"Die Gentlemen bitten zur Kasse" (1966) TV mini-series

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

8 February 1966 (West Germany)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller | Drama

Plot:

It is the story of the famous British train robbery from the 1960s, told in almost documentary style from the view of the robbers.

Plot Keywords:

Train Robbery | Train | Heist Movie | Farmhouse | Planning

Cast

Horst Tappert	...	Michael Donegan (3 episodes, 1966)
Hans Cossy	...	Patrick Kinsey (3 episodes, 1966)
Günther Neutze	...	Archibald Arrow (3 episodes, 1966)
Karl-Heinz Hess	...	Geoffrey Black (3 episodes, 1966)
Hans Reiser	...	Tomas Webster (3 episodes, 1966)
Rolf Nagel	...	Gerald Williams (3 episodes, 1966)
Wolfgang Weiser	...	Harold McIntosh (3 episodes, 1966)
Harry Engel	...	George Slowfoot (3 episodes, 1966)
Wolfram Schaerf	...	Andrew Elton (3 episodes, 1966)
Guenther Tabor	...	Ronald Cameron (3 episodes, 1966)
Wolfried Lier	...	Walter Lloyd (3 episodes, 1966)
Franz Mosthav	...	Alfred Frost (3 episodes, 1966)
Kurt Conradi	...	Arthur Finnegan (3 episodes, 1966)
Paul Edwin Roth	...	Peter Masterson (3 episodes, 1966)
Kai Fischer	...	Inge Masterson (3 episodes, 1966)
Grit Boettcher	...	Jennifer Donegan (3 episodes, 1966)
Eleonore Schroth	...	Eileen Black (3 episodes, 1966)
Sylvia Lydi	...	Suzy Fast (3 episodes, 1966)
Lothar Gruetzner	...	Sgt. Robbins (3 episodes, 1966)
Günter Meisner	...	Smiler Jackson (3 episodes, 1966)
Dirk Dautzenberg	...	Sgt. Davies (3 episodes, 1966)
Horst Beck	...	Twinky (3 episodes, 1966)
Albert Hörrmann	...	Montague (3 episodes, 1966)
Alexander Golling	...	Gerichtsvorsitzender (3 episodes, 1966)
Isa Miranda	...	Mona (3 episodes, 1966)
Hans-Günter Martens	...	Narrator (3 episodes, 1966)
Siegfried Lowitz	...	Dennis MacLeod (2 episodes, 1966)

Also Known As:

"Der große Postraub" (West Germany) (alternative title)
"The Great British Train Robbery" (USA)
"The Great Train Robbery" (UK) (theatrical title)

Runtime:

Germany:235 min (3 parts) | USA:104 min

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR)

Trivia:

The original negative of this film was destroyed in the mid-80s when the NDR cleared out its vaults.

Movie Connections:

Followed by "Hoopers letzte Jagd" (1972)

Sixties TV triumph

This is one of my earliest TV memories. There were a lot of semi documentary TV shows on German television in the sixties. Most of them about the Nazi time but this was about the famous English Train Robbery. I have seen it many times since then and it never fails to amaze me. First there is this haunting music by Heinz Funk then the off voice that tells us about the gentlemen in a very matter-of-fact way always in balance between being impressed with and making fun of the "gentlemen". There is no tone of morality but also not (really) any hero worshipping.

Actually, there is not very much happening. No way a producer would go away with it these days. Most of it is about the preparation of the coup. So we see "the major", Horst Tappert - very good here, and I really hate him in his famous later role as Derrick - buying pans and other house hold stuff. Then there is the robbery and later we see them hiding in a farm house. There are some tensions and it is not quite clear what exactly the role of the other strong character Guenther Neutze (one of my all time favorites) is, but it is a pure joy to just listening to these two guys arguing. Neutze had one of the great voices of the century. He really had this natural authority and the way he had to play second fiddle to Tappert makes the whole thing work.

But the entire cast is fantastic. Karl-Heinz Hess was never better, Lowitz certainly was, but he had the gift of adding a touch of dignity and irony to every film he was in. And Kai Fischer playing the German was beautiful and very unhappy to get involved.

What fascinated me most as a kid was at the end when the off voice said This was the story of the robbery and the credits started to roll in and then he came back saying, Pardon that was the story as of... And then the story continues, telling how some of the gang members were rescued from prison etc. Very, very effective.