Robbery (1967)

IMDb plot summary: A group of British criminals plans the robbery of the Royal Mail train on the Glasgow-London route.

Directed by Peter Yates. Starring Stanley Baker, Joanna Pettet, and James Booth.

Robbery is a pretty straightforward crime drama that follows both a set of criminals planning a bank robbery and the law enforcement officers who are trying to bring them down. This is the third film directed by Peter Yates, and, wow, he wanted to try out all the genres, didn't he? From the sentimental musical Summer Holiday to the absurdist comedy One Way Pendulum to this realistic crime story, he didn't seem to want to tie himself down to one style. While that's interesting to me, this movie isn't particularly. There's one scene that stands out, where the leader planning the robbery has a confrontation with his wife, and that scene snaps into focus, with some really captivating use of color and staging, but all the rest is very typical of everyday crime dramas without much of a unique stamp on it. For some folks, that's going to draw them right into it. For me, it's going to push me away. I continue to be intrigued by Yates as a director, but this is my least favorite of his films thus far.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Robbery < Jesus Christ Superstar (2000)

Robbery > The Man with One Red Shoe

Robbery < Satantango

Robbery > Crumb

Robbery < Rigoletto

Robbery > A Week Away

Robbery < Ghost

Robbery < Bedtime for Bonzo

Robbery < Rebecca

Robbery > Mud

Robbery < The Autopsy of Jane Doe

Robbery < Suspiria (1977)

Final spot: #2491 out of 3713, or 33%.