The Great Bank Robbery

The Great Bank Robbery
Six picture frames, oval shaped and gold edged, showing characters and items from the film
Theatrical release poster
Directed byHy Averback
Screenplay byWilliam Peter Blatty
Based onThe Great Bank Robbery
by Frank O'Rourke
Produced byMalcolm Stuart
Starring
CinematographyFred J. Koenekamp
Edited byGene Milford
Music byNelson Riddle
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros.-Seven Arts
Release date
  • 10 September 1969 (1969-09-10)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.5 million (US/ Canada rentals)[1]

The Great Bank Robbery is a 1969 Western comedy film from Warner Bros. directed by Hy Averback and written by William Peter Blatty, based on the novel by Frank O'Rourke. The movie had a soundtrack with songs by Jimmy Van Heusen.[2]

Plot

Gold stolen by outlaws is stashed in the impenetrable bank of Friendly, a small town in Texas. A preacher, Rev. Pious Blue, is actually a thief. He and his associates, including partner Lyda Kebanov, plan to tunnel into the vault and blow it up with TNT, just as a Fourth of July celebration drowns out the noise.

There are complications. A number of rival gangs (which include Mexican bandits and a gunfighter called Slade) are also after the loot. Then there is Ben Quick of the Texas Rangers, a lawman out to find evidence confirming the corruption of banker and mayor Kincaid that is also inside the vault.

The reverend's band is successful, distracting the bank's guards by having Lyda pretend to be Lady Godiva, riding nude on a white horse, with just small flower pasties covering her nipples and groin. They intend to escape by hot-air balloon. The gold is too heavy for liftoff, however. Lyda volunteers to abandon ship, in part because she has fallen for Quick, who finds the proof he needs to convict Kincaid while the reverend and the gold fly safely away.

Cast

Production notes

Zero Mostel uses the line "What we have here is a failure to communicate" which is similar to (and possibly a parody of or simply just a misquote of) a line from 1967's Cool Hand Luke. This line by Rev. Pious Blue is actually more often quoted than the original line and usually categorized as merely a misquote.[citation needed] The railroad scenes were filmed on the Sierra Railroad in Tuolumne County, California.[3]

Reception

Vincent Canby of The New York Times had nothing but disdain for the picture: "The Great Bank Robbery, the Western farce that opened yesterday at neighborhood theaters, is probably the least interesting movie of 1969 through this date. I hedge because there are several films I haven't seen, and because The Great Bank Robbery is so casually inept it can't support even negative superlatives."[4]

Film historian Leonard Maltin seemed to agree: "...A total dud, hardly worthy of the writer who gave us A Shot in the Dark and The Exorcist. Be warned."[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Big Rental Films of 1969", Variety, 7 January 1970 p 15.
  2. ^ "The Great Bank Robbery (1969) : Soundtracks". IMDb.com. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  3. ^ Jensen, Larry (2018). Hollywood's Railroads: Sierra Railroad. Vol. Two. Sequim, Washington: Cochetopa Press. p. 45. ISBN 9780692064726.
  4. ^ Canby, Vincent (September 11, 1969). "Movie Review - The Great Bank Robbery - An Inept Western Farce Opens on Local Screens". The New York Times.
  5. ^ Maltin's TV, Movie, & Video Guide