The First Great Train Robbery

A robbery film set in Victorian England. The year is 1855. Gold is shipped every month to the army in the Crimea. It travels by train. There are two safes in the van; each has two locks and the four keys are held by four different people. Edward Pierce wants to do this job. He is polite, looks rich, and is entirely false. From there the film is a story of preparation. Where each of the four keys is kept is found one at a time. The first is with a bank manager. The second with another. The third with a railway official. The fourth in a station cupboard. Each key needs its own plan. Agar is the safe man. He takes wax impressions and cuts copies. Miriam plays the women. A maid, a lady, a widow; whatever is needed. For one key a man is put into a prison. For another a funeral is staged. What the narrative is interested in is not robbery but craft: its idea is that every step demands a separate skill, and that the plan is itself a performance. The last section takes place on the train. Pierce has to get into the luggage van and the only way is outside. He moves along the roof of a moving train. Tunnels, bridges and low arches. That section was really filmed. Sean Connery played it without a double and the train was travelling at speed. It was shot in Ireland. Michael Crichton both directed and adapted the screenplay from his own novel. The story is based on a real event; the gold robbery of 1855 made a great noise in England. The music is by Jerry Goldsmith. Sean Connery, Donald Sutherland, Lesley-Anne Down and Alan Webb are in the cast. Who it is for: anyone who likes classic heist films and period production. Who it is not for: anyone looking for tension; the narrative is mostly enjoyable and never builds a real sense of danger.