The Great Bank Robbery (1969)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Hy Averback

Writers:

Frank O'Rourke (novel)
William Peter Blatty (writer)

Release Date:

25 November 1969 (West Germany)

Genre:

Comedy | Western

Plot:

Three separate plans to rob a top-security bank in the western town of Friendly, Texas, circa 1880.

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Railway | Based On Novel

Cast

Zero Mostel	...	Rev. Pious Blue
Kim Novak	...	Sister Lyda Kebanov (forger)
Clint Walker	...	Ranger Ben Quick
Claude Akins	...	Slade
Akim Tamiroff	...	Papa (Juan's father)
Larry Storch	...	Juan
John Anderson	...	Mayor Kincaid
Sam Jaffe	...	Brother Lilac Bailey (art forger)
Mako	...	Secret Agent Fong
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	Jeb (as Elisha Cook)
Ruth Warrick	...	Mrs. Applebee
John Fiedler	...	Brother Dismas Ostracorn (explosives)
John Larch	...	Sheriff of Friendly
Peter Whitney	...	Brother Jordan Cass (tunneling)
Norman Alden	...	The Great Gregory (balloonist)
Grady Sutton	...	Rev. Simms
Bill Zuckert	...	Ranger commander (as William Zuckert)
Bob Steele	...	Duffy (bank guard #1)
Ben Aliza	...	Ben (bank guard #2)
Mickey Simpson	...	Sam (bank guard #3)
Byron Keith	...	Deputy Mort
Kenny Endoso	...	Chinese laundryman
Roy K. Ogata	...	Chinese laundryman (as Roy Ogata)
George Sasaki	...	Chinese laundryman
Yoneo Iguchi	...	Chinese laundryman
Hiroshi Hissamuni	...	Chinese laundryman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
The Robert Mitchell Boy Choir
Emile Avery	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Jerry Brown	...	Driver (uncredited)
Janet Clark	...	Lady (uncredited)
Roydon Clark	...	Commandant (uncredited)
Everett Creach	...	Cowboy (uncredited)
Dick Hudkins	...	Cowboy (uncredited)
Fred Krone	...	Cowboy (uncredited)
Philo McCullough	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Burt Mustin	...	Glazier (uncredited)
Chuck O'Brien	...	Cowboy (uncredited)
Guy Wilkerson	...	Glazier (uncredited)

Directed by
Hy Averback

Writing credits
Frank O'Rourke		(novel)
William Peter Blatty		(writer)

Produced by
Richard Freed	....	associate producer
Malcolm Stuart	....	producer

Original Music by
Nelson Riddle

Cinematography by
Fred J. Koenekamp

Film Editing by
Gene Milford

Production Design by
Jack Poplin

Set Decoration by
William L. Kuehl

Costume Design by
Moss Mabry

Makeup Department
Al Greenway	....	makeup artist
Jean Burt Reilly	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Ben Chapman	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Paul Baxley	....	second unit director
Jack Cunningham	....	assistant director
Fred Gammon	....	assistant director: second unit
Howard G. Kazanjian	....	second assistant director (as Howard Kazanjian)

Sound Department
Everett A. Hughes	....	sound

Special Effects by
Ralph Webb	....	special effects

Stunts
Phil Adams	....	stunts (uncredited)
Stan Barrett	....	stunts (uncredited)
Paul Baxley	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jerry Brown	....	stunts (uncredited)
Ron Burke	....	stunts (uncredited)
William H. Burton	....	stunts (uncredited)
Richard E. Butler	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bill Catching	....	stunts (uncredited)
Roydon Clark	....	stunts (uncredited)
Everett Creach	....	stunts (uncredited)
Howard Curtis	....	stunts (uncredited)
Carol Daniels	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bennie E. Dobbins	....	stunts (uncredited)
Larry Duran	....	stunts (uncredited)
Kenny Endoso	....	stunts (uncredited)
Joe Finnegan	....	stunts (uncredited)
Alan Gibbs	....	stunts (uncredited)
Kent Hays	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bob Herron	....	stunts (uncredited)
Dick Hudkins	....	stunts (uncredited)
Clyde Hudkins Jr.	....	stunts (uncredited)
Loren Janes	....	stunts (uncredited)
Fred Krone	....	stunts (uncredited)
Carey Loftin	....	stunts (uncredited)
Cliff Lyons	....	stunts (uncredited)
Troy Melton	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bob Miles	....	stunts (uncredited)
Hal Needham	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck O'Brien	....	stunts (uncredited)
Roy K. Ogata	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bob Orrison	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack Perkins	....	stunts (uncredited)
Allen Pinson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Glenn Randall Jr.	....	stunts (uncredited)
Dave Rodgers	....	stunts (uncredited)
Carl Saxe	....	stunts (uncredited)
Alex Sharp	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jerry Summers	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack Verbois	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Mark H. Davis	....	photography: second unit (as Mark Davis)
Jack Willoughby	....	helicopter camera operator: second unit
Bernie Abramson	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Barry Wexler	....	grip (uncredited)

Music Department
Ronny Burke	....	music supervisor
Ken Darby	....	music arranger: vocals
Gil Grau	....	orchestrator
Dan Wallin	....	score mixer

Other crew
J. David Jones	....	helicopter pilot: second unit (as Davy Jones)
Miriam Nelson	....	choreographer
Don Record	....	title designer
Paul Edward Yost	....	ballooning

Production Companies

• Warner Brothers/Seven Arts

Distributors

• Warner Brothers/Seven Arts (1969) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1973) (USA) (TV) (original airing)

Other Companies

• Tyler Camera Supplies  aerial photography

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 | USA:M (original rating) | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Warner Brothers/Seven Arts

Movie Connections:

Spoofs The Great Escape (1963)

Soundtrack:

The Rainbow Rider

Not "Great", but not as bad as it's reputation would suggest.

In the western town of Friendly, there's a bank so impenetrable that even as hordes of Mexicans stampede down the street to rob it, people continue chatting and throwing horseshoes because it's just that impossible to rob. This is the bank referred to in the title of this spoofy western, in which no less than four separate teams are planning to break in, most of whom want the loot that famous outlaws have stashed there (because of it's fortress-like stature and a manager who keeps the books hidden from authorities.) Mostel plays a faux-reverend whose flock include a tunnel-digger, a demolitions man, an artist and a decoy (played by a shockingly curvy and flesh-flashing Novak.) He is the top-billed star of the film, but it's really an ensemble piece not unlike "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" or any other overdone comedy in which disparate people want the same thing and wind up fighting for it in an extended chase at the end. Walker plays a Texas Ranger who wants inside the bank for it's account information. Other potential bank robbers include Tamiroff and Storch leading the Mexican contingent of bandits and Akins as an outlaw who claims to hate killing people, though he does so frequently. The film is broad and occasionally loud, but has been unfairly dismissed as worthless and unfunny. Though the humor is low and sometimes lame, there are still a number of laughs to be had. All of the performers are quite dedicated to their roles and to the parodic elements of the story. Some of them just tend to overplay it. Mostel has an outlandishly ridiculous musical number which is funny in spite of itself. It's so tacky and ludicrous it winds up being entertaining on a camp level. Novak, not exactly a strong comedienne, has a lot to offer physically. She betrays all her fine earlier work in films like "Vertigo" (!) and "The Man with the Golden Arm" taking on such a decorative and exploitive role, but does deliver on those terms. Walker is everyone's ideal authority figure. Sure and proud, he's the perfect choice for his role. He has a dazzlingly bizarre picnic scene with Novak in which he is slipped some peyote and is given a rare opportunity to cut loose and have some fun while displaying (for one of the last times?) his tremendous chest. At 42, he puts anyone else on earth to shame hanging from a tree by one arm and rolling around in the grass with his head upside down. Many other familiar actors round out the cast, notably "All My Children"'s Warrick in a weak role that she makes the very most of. Cook also does well as Akin's nervous sidekick. It's all a big, overblown mess by the end (and in a grievous error, Walker is offscreen for ages in the climax), but it's worth a look for several amusing moments and the physical attributes of Novak and Walker. The approach to drugs is dated and it doesn't always hold up completely, but there is a certain degree of cleverness in it. One note: A free bag of peanuts to anyone who can understand what Tamiroff is saying in his opening scene.