Here are some of the most exciting heist movies you should check out, if you haven't already. Begin Slideshow. Best Heist Movies - Casino, Bank Robbery Exciting Films. Movies. Entertainment. So right now i am in the mood to watch some casino or heist movies. Movies i enjoyed before were the clou, 21 and the italian job. Now i am looking for a movie where they either have a brilliant bank robbery or cheating in a casino very smartly. It would be nice if the games they play in the casino.
| Seven Thieves | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Henry Hathaway |
| Produced by | Sydney Boehm |
| Written by | Sydney Boehm Max Catto (novel) |
| Starring | Edward G. Robinson Rod Steiger Joan Collins Eli Wallach |
| Music by | Dominic Frontiere |
| Cinematography | Sam Leavitt |
| Edited by | Dorothy Spencer |
| Distributed by | Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation |
Release date | March 12, 1960 (New York City) |
| 102 min | |
| Language | English/French |
| Budget | $1,650,000[1] |
Seven Thieves is a 1960 American film noirheistcrime drama film shot in CinemaScope. Casino jackpot party. It stars Edward G. Robinson, Rod Steiger, Joan Collins and Eli Wallach.
Directed by Henry Hathaway and produced by Sydney Boehm, it was adapted for the screen by Sydney Boehm, based on the 1959 novelThe Lions At The Kill by Max Catto.[2] Technical advisor was Candy Barr, who, as choreographer, taught dance routines to Collins.
Seven Thieves received an Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design Black-and-White (Bill Thomas).
Synopsis[edit]
A discredited expatriate American professor, Theo Wilkins (Edward G. Robinson), has called on a young protégé and sophisticated thief, Paul Mason (Rod Steiger), to come over from the US to the south of France and help him pull off one final heist. He has masterminded a caper to steal $4,000,000 in French francs from the underground vault of the casino of Monte Carlo, Monaco. Wilkins has recruited a team of thieves – including Melanie (Joan Collins), an exotic dancer – but he needs someone he can trust, Mason, to keep them all in line during the crime.
The heist takes place on the night of a grand celebration at the casino. Melanie's protector, the saxophone player Pancho (Eli Wallach), and Wilkins enter the casino in the guises of (respectively) 'Baron von Roelitz,' an aristocrat with a disability who uses a wheelchair, and his physician, 'Dr. Vidal.' At the same time, Melanie, the safecracker Louis (Michael Dante) and Mason attend the party with invitations procured by the gang's inside man at the casino, the meek assistant to the director, Le May (Alexander Scourby), who is under Melanie's spell.
Mason and Louis go out of a window, which Melanie shuts behind them, and make their way along a narrow ledge high above the sea to the casino director's office. From there, they descend by elevator to the vault four floors below. They cut through a barred gate in front of the vault and drill through the lock, secure the cash and make their way back to the director's elevator.
Pancho's part of the plan is to ingest a cyanide capsule to simulate a heart attack. Afraid, he fails to do so, necessitating that Wilkins inject him with cyanide instead. Pancho collapses and Wilkins maneuvers the casino director (Sebastian Cabot), in the name of 'discretion,' into transporting 'the baron' to his office. Here, Wilkins pretends to phone for an ambulance, and informs the director that the baron is dead. They leave the office with the inert baron in it.
Immediately re-entering the director's office, Louis and Mason stash the money in the hollow seat of the baron's wheelchair. They then return along the ledge to the window into the casino, which Melanie has reopened for them, narrowly avoiding being caught by casino security. Louis and Melanie depart the party together, while Mason makes his way out separately.
The 'ambulance' summoned by Wilkins is in reality part of the plan, and is driven by the last accomplice, Fritz (Berry Kroeger). Pancho is strapped into the wheelchair, taken to the side entrance of the casino and loaded into the ambulance. The conspirators then make their getaway. Just as Pancho is regaining consciousness in the back of the ambulance, Wilkins, smiling in the excitement of his success, peacefully and unexpectedly dies. Mason and Melanie drive him back to his hotel. While driving back to the hideout, Mason breaks down and Melanie realizes that Wilkins was his father.
Mason and Melanie decide they want no part of the stolen money. They return to the hideout, where the others are squabbling over how to split the take. Mason examines the money and discovers that it is brand new currency and that all the serial numbers are on file with the Bank of France, which will make it next to impossible to spend. Mason and Melanie, realizing that the others will be unable to resist spending the cash, will be caught and will implicate them, forcibly take the cash away and return it to the casino. Ironically, while returning the money they hit it big on the roulette table. Thus the two of them, who by now have decided to take their chances in life together, emerge as the only members of the gang to come out ahead.
Cast[edit]
- Edward G. Robinson – Professor Theo Wilkins
- Rod Steiger – Paul Mason
- Joan Collins – Melanie
- Eli Wallach – Pancho
- Alexander Scourby – Raymond Le May
- Michael Dante – Louis Antonizzi
- Berry Kroeger – Hugo Baumer aka Fritz
- Sebastian Cabot – Director of Casino
References[edit]
- ^Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. ISBN978-0-8108-4244-1. p252
- ^http://wn.com/Max_Catto
External links[edit]
- Seven Thieves at the American Film Institute Catalog
- Seven Thieves on IMDb
- Seven Thieves at AllMovie
- Seven Thieves at the TCM Movie Database
The first casino, Il Ridotto – actually one of the wings of the Palazzo Dandolo, today a popular five-star hotel close to the St. Mark's Square – was opened in Venice in 1683. The goal of the Venice city council was to regulate the gambling running rampant in the city during the Carnival season. Unknowingly, they created an industry that has flourished to this day – regulated gambling – and given a topic to many filmmakers across history. Casinos are establishments with a huge pile of cash in them, a place where people go dressed up and spend. As such, they most likely seem an inviting target for criminals who see them as a way to make easy money. Or not – considering how much cash an average casino can hold, the security measures taken by the owners are tight, measuring up to the risk of the money being stolen. So, outwitting a casino is seen as a tough job for a team of criminal masterminds you will likely only find in movies. Casino heist movies, to be exact.
Casino heist movies deserve a category of their own, considering how tough the job the heroes (antiheroes) of the movies have to accomplish. They have to outsmart the clever security measures of the establishment, they have to hide from the usually powerful and tough owner of the place, and they have to do that in a usually limited timeframe, which requires careful planning and a lot of luck. There are many movies that involve stealing massive quantities of cash from casinos, and their 'tradition' goes back longer than you think.
Bob le flambeur (1956)
A precursor of the noir and the French new wave, 'Bob le flambeur' is a classic heist movie released in 1956. The protagonist is Bob (Roger Duchesne), a former bank robber who served his time, making a living as a gambler in Paris. After a run of bad luck, he is nearly broke, when he learns that the safe at a casino in Deauville holds hundreds of millions in cash in its safe each day. As in most other similar movies, they gather a team, and plan the heist – but as you might expect, things don't go as smoothly as they were planned.
The movie was re-released in the US cinemas in 2001 to critical success. It currently holds a 97% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Reindeer Games (2000)
Seven Thieves is a 1960 American film noirheistcrime drama film shot in CinemaScope. Casino jackpot party. It stars Edward G. Robinson, Rod Steiger, Joan Collins and Eli Wallach.
Directed by Henry Hathaway and produced by Sydney Boehm, it was adapted for the screen by Sydney Boehm, based on the 1959 novelThe Lions At The Kill by Max Catto.[2] Technical advisor was Candy Barr, who, as choreographer, taught dance routines to Collins.
Seven Thieves received an Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design Black-and-White (Bill Thomas).
Synopsis[edit]
A discredited expatriate American professor, Theo Wilkins (Edward G. Robinson), has called on a young protégé and sophisticated thief, Paul Mason (Rod Steiger), to come over from the US to the south of France and help him pull off one final heist. He has masterminded a caper to steal $4,000,000 in French francs from the underground vault of the casino of Monte Carlo, Monaco. Wilkins has recruited a team of thieves – including Melanie (Joan Collins), an exotic dancer – but he needs someone he can trust, Mason, to keep them all in line during the crime.
The heist takes place on the night of a grand celebration at the casino. Melanie's protector, the saxophone player Pancho (Eli Wallach), and Wilkins enter the casino in the guises of (respectively) 'Baron von Roelitz,' an aristocrat with a disability who uses a wheelchair, and his physician, 'Dr. Vidal.' At the same time, Melanie, the safecracker Louis (Michael Dante) and Mason attend the party with invitations procured by the gang's inside man at the casino, the meek assistant to the director, Le May (Alexander Scourby), who is under Melanie's spell.
Mason and Louis go out of a window, which Melanie shuts behind them, and make their way along a narrow ledge high above the sea to the casino director's office. From there, they descend by elevator to the vault four floors below. They cut through a barred gate in front of the vault and drill through the lock, secure the cash and make their way back to the director's elevator.
Pancho's part of the plan is to ingest a cyanide capsule to simulate a heart attack. Afraid, he fails to do so, necessitating that Wilkins inject him with cyanide instead. Pancho collapses and Wilkins maneuvers the casino director (Sebastian Cabot), in the name of 'discretion,' into transporting 'the baron' to his office. Here, Wilkins pretends to phone for an ambulance, and informs the director that the baron is dead. They leave the office with the inert baron in it.
Immediately re-entering the director's office, Louis and Mason stash the money in the hollow seat of the baron's wheelchair. They then return along the ledge to the window into the casino, which Melanie has reopened for them, narrowly avoiding being caught by casino security. Louis and Melanie depart the party together, while Mason makes his way out separately.
The 'ambulance' summoned by Wilkins is in reality part of the plan, and is driven by the last accomplice, Fritz (Berry Kroeger). Pancho is strapped into the wheelchair, taken to the side entrance of the casino and loaded into the ambulance. The conspirators then make their getaway. Just as Pancho is regaining consciousness in the back of the ambulance, Wilkins, smiling in the excitement of his success, peacefully and unexpectedly dies. Mason and Melanie drive him back to his hotel. While driving back to the hideout, Mason breaks down and Melanie realizes that Wilkins was his father.
Mason and Melanie decide they want no part of the stolen money. They return to the hideout, where the others are squabbling over how to split the take. Mason examines the money and discovers that it is brand new currency and that all the serial numbers are on file with the Bank of France, which will make it next to impossible to spend. Mason and Melanie, realizing that the others will be unable to resist spending the cash, will be caught and will implicate them, forcibly take the cash away and return it to the casino. Ironically, while returning the money they hit it big on the roulette table. Thus the two of them, who by now have decided to take their chances in life together, emerge as the only members of the gang to come out ahead.
Cast[edit]
- Edward G. Robinson – Professor Theo Wilkins
- Rod Steiger – Paul Mason
- Joan Collins – Melanie
- Eli Wallach – Pancho
- Alexander Scourby – Raymond Le May
- Michael Dante – Louis Antonizzi
- Berry Kroeger – Hugo Baumer aka Fritz
- Sebastian Cabot – Director of Casino
References[edit]
- ^Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. ISBN978-0-8108-4244-1. p252
- ^http://wn.com/Max_Catto
External links[edit]
- Seven Thieves at the American Film Institute Catalog
- Seven Thieves on IMDb
- Seven Thieves at AllMovie
- Seven Thieves at the TCM Movie Database
The first casino, Il Ridotto – actually one of the wings of the Palazzo Dandolo, today a popular five-star hotel close to the St. Mark's Square – was opened in Venice in 1683. The goal of the Venice city council was to regulate the gambling running rampant in the city during the Carnival season. Unknowingly, they created an industry that has flourished to this day – regulated gambling – and given a topic to many filmmakers across history. Casinos are establishments with a huge pile of cash in them, a place where people go dressed up and spend. As such, they most likely seem an inviting target for criminals who see them as a way to make easy money. Or not – considering how much cash an average casino can hold, the security measures taken by the owners are tight, measuring up to the risk of the money being stolen. So, outwitting a casino is seen as a tough job for a team of criminal masterminds you will likely only find in movies. Casino heist movies, to be exact.
Casino heist movies deserve a category of their own, considering how tough the job the heroes (antiheroes) of the movies have to accomplish. They have to outsmart the clever security measures of the establishment, they have to hide from the usually powerful and tough owner of the place, and they have to do that in a usually limited timeframe, which requires careful planning and a lot of luck. There are many movies that involve stealing massive quantities of cash from casinos, and their 'tradition' goes back longer than you think.
Bob le flambeur (1956)
A precursor of the noir and the French new wave, 'Bob le flambeur' is a classic heist movie released in 1956. The protagonist is Bob (Roger Duchesne), a former bank robber who served his time, making a living as a gambler in Paris. After a run of bad luck, he is nearly broke, when he learns that the safe at a casino in Deauville holds hundreds of millions in cash in its safe each day. As in most other similar movies, they gather a team, and plan the heist – but as you might expect, things don't go as smoothly as they were planned.
The movie was re-released in the US cinemas in 2001 to critical success. It currently holds a 97% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Reindeer Games (2000)
'Reindeer Games', a 2000 crime flick was the final movie of director John Frankenheimer who passed away in 2002 – his name will always be remembered for titles like 'Birdman of Alcatraz' (1962), 'The Manchurian Candidate' (1962), and 'Fixer' (1968).
Best Casino Heist Movies
The film tells the story of Rudy (Ben Affleck), a former convict who assumes the identity of his late cellmate Nick (James Frain) to earn the affection of Ashley (Charlize Theron), who Nick has been corresponding with while locked up. Things take an unexpected turn when a gang led by Ashley's brother Gabriel (Gary Sinise) kidnaps 'Nick' planning to force him to help them rob the casino 'Nick' has been working at before being locked up. The heist doesn't go as planned – why would it, after all – and more people turn out not being who they pretended to be. 'Nick' ends up on the wrong side of the gun: he is tied up, put inside a truck, and driven toward the edge of a cliff with a small part of the money to take the fall, both literally and figuratively.
Ocean's Eleven (2001)
'Ocean's Eleven' stands out not only because of its all-star cast – George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy García, and Julia Roberts – but also because it catches the world's best-known roulette wheels on film: those at the Bellagio, the Mirage, and the MGM Grand, all of them in Las Vegas. In the film, all three are owned by Terry Benedict (García) and hold a huge pile of cash because of a major upcoming fight taking place at one of them.
Best Heist Movies 2019
The team led by Danny Ocean (Clooney) does its homework, examining the internal workings of the casinos when trouble shows up in the form of Tess (Roberts), Danny's ex-wife, on the arm of the man they are about to rob. Things apparently don't go very well for the team until the very end… when the seemingly ruined heist turns into an unexpected success. Big enough, at least, to ensure two direct sequels (Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen) and an all-female spinoff called 'Ocean's 8'.
