The First Great Train Robbery (1979)

Director:

Michael Crichton

Writers:

Michael Crichton (screenplay)
Michael Crichton (novel)

Release Date:

2 February 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Never have so few taken so much from so many.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Train | Coffin | Dead Cat | Planning | Key

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

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

Also Known As:

The Great Train Robbery (USA)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby | Dolby (as Dolby Sound)

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (Ontario - 2006) | Netherlands:6 | South Korea:15 (DVD rating) | Germany:12 (DVD rating) | UK:15 (video rating) (cut) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | Ireland:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:12 (video re-rating) (cut) | UK:AA (original rating) (passed with cuts) | USA:PG (certificate #25484) | West Germany:12 (f) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland

Company:

Starling Films

Trivia:

The film was entitled "The First Great Train Robbery" to distance it from a £2 million robbery from a mail train in 1963 which was known in the British press as "The Great Train Robbery".

Goofs:

Anachronisms: High platforms near the train's floor level were not used in British stations until about 1870.

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...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Stranger in the Kingdom (1998)

Excellent Crime Movie

I like heist flicks, and this is the best I've seen so far. It's got great suspense as the crew of thieves (led by the incomparable Sean Connery) makes intricate plans and patiently prepares for the big day, changing and adapting the plan as needed to cope with unexpected obstacles. There is little in the way of sub-plots; virtually all of the action and plot is part of The Plan. The Victorian setting is great; you start to wonder where Jeremy Brett (as Sherlock Holmes) is, and when he's going to catch these crooks.

I'm a little puzzled by the category of "action/comedy." I'd say this was firmly in the "crime" category, and no other.

9/10