30.8.09

robbery (1967)

We meet Paul Clifton (Stanley Baker) after a jewel robbery, as he builds a team for his next job, robbing a night mail train from Glasgow. This takes some organising and includes breaking reluctant currency expert Robinson (Frank Finlay) out of prison. Meanwhile Inspector Langley (James Booth) is hot on the trail of the jewel thieves. Then he hears whispers about an even bigger heist being planned. A cat and mouse game proceeds, with meticulous planning on one side and the police sniffing for clues on the other.
An unsensationalised, but stylish account of the 1963 Great Train Robbery, with Baker giving his usual no nonsense hard man performance. It gets bogged down in details in the middle, inevitable really after the high octane opening. An obvious influence on a number of following crime films such as The Italian Job and Yate's next film Bullitt.

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