Le jour où l'on dévalisa la Banque d'Angleterre

Aldo Ray and Peter O'Toole star in "The Day They Robbed the Bank of England," a 1960 film directed by John Guillerman. Ray plays Norgate, an American who sympathizes with the Irish republican movement. To this end, he and his cronies plan to rob the Bank of England. Befriending a guard, Captain Finch (O'Toole) while in a pub, over time Norgate manages to gather many details about the layout of the bank and the whereabouts of the vault with the gold bullion.

This is the type of "caper" film very popular in the 1960s. It's a small British film and a little slow in spots, but intriguing. The Captain is one of O'Toole's early roles, so it's definitely of interest to see him.

One of my problems with this movie is the weak script - it seemed odd to me that the Captain didn't realize pretty quickly what Norgate was up to. The acting, however, is very good, with some fine character actors offering great support: Kieron Moore, Albert Sharpe, and others. The lovely Elizabeth Sellars plays the liaison with Ireland -- she was widowed as a result of the cause.

Entertaining.

Based on Aldo Ray's fine performance in "The Day They Robbed the Bank of England" as both the brains and the muscles behind the Irish movements attempt at independence by literally breaking into the Queens bank and robbing her of their gold bullion, this black and white film could have been the impetus for the latter 1966 TV series Mission Impossible.

The film starts off a bit slow as we get to know the two main characters, the Irish American Charles Norgate (Aldo Ray) and Captain Monty Finch (Peter O'Toole) who is more than just a tad bit bored of being responsible for protecting the heavily secured vault of the Bank of England.

As the movie progresses Aldo Ray shines brighter and brighter in his lead role which in my personal opinion should have lead to his serious consideration for the lead role in the very first James Bond film, 1962's Dr. No. Aldo Ray would have been 36 years of age when Dr. No was realeased and his physical presence, burly build, steely caged eyes and sharp wit would have made him perefectly cast to play James Bond. Peter O'Toole could also have been considered to play James Bond advanced contraption expert sidekick "M".

But I digress, this 1960 black and white crime/action/suspense film may have been a low budget production but what it lacks in big budget releases such as Ben Hur, it more than makes up with fine acting, and a story line that begs that the underdog Charles Norgate (Aldo Ray) make good on his bank robbery.

I enjoyed the film immensely and I will be sure to add it as a "keeper" in my personal film library. I give this film an appreciative 8 out of 10 rating.

This is actually quite an original heist movie, not because of its story or characters but more because of the fact that the movie is a period movie as well. The movie is set around 1900, thus making this not just your average normal bank robbers movie.

Yet the movie does not work out as good as it potentially could had. The movies takes too much time to build up to the actual heist. It makes the first halve of the movie mostly dragging and not interesting or exciting enough to watch. It even manages to throw in a love interest, which is completely redundant.

It's true that the movie only really gets off the ground once they start the break-in. From that point on the movie becomes actually quite good to watch. It only then becomes obvious that the movie its characters are actually quite interesting and its story can be actually quite clever and intriguing. A bit too late though, making this only a so-so movie, with one good second halve and one weaker first halve.

For 1960 standards its definitely a good and professional British looking movie, despite the fact that this obviously wasn't a movie with a very high budget. It knows to create a good, typical for its period, kind of atmosphere.

All of the actors in the movie are some big unknowns and none of them also really know to impress. At leas they don't leave a lasting impression. Except for the at the time still young Peter O'Toole. This actually was only O'Toole's second movie he ever appeared in but he already had his own trademark style of acting at the time. His character is also easily the best of the movie, which also makes you cheer more for him than his actual 'enemy' and main character of the bank, the professional thief and bank robber, played by Aldo Ray. Come to think of it, why should you even cheer in the first place for the movie its bank robbers? It's not like they are doing it for a good cause, which just doesn't make them the most sympathetic main characters for a movie.

Perhaps it would also had been a better movie if it was just a tad bit more entertaining. It should had paid some more attention to its 'fun', rather than its serious aspects.

A watchable movie, that however also leaves you with the feeling that it isn't as good as it truly could had been.

6/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

At the start of the 20th Century, the Fenians have decided to rob the gold bullion stored in the Bank of England, not only for the cash, but as a political statement. To accomplish this they have imported Irish-American mining-engineer-turned-bankrobber Aldo Ray. He studies the plans of the Bank when he can get his hands on them, and makes a friend of Peter O'Toole, the officer often assigned to command the unit of Guards who make sure the Bank isn't robbed at night.

Although the there's no doubt that it's American Ray in the lead, and the wealth of British performers is a pleasure, with John Le Mesurier, Elizabeth Sellars, and the always entertaining Hugh Griffith on hand, it's most notable as O'Toole's first major role, and he owns the movie with his effete, bored Guardsman who'd like to try thinking just once; when he does, it breaks his heart.

An enjoyable film. Low budget, however, the film does not suffer in the least. Typical of this era of British films, with a solid American actor (Aldo Ray), as the lead. Broody, but not really convincing. Good acting by Albert Sharpe played "Tosher". Cameos aplenty from stock actors. First time seeing Peter O'Toole in a supporting role, playing the guards officer in charge of security at the Bank. In my opinion he stole the show, if you will pardon the pun. I see that the film is based on a novel, so wishful thinking as far as the plot goes. I was born and now work in the City of London, so I know that there was obviously a lot of research concerning the sewers and the streets above them. This made the film even more enjoyable.