Robbery (1967)

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

Most of the other commentators have hit this one on the head.There's plenty of tense action from the beginning. The car chase through the streets of London after a botched jewel-heist is quite excellent. I don't think it has been bettered except by those of 'Ronin'. What is so spectacular about this chase is that it doesn't just focus on the participants as most other movies do. Here are real streets with other real vehicles and pedestrians. They are human and relevant, and not just props of convenience. The multiple cutting between furiously speeding cars and a peaceful school-crossing patrol is particularly memorable, as indeed are the consequences. We observe one of these unfortunates stricken with hysteria by her near-death experience. Once again; other movies treat bystanders as inconsequential accident-fodder rather than vulnerable people who suffer and die. Considering the age of this movie it's a hell of an act to beat.After that, the plot assumes a fairly detailed parody of the infamous 'Great Train Robbery'. Most of the rent-a-mob stalwarts of the period can be spotted somewhere, with the excellent Stanley Baker giving it his baddie-best. And, of course, there's that wonderful old icon, the 3.4 litre Jaguar, standard road-tool of the 1960's villain.  Yes; it is a bit dated now - especially as regards the language used. But that was a matter for the censors not the movie-makers. The likes of Mary Whitehouse have a lot to answer for.Give it a go if you haven't seen it. So long as you take its age into account, you're sure of a racy, if slightly nostalgic time.And while you're about it; you could check-out the slightly earlier 'Payroll'. There's another oldie that still hasn't lost its ginger.

A very well made near-reconstruction of the Great Train Robbery, taut, brilliantly directed and acted, with excellent casting.Stanley Baker was on top form for this film-such a tragedy that he died so young-and so are the rest of the cast, which includes many 1960s British film stalwarts, such as Glynn Edwards and Barry Foster.It should be remembered that many of the details of the preparations by the "firms" who carried out the real GTR, only came out in later books, so the very realistic pre-the big robbery story lines in this film were, it turned out, not surprisingly, very accurate: the robbery to finance the big job, the pulling together of a team of top criminals etc.In all not one to be missed, whenever it is shown on TV.

Robbery is for me a semi-documentary / thriller based on the Great Train Robbery of 1963. The location of the actual heist, on a bridge crossing a country lane bears similarity to the real robbery. The film moves around much of 60s London in the first part, during which time the gang are robbing to gain funds, plus planning the main robbery. The gangs' meeting on the terraces during a Leyton Orient match is well screened; Stanley Baker becomes so heated during their discussion he misses a great run and shot against the crossbar shown from the pitch! As for the central characters, Stanley Baker superbly plays "Mr Big" Paul Clifton, who is a character that the viewer never quite gets to know the limits. For example he tells the gang "we don't need guns, the police don't carry them"; later his wife finds his revolver at home, when quizzed he says "the gun is because I not going back inside (prison)".William Marlowe cleverly plays Clifton's "number 2" Dave Aitken, who is clearly "nice cop" versus Clifton's "bad cop" in terms of running the gang.As with the real train robbery, the gang make a successful robbery; however mistakes made during hideway contribute to their eventual capture. Not least when their contact who "cleans up" the getaway vehicles is apprehended at an airport leaving the UK with about £50K stuffed up his coat - his capture enables the police to set up a successful trap for the rest of the gang.The ending of the film is probably a slight movement forward from many 1950s movies where the gang are all caught - the ending to Robbery slightly leaves the viewer guessing. This is a film for enthusiasts of films of past years, who may like to spot London landmarks.