The Great Train Robbery (1978)
"The First Great Train Robbery" (original title)

In Victorian England, a master criminal makes elaborate plans to steal a shipment of gold from a moving train.

Director:

Michael Crichton

Writers:

Michael Crichton (screenplay), Michael Crichton (novel)

Stars:

Sean Connery, Donald Sutherland, Lesley-Anne Down

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sean Connery	...	Pierce
Donald Sutherland	...	Agar
Lesley-Anne Down	...	Miriam
Alan Webb	...	Trent
Malcolm Terris	...	Fowler
Robert Lang	...	Sharp
Michael Elphick	...	Burgess
Wayne Sleep	...	Clean Willy
Pamela Salem	...	Emily Trent
Gabrielle Lloyd	...	Elizabeth Trent
George Downing	...	Barlow
James Cossins	...	Harranby
John Bett	...	McPherson
Peter Benson	...	Station Despatcher
Janine Duvitski	...	Maggie

Storyline

Sutherland and Connery wish to rob a moving train's safe in Victorian England. They need wax impressions of keys, coffins, dead cats, and a great deal of planning in order to pull it off.

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Plot Keywords:

key | gold | safe | train | dead cat | 

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Taglines:

Never have so few taken so much from so many.

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Genres:

Adventure | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 February 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Great Train Robbery

Filming Locations:

Bank of Ireland, Plas Foster, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Starling Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby (as Dolby Sound)

Color:

Black and White (sepia colour) Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sean Connery and Donald Sutherland would both subsequently appear in other adaptations of Michael Crichton's work. Connery would appear in Rising Sun, while Sutherland appeared in Disclosure.

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Goofs

When looking at the mansion from the outside, you see lights coming on through the windows as a person is running from room to room in the middle of the night. These lights very rapidly come on as if someone is flipping electric switches. However the movie is set in 1855 England long before electric lights.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Edward Pierce: [narration] In the year 1855, England and France were at war with Russia in the Crimea. The English troops were paid in gold. Once a month, twenty-five thousand pounds in gold was loaded into strongboxes inside the London bank of Huddleston and Bradford and taken by trusted armed guards to the railway station. The convoy followed no fixed route or timetable. At the station, the gold was loaded into the luggage van of the Folkestone train for shipment to the coast and from there to ...

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Connections

Referenced in A Stranger in the Kingdom (1999)

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Soundtracks

"I Dreampt I Dwelt in Marble Halls"
(uncredited)
Music by Michael William Baife
Lyrics by Michael Bumm (1843)
Heard on violin offstage in bordello

User Reviews

Quite exciting...

'The First Great Train Robbery' is about a quite impossible mission in Victorian underworld... It is about 25,000 pounds in gold bars placed in strongboxes and taken by armed security guards to the railway station...

'The First Great Train Robbery' is about the fastest pickpocket you'll ever see, a suave and daring gentleman who never tells the truth… It is also about a bunch crooks that can steal your heart with the company of a fascinating disguised mistress who suspects that her father breaks his own regulation for each morning of the shipments...

'The First Great Train Robbery' chronicles the grandeur and hypocrisy at all levels of England during the Victorian Era, and proves that the cleverness and prowess of a criminal mastermind is elevated to heroic status...

With excellent photography of Ireland beautiful countryside, and great music score by Jerry Goldsmith, plus the costumes and sets, Michael Crichton's movie gives train heist's fans the pleasure to enjoy a very entertaining period thriller…