The Great Train Robbery

The Great Train Robbery may refer to:

Events

Film and television

Music

Other uses

The First Great Train Robbery

The First Great Train Robbery – known in the U.S. as The Great Train Robbery – is a 1979 film directed by Michael Crichton, who also wrote the screenplay based on his novel The Great Train Robbery. The film stars Sean Connery, Donald Sutherland, and Lesley-Anne Down.

Plot

In 1854, Edward Pierce (Sean Connery), to all appearances a charismatic and well-established member of London's high society, is secretly an opportunistic and cynical master thief. He plans to steal a shipment of gold (sent monthly to finance the Crimean War) travelling from London to Folkestone. The bank has taken strict precautions, including locking the gold in two heavy Chubb safes, each of which has two locks, requiring a total of four keys to open them. When a test robbery (using a hired stooge to test the security measures) goes awry, Pierce recruits his old acquaintance Robert Agar (Donald Sutherland), a pickpocket and screwsman. Pierce's mistress Miriam (Lesley-Anne Down), a beautiful actress, and his driver Barlow (George Downing) join the plot, and the guard to the safe car, Burgess (Michael Elphick), is also bribed into participation. Pierce plans the robbery in exquisite detail, and procures information on the security measures and locations of the keys. The executives of the bank who store the gold and arrange its transport, Mr. Henry Fowler and Mr. Edgar Trent, each possess a key; the other two are locked in a cabinet at the offices of the South Eastern Railway at the London Bridge train station. The keys are not to be stolen, but wax impressions are to be made of them in order to hide the robbers' intentions.

The Great Train Robbery (novel)

The Great Train Robbery is a bestselling 1975 historical novel written by Michael Crichton. Originally published in the USA by Alfred A. Knopf (then, a division of Random House), it is currently published by Avon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. It is the story of the Great Gold Robbery of 1855, a massive gold heist, which takes place on a train traveling through Victorian-era England on May 22, 1855. Most of the book takes place in London.

Plot

In 1854, Edward Pierce, a charismatic and affluent "cracksman" or master thief, makes plans to steal a shipment of gold worth more than twenty five thousand pounds being transported monthly from London to the Crimean War front. He faces enormous obstacles as the bank has taken strict precautions, including locking the gold in two heavy safes, each of which has two locks, thus requiring a total of four keys to open. He recruits Robert Agar, a "screwsman" or specialist in copying keys, as an accomplice.

To ensure the success of his bold plan, Pierce spends more than a year in preparation. His first steps are fairly easy as he uses his wealth and social contacts to procure information on the security measures and locations of the keys. The bank's president, Mr. Edgar Trent, and its general manager, Mr. Henry Fowler, each possess a key. The other two are locked in a cabinet at the offices of the South Eastern Railway at the London Bridge railroad terminus.