Which train robbery film?


Help, please:

I'm puzzled. I distinctly remember seeing a documentary-style film about the Ronnie Biggs train robbery, which I recall as being named 'The Great Train Robbery', and which I believe must have come out in the late 60s or early 70s.

None of the films that come back from a IMDB search for 'Great Train Robbery' really matches my memory of this film. This one is the closest, but from what I remember, 'my' film continued after the capture and sentencing, and included a few snippets showing Biggs and Flower's escape. It sounds as though 'Die Gentlemen bitten zur Kasse' doesn't include this.

An aspect of 'my' film that I liked at the time was that there was no heavy moral stance taken against the robbers, and that the daring and ingenuity of the robbery was granted some admiration. The coshing of the driver was shown to be a) not a particularly serious injury, and b) a mistake, and very disagreeable to the rest of the robbers, who gave the perpetrator a very hard time about it. The robbers weren't heroes, but nor were they the black-hearted evildoers that everyone

I don't remember how the police were portrayed, but I do remember that the villains of the piece were the public - only interested in the reward money - and the judiciary - handing down outrageously vicious punishments to these working-class people who had had the effrontery to steal the Crown's money: 30 years and more for an essentially victimless crime.

I was surprised to find that antipathy toward the robbers is still quite strong here in the UK: when Ronnie Biggs came back home, most people I talked to about it wanted him to rot. As far as I'm concerned, he's a man who took on the System and won, fair and square - and the system should take the defeat gracefully. It seems ugly and spiteful to seek to punish this frail old man now, just because he's finally too weak and poor to run anymore. That's just my opinion, which isn't relevant.

So, does anyone know which film this is?

CD

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Hi

It sounds more like a documentary.

BUT did it show a robbery (Comet House at London - Heathrow Airport) undertaken by a gang of 'City Gents' with bowler hats and umbrellas?

There were two British feature films - Stanley Bakers Robbery and Phil Collins Buster.

I have about eight or nine Great Train Robbery documentaries so if you can remember a little bit more then get in touch [email protected] and put Great Train Robbery as topic or I might delete it as spam.

J

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J,

Somehow I missed seeing your reply previously. Thanks for your information and kind offer. (Bit brave of you to publish your email address in clear, screen-capturable form, by the way. I hope you've not been inundated with spam)

The details of the 'City Gents' film you mention don't match my recollection of the one I saw:

o I'm sure it was a (B&W) film, shown in a cinema as the main feature.
o I recall the van parked at the bridge, into which the money was loaded.
o I remember the train being flagged down with a red lamp (in glorious monochrome), the coshed driver following orders with blood on his face.
o I also remember shots of the greedy public eager for the reward, and the judge intoning 'THIRTY years'; the over-the-wall prison break with the modified van and a few other mental snapshots.

It may be that my recollection has been adulterated with footage I've seen since, of course - that one viewing has had decades to fade and dim. I think this film would be called a docudrama, and what I liked most about it was the apparent balanced sympathy for the robbers. If this rings any bells for you I'd be interested, but please don't spend any time on the matter.

CD

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J,

Stanley Bakers Robbery


Having looked at this suggestion of yours, I think you may have nailed it! I don't know how I missed this one, but the IMDB notes sound right (even though it's colour and my memory is of B&W).

I'll dig further. Thanks again.

CD

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It seems to be this one. It does indeed continue after the capture and sentencing, and it includes two sequences about prison breaks, one including Biggs, whose name in this film was "Finnegan".

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Ken,

Thanks a lot for the info. I guess I'm going to have to track down a copy.

CD

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