British crime/gangster films - 1969 to 1997
by jim_skreech | created - 05 Apr 2014 | updated - 05 Apr 2014 | PublicBritish crime/gangster films - 1969 to 1997. From 1969's Italian Job, up until Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels kickstarted the new era.
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1. The Italian Job (1969)
G | 99 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A comic caper movie about a plan to steal a gold shipment from the streets of Turin by creating a traffic jam.
Director: Peter Collinson | Stars: Michael Caine, Noël Coward, Benny Hill, Raf Vallone
Votes: 50,371
2. The Reckoning (1970)
R | 111 min | Drama
Michael Marler, a successful business man in London, is about to make his way to the top. The death of his father brings him - after five years - back to his hometown Liverpool, where he is... See full summary »
Director: Jack Gold | Stars: Nicol Williamson, Rachel Roberts, Ann Bell, Zena Walker
Votes: 631
3. Performance (1970)
R | 105 min | Crime, Drama
A violent East London gangster undergoes a transformation of identity while hiding from his former colleagues in the home of a jaded Bohemian rock star and his two girlfriends.
Directors: Donald Cammell, Nicolas Roeg | Stars: James Fox, Mick Jagger, Anita Pallenberg, Michèle Breton
Votes: 11,334 | Gross: $0.19M
4. Loot (1970)
PG | 101 min | Comedy, Crime
Based on the play by Joe Orton, this film follows the adventures of two pals who have pulled off a bank robbery and have to hide the loot. Fortunately one of them works in a funeral parlor ... See full summary »
Director: Silvio Narizzano | Stars: Lee Remick, Richard Attenborough, Hywel Bennett, Milo O'Shea
Votes: 628
5. The Bullet Machine (1970)
R | 87 min | Crime, Drama
Detective Harry Clegg must track down the crazed prostitute responsible for a string of murders.
Director: Lindsay Shonteff | Stars: Gilbert Wynne, Norman Claridge, Gilly Grant, Noel Davis
Votes: 76
6. A Touch of the Other (1970)
92 min | Crime, Drama
Delger, "the man who gets things done", finds himself involved in London's vice world, in between sleeping with his two neighbours Elaine and Wendy, a masseuse who "can't give a man a massage without turning him on".
Director: Arnold L. Miller | Stars: Kenneth Cope, Shirley Anne Field, Hélène Françoise, Timothy Craven
Votes: 17
7. Get Carter (1971)
R | 112 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
When his brother dies under mysterious circumstances in a car accident, London gangster Jack Carter travels to Newcastle to investigate.
Director: Mike Hodges | Stars: Michael Caine, Ian Hendry, Britt Ekland, John Osborne
Votes: 36,800 | Gross: $0.39M
8. Villain (1971)
R | 98 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
In 1970s London, Scotland Yard orchestrates the downfall of mob boss Vic Dakin after he crosses the line by blackmailing Members of Parliament.
Director: Michael Tuchner | Stars: Richard Burton, Ian McShane, Nigel Davenport, Donald Sinden
Votes: 2,038
9. Man of Violence (1970)
107 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A mercenary joins forces with 2 crooked cops in an attempt to steal a fortune in gold bullion from a corrupt Arab country.
Director: Pete Walker | Stars: Michael Latimer, Luan Peters, Derek Aylward, Maurice Kaufmann
Votes: 279
10. Sitting Target (1972)
R | 93 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Imprisoned Harry Lomart is a vicious, brute of a man and yet he is prepared to do his long jail term as he is confident that on his release his beautiful wife Pat will be waiting for him, but a visit from Pat brings him his worst nightmare.
Director: Douglas Hickox | Stars: Oliver Reed, Jill St. John, Ian McShane, Edward Woodward
Votes: 1,532
11. Brannigan (1975)
PG | 111 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Chicago Police Lieutenant Jim Brannigan is sent to the U.K. to escort organized crime boss Ben Larkin back to the U.S., but Larkin's hitmen prepare an ambush for Brannigan.
Director: Douglas Hickox | Stars: John Wayne, Richard Attenborough, Judy Geeson, Mel Ferrer
Votes: 6,408
12. The Squeeze (1977)
R | 104 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A dangerous, violent gang kidnaps a woman and her daughter to extort some money from her rich husband. He and her down-on-his-luck ex-cop ex-husband decide to deal with the kidnappers themselves.
Director: Michael Apted | Stars: Stacy Keach, David Hemmings, Edward Fox, Stephen Boyd
Votes: 849
13. Sweeney! (1977)
98 min | Action, Crime, Drama
When one of his informants is murdered, Detective Inspector Jack Regan is drawn into a deadly political game. He is soon a marked man and, after being framed, is suspended from duty. This doesn't stop him searching for the truth.
Director: David Wickes | Stars: John Thaw, Dennis Waterman, Barry Foster, Ian Bannen
Votes: 1,605
14. Sweeney 2 (1978)
109 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Second theatrical spin-off from the popular 1970's police series. Regan and Carter head a Flying Squad investigation into a series of bank raids by a team of well-armed villains who are flying in from the continent.
Director: Tom Clegg | Stars: John Thaw, Dennis Waterman, Denholm Elliott, Ken Hutchison
Votes: 962
15. Give Us Tomorrow (1978)
Not Rated | 94 min | Crime, Drama
Masked intruders take the family of a bank manager hostage in order to rob his bank.
Director: Donovan Winter | Stars: Sylvia Syms, Derren Nesbitt, James Kerry, Donna Evans
Votes: 165
16. A Sense of Freedom (1981)
81 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
The life and imprisonment of Glasgow hard man and gangster Jimmy Boyle.
Director: John Mackenzie | Stars: David Hayman, Jake D'Arcy, Sean Scanlan, Alex Norton
Votes: 614
17. The Long Good Friday (1980)
R | 114 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
An up-and-coming gangster is tested by the insurgence of an unknown, very powerful threat.
Director: John Mackenzie | Stars: Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren, Paul Freeman, Leo Dolan
Votes: 25,642
18. McVicar (1980)
R | 112 min | Crime, Drama
John McVicar was a notorious London criminal known as "Public Enemy No. 1" for armed bank robberies. He was captured and imprisoned in a high security facility, but continued attempting escapes.
Director: Tom Clegg | Stars: Roger Daltrey, Adam Faith, Cheryl Campbell, Billy Murray
Votes: 2,362
19. Loophole (1981)
PG | 105 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
When architect Stephen Booker loses his partnership, he finds jobs hard to come by, and with money in short supply, he unwittingly becomes involved in a daring scheme to rob one of London's biggest bank vaults.
Director: John Quested | Stars: Albert Finney, Martin Sheen, Susannah York, Colin Blakely
Votes: 962
20. Slayground (1983)
R | 89 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Thieves run over a child while escaping after a robbery. A deadly hitman who likes to taunt his targets is hired to track them down. Stone moves to England, but the assassin follows. Loosely based on Donald Westlake's cult crime novel.
Director: Terry Bedford | Stars: Peter Coyote, Mel Smith, Billie Whitelaw, Philip Sayer
Votes: 479 | Gross: $0.15M
21. G.B.H. (1983)
73 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A bouncer is called in to help fight off a mob boss who is trying to take over local night clubs.
Director: David Kent-Watson | Stars: Cliff Twemlow, Jane Cunliffe, Anthony Schaeffer, Brett Sinclair
Votes: 113
22. The Hit (1984)
R | 98 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Ten years after ratting on his old mobster friends in exchange for personal immunity, two hit men drive a hardened criminal to Paris for his execution. However, while on the way, whatever can go wrong, does go wrong.
Director: Stephen Frears | Stars: Freddie Stuart, Ralph Brown, A.J. Clarke, Terence Stamp
Votes: 9,547 | Gross: $0.88M
23. Comfort and Joy (1984)
PG | 106 min | Comedy
Alan Bird witnesses how an ice cream van is attacked and destroyed by an angry competitor. This leads him into the struggle between two Italian families, the Bernardis and the Rossis, over whose ice cream vans can sell where in Glasgow.
Director: Bill Forsyth | Stars: Bill Paterson, Eleanor David, Clare Grogan, Alex Norton
Votes: 2,356 | Gross: $1.06M
24. Mona Lisa (1986)
R | 104 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A man recently released from prison manages to get a job driving a call girl from customer to customer.
Director: Neil Jordan | Stars: Bob Hoskins, Cathy Tyson, Michael Caine, Robbie Coltrane
Votes: 18,726 | Gross: $5.79M
25. For Queen & Country (1988)
R | 105 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A retired British soldier struggles to adjust to everyday life, with increasing difficulty.
Director: Martin Stellman | Stars: Denzel Washington, Dorian Healy, Sean Chapman, Graham McTavish
Votes: 2,630 | Gross: $0.19M
26. Stormy Monday (1988)
R | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Music
A crooked American businessman tries to push the shady influential owner of a nightclub in Newcastle, England to sell him the club. The club's new employee and the American's ex lover fall in love and inadvertently stir the pot.
Director: Mike Figgis | Stars: Melanie Griffith, Tommy Lee Jones, Sting, Sean Bean
Votes: 4,443 | Gross: $1.79M
27. The Krays (1990)
R | 115 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
This fact-based movie follows the life of the twin crime-lords in London's '60s underworld.
Director: Peter Medak | Stars: Gary Kemp, Martin Kemp, Billie Whitelaw, Tom Bell
Votes: 9,057 | Gross: $2.06M
28. Crossing the Line (1990)
R | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Sport
Unemployed Scottish miner Danny Scoular (Liam Neeson) is forced into bare-knuckle boxing to make ends meet.
Director: David Leland | Stars: Kenny Ireland, Liam Neeson, Joanne Whalley, Billy Connolly
Votes: 1,436 | Gross: $0.06M
29. Let Him Have It (1991)
R | 115 min | Crime, Drama, History
This drama reveals the controversial postwar 1950's London murder trial that sent an intellectually challenged young man to the gallows for a murder he did not commit.
Director: Peter Medak | Stars: Tom Courtenay, Christopher Eccleston, Eileen Atkins, Rebecca Eccleston
Votes: 3,804
30. The Young Americans (1993)
R | 103 min | Crime, Drama
Experienced NYPD detective John Harris is sent to London to help a local task force investigate a series of killings organized by a new player in town, an American gangster. Harris uses a teen wronged by gangsters to get to him.
Director: Danny Cannon | Stars: Harvey Keitel, Iain Glen, John Wood, Terence Rigby
Votes: 2,770
31. The Frontline (1993)
70 min | Crime, Drama
On his release from mental hospital, James rekindles his relationship with pirate DJ Marion, helping her to kick her heroin addiction and moving in together with plans for marriage. However... See full summary »
Director: Paul Hills | Stars: Paul Betts, Chris Constantinou, Leroy Cooper, Renny Krupinski
Votes: 32
32. Small Faces (1995)
R | 108 min | Drama
Glaswegian teenager Lex is torn between the artistic life of middle brother Alan and the thuggish world of elder brother Bobby.
Director: Gillies MacKinnon | Stars: Iain Robertson, Joe McFadden, Steven Duffy, Laura Fraser
Votes: 1,635
33. Hard Men (1996)
R | 86 min | Comedy, Crime
A Cockney thug becomes a daddy just before he and his two colleagues are supposed to put the screws to some unfortunate deadbeat. The new dad decides that he has had enough killing and ... See full summary »
Director: J.K. Amalou | Stars: Layla Aldridge, Victoria Bensted, Ross Boatman, Keith Brown
Votes: 590
34. The Innocent Sleep (1995)
R | 110 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
The young, bright, and decent London tramp Alan Terry (Rupert Graves) accidentally witnesses a mob execution. He gets away, but leaves enough evidence for them to come looking for him ... See full summary »
Director: Scott Michell | Stars: Oliver Cotton, Tony Bluto, Paul Brightwell, Michael Gambon
Votes: 369
35. Small Time (I) (1996)
R | 96 min | Comedy, Crime
When a trio of low-level criminals with a supply of drugs find themselves with some time to kill before a big deal, they decide to live a little. But a chain of stupid mistakes and unfortunate events brings them no small amount of trouble.
Director: Jeffrey Reiner | Stars: Glenn Plummer, Patrick Cupo, Ernie Reyes Jr., Darren McGavin
Votes: 263
36. Twin Town (1997)
Unrated | 99 min | Comedy, Drama
Julian and Jeremy, two brothers prefer to spend their time on drugs and joyriding. When their father, Fatty Lewis, they show up demanding compensation.
Director: Kevin Allen | Stars: Llyr Ifans, Rhys Ifans, Dorien Thomas, Dougray Scott
Votes: 6,419 | Gross: $0.07M
37. Face (I) (1997)
R | 105 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
In the face of demise in his values, a socialist in England decides to form a gang and rob banks for a living.
Director: Antonia Bird | Stars: Robert Carlyle, Ray Winstone, Steve Sweeney, Gerry Conlon
Votes: 4,805
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