Robbery (1967)

A group of British criminals plans the robbery of the Royal Mail train on the Glasgow-London route.

Director:

Peter Yates

Writers:

Edward Boyd, George Markstein

Stars:

Stanley Baker, Joanna Pettet, James Booth

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Stanley Baker	...	Paul Clifton
Joanna Pettet	...	Kate Clifton
James Booth	...	Inspector George Langdon
Frank Finlay	...	Robinson
Barry Foster	...	Frank
William Marlowe	...	Dave Aitken
Clinton Greyn	...	Jack
George Sewell	...	Ben
Glynn Edwards	...	Squad Chief
Michael McStay	...	Don
Martin Wyldeck	...	Chief constable
Rachel Herbert	...	School teacher
Patrick Jordan	...	Freddy (as Patrick Jordon)
Barry Stanton	...	Car Lot owner
Kenneth Farrington	...	Seventh Robber (as Ken Farrington)

Storyline

A dramatization of the Great Train Robbery. While not a 'how to', it is very detail dependent, showing the care and planning that took place to pull it off.

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Plot Keywords:

train | robbery | train robbery | planning | mail train | 

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Taglines:

It made headlines when it happened! It made history when it succeeded!

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 February 1968 (France)

Also Known As:

Überfall

Filming Locations:

7 Queensmere Road, Wimbledon Park, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Oakhurst Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jason Robards filmed for 3 days in an attempt by producer Joseph E Levine to make it more attractive to US moviegoers but in the end, the scenes were deleted.

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Goofs

When Robinson (Frank Finlay) is getting into Clifton (Stanley Baker's) car, after seeing his wife and child in the park, the sound recordist, wearing a black suit and headphones, can be seen reflected in the car window.

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Connections

Referenced in I Athina meta ta mesanyhta (1968)

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Soundtracks

Diamond Robbery
Music by Johnny Keating, Lyrics by Tommy Scott
Performed by John Keating And His Orchestra

User Reviews

Where robbery might be fun for some, including the viewers.

Well, this wasn't the first movie about a great train robbery, and it won't be the last. But, it's one of the best I've seen: excellent cast of characters headed by Stanley Baker, a well-paced plot which concentrates on the planning and execution of the actual daring robbery in 1963; and which allowed the director, Peter Yates, to show how well he can film tight action sequences and car chases.

Speaking of the last, it was the opener - a brilliant getaway sequence through London as the robbers elude police Jaguars in their own silver-gray streak - which caught the eye of Steve McQueen who asked Yates to direct his planned movie Bullitt (1968). Good timing for director Yates, that's for sure. If you've seen both movies, you can definitely see the Yates touch....

(Ever have the feeling, though, it's a waste of time for cops to chase bad guys in cars? All through the filming of this chase, the police know it's a sliver-gray 3.4 liter Jaguar and it's registration number, all about it. Would have been easier for the cops to just hunt down all owners/dealers etc. Aaah, but we would've missed the excitement....)

Anyway ... Robbery goes through the motions of showing how it's all done, how the robbers hide, how they try to get away and, finally, how they all get caught - except for one. No prizes for guessing who that was. As straight, linear filming and story-telling goes, it's professional and highly entertaining, mixing enough gallows humour with the deadly aspects of criminal behavior to satisfy this viewer; and probably most.

Give this outing six out of ten. Recommended for all (no sex, no cuss words, no racism, no blasphemy: squeaky clean!).

May 28, 2016