Robbery (1967)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Peter Yates

Writers:

Edward Boyd (writer)
George Markstein (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

August 1967 (UK)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Drama

Tagline:

Who says crime doesn't pay? 3 Million pounds says it does!

Plot:

A dramatization of the Great Train Robbery. While not a 'how to', it is very detail dependent, showing...

Plot Keywords:

Planning | Train | Robbery | Train Robbery | 1960s

Awards:

1 win

Cast

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 Jordon	...	Freddy
Barry Stanton	...	Car Lot owner
Kenneth Farrington	...	Seventh Robber (as Ken Farrington)
Robert Russell
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Roger Booth	...	Detective (uncredited)
Ron Charles	...	Seaman (uncredited)
Michael David	...	CID chief (uncredited)
Ivor Dean	...	Postal Worker on Train (uncredited)
Julie Ege	...	(uncredited)
Roy Hanlon	...	(uncredited)
David King	...	Detective at Airport (uncredited)
Carlos Lagrotta	...	(uncredited)
Linda Marlowe	...	Debutante at Nightclub (uncredited)
David Pinner	...	Constable in Information Room (uncredited)
Robert Powell	...	Deltic Train Guard (uncredited)
Mike Pratt	...	Informant at Railway Station (uncredited)
John Savident	...	Policeman with Dog (uncredited)
Anthony Sweeney	...	Detective Inspector (uncredited)
Malcolm Taylor	...	Delta 1 Observer (uncredited)
Frank Williams	...	Prison contact (uncredited)

Directed by
Peter Yates

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Edward Boyd		writer
George Markstein		writer
Gerald Wilson		story
Peter Yates		writer

Produced by
Stanley Baker	....	producer
Jonathan Clowes	....	associate producer
Michael Deeley	....	producer
Joseph E. Levine	....	executive producer
Alec Natas	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Johnny Keating

Cinematography by
Douglas Slocombe

Film Editing by
Reginald Beck

Art Direction by
Michael Seymour

Makeup Department
Wally Schneiderman	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Gavrik Losey	....	production manager
Robert Porter	....	production supervisor (as Bob Porter)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Derek Cracknell	....	assistant director
Richard Jenkins	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Maurice Askew	....	dubbing mixer
Alan Bell	....	sound editor
Chris Gurney	....	sound trainee
Dudley Plummer	....	sound recordist
Lionel Strutt	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)

Stunts
Jack Silk	....	stunt driver (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Bernie Prentice	....	gaffer (as Bernard Prentice)
Chic Waterson	....	camera operator
Keith Blake	....	clapper loader (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Brian Owen-Smith	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Bryan Tilling	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Johnny Keating	....	conductor

Transportation Department
David Lewis	....	unit driver (uncredited)

Other crew
Robert Ellis	....	title designer
Peta Fordham	....	screenplay consultant
Joseph E. Levine	....	presenter
Helen Whitson	....	continuity

Production Companies

• Oakhurst Productions

Distributors

• Paramount British Pictures (1967) (UK) (theatrical)
• Embassy Pictures Corporation (1967) (USA) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1969) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• BMG Video (1997) (UK) (VHS)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Embassy Home Entertainment (1986) (UK) (VHS)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:PG (video rating) | UK:U (original rating) | Iceland:12 | Norway:16 | Finland:K-16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Arbour Hill Prison, Arbour Hill, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland

Company:

Oakhurst Productions

Trivia:

Like many British tough-guy actors of the 1950s to the 1970s, Robbery star Stanley Baker liked to hang out with real gangsters (see James Morton: Gangland, 1991). It is not meant to suggest that Baker was a criminal himself, but the fact is that actors and rascals in the 1950s and 1960s used to socialise at the same hours of the night, because in Britain in those days the pubs all closed at 10pm, and people who had to work late had to go to late-night clubs to chill out after hours.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Making of 'The Italian Job' (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

Born to Lose

Good action piece -- although probably very dated by now.

A gang of crooks plan a big score and use other smaller robberies as a means of financing it. Clearly inspired by the Great Train Robbery of the 1960's, although the facts are shifted - maybe made for legal reasons?

This is the kind of film that I loved as child. And still do. Live-for-today criminals that stop at nothing to get their hands on the loot and heaven help anybody that gets in the way. While having the plus of the robbery and the usual gang of rent a villains it does minor variations on the expected while not leaving the well trodden track.

The car chase through central London is one of the best things here and inspired many impersonations. Indeed it is probably the first homicidal chase through a big city seen on screen.

(The chase in Bullet is a complete rip-off - although Peter Yates directed this as well!)

As another viewer noticed the dialogue is dated (no swearing!) and the thing lacks a clear hero and villain. All-in-all like watching one of the better episodes of The Sweeney (a UK TV series) and a good guide to London -- as it was back in the Swinging Sixties.