Cushing), who’s so tense and brittle it’s a wonder Hepburn’s hearty handshake doesn’t snap him in half. But once the door closes behind them, he reveals he’s the ringleader of a gang of thieves who are holding Fordyce’s wife and son hostage—and demands help in stealing £93,000 to guarantee their safety.

Meanwhile the unsuspecting staff are preparing to make merry out on the shop floor—or as merry as they can with a petty little prig like Fordyce as their boss. Gore-Hepburn pops out every so often to ask for their help with the books, but also asks after their families and Christmas plans and generally becomes the life of their sad little party. His mood hardens when he’s alone with Fordyce, threatening him with the awful fate that awaits his wife if he doesn’t cooperate.

Cushing is brilliant as the cold, dry little bureaucrat, pinching his lips into a straight line and peering icily over his glasses. Even his cheekbones seem sharper than usual. Here was his chance to shake off the tweedy deerstalker caps, capes and waistcoats that marked most of his tenure at Hammer (fabulous though it was, including a turn as Sherlock Holmes with Morell as Dr. Watson), and he makes the most of it. And Morell is terrific as the glad-handing bank robber who cares more about the staff than their actual boss does.

The film takes some delicious twists and turns that I won’t spoil here, so settle in for a very Hammer Christmas!

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