Tag Archives: heist films

Parker on the screen #2: The Split (1968)

Posted on August 2, 2020 by Andrew Nette| 4 Comments

Several years ago on this site I referred to the 1968 film The Split as a Blaxsploitation style riff on Donald Westlake’s character, Parker. I have seen other reviewers make the same mistake, I suspect mainly on the basis that it was an action film starring a black man, ex-pro-footballer turned actor, Jim Brown, in the role of McClain (as the character of Parker is called). Not only did The Split appear several years before that cycle of films kicked off (1971 with the release of Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song and Shaft), but it displays none of the extravagant sexual and violent action stylings of that canon.

The second film in my series of Parker on the screen, The Split is a workmanlike neo noir based on Donald Westlake’s Parker novel, The Seventh. It is no Point Blank. I don’t even think it is as good as the 1967 French film, Mise a Sac, based on Westlake’s The Score, my first entry in the Parker on the screen series. But neither is it as bad as lot of people think.

The heist in The Seventh – stealing the ticket takings from a stadium football game – is over in the first dozen or pages of the book.… Read more

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Posted in 1960s American crime films, Blaxsploitation, Crime film, Donald Westlake aka Richard Stark, Ernest Borgnine, Film Noir, Gene Hackman, Heist films, Jim Brown, Neo Noir, Peter Yates

Tagged Diahann Carroll, Donald Sutherland, Donald Westlake aka Richard Stark, Ernest Borgnine, Gordon Flemyng, heist films, Irwin Winkler, Jack Klugman, James Whitmore, Jim Brown, Julie Harris, Point Blank (1967), Quincy Jones, Robert Chartoff, Robert Sabaroff, The Seventh (1966), The Split (1968), Warren Oates

Parker on the screen #1: Mise a Sac (1967)

Posted on July 22, 2020 by Andrew Nette| 3 Comments

With Melbourne is back in Covid-19 lockdown, I have a bit more time than usual on my hands, so I’ve decided to start a project I have been meaning to undertake for a while now – to watch and review all the screen adaptations of Richard Stark aka Donald Westlake’s crime fiction character, the master thief known as Parker.

Regular readers of this site will be well versed in my adoration for Westlake in general and his character, Parker, in particular. I wrote about what it was that so fascinated me about Parker in some detail on Pulp Curry back in 2014. And my second novel Gunshine State is an Australian homage of to the Parker series.

A few ground rules for what I intend to be an occasional series. I’ll tackle every film, except for John Boorman’s Point Blank (1967), which I have already written about in some detail here. This means: Made in U.S.A (1966), Mise a Sac (1967), The Split (1968), The Outfit (1973), Slayground (1983), Payback (the director’s cut – 1999), and Parker (2013). That said, I will not do them in the order they appeared. While Made in U.S.A is the first film to be based on a Westlake book (although the adaptation is very tenuous), I’ve had issues getting a copy to watch, so I’ll tackle Mise a Sac first.… Read more

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Posted in 1970s American crime films, Crime film, Donald Westlake aka Richard Stark, French cinema, Heist films, Neo Noir, Parker

Tagged Alain Cavalier, Classe Tous Risques (1960), Claude Saudet, Cold Sweat (1970), Daniel Ivernal, Donald Westlake aka Richard Stark, Eyes Without a Face (1960), heist films, Michel Constantin, Mise a Sac (1966), Parker, Point Blank (1967), The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973), The Nickel Ride (1974), The Score, Violent City (1970)

The heist always goes wrong, part 3: 10 of the best heist films you’ve never seen

Posted on September 19, 2016 by Andrew Nette| 20 Comments

As readers of this site know, I love a good heist film, the ingenuity of their plots and the variations they come in, whether it be the all star team assembled for the job of a life time or a group of desperate men and women trying for one last big score.

Everyone can name their favourite heist films and, for the most part, it is usually the big name titles such as The Asphalt Jungle (1950), The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) and the French classic, Rififi (1955). Indeed, I listed these and many other well know heist movies in previous posts on this site, ‘The heist always goes wrong, part 1: ten of the best heist movies ever made’ and ‘The heist always goes wrong, part 2: reader picks and other favourite heist movies’.

But what about the lessor known heist films that are great but which nobody knows about?

To celebrate the release of my second crime novel, Gunshine State, I have compiled the following list of the 10 best heist films you’ve never seen.

Operation Amsterdam (1959)

Operation Amsterdam functions as both a war and a heist film. Peter Finch plays Jan Smit, a British intelligence officer ordered to infiltrate the city of Amsterdam, which is on the verge of being overrun by invading German forces, and prevent the city’s diamond reserves from falling into Nazi hands.… Read more

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Posted in 1960s American crime films, 1970s American crime films, Christopher Lee, Crime film, Donald Westlake aka Richard Stark, French cinema, Heist films, Stanley Baker

Tagged A Prize of Arms (1962), Alain Delon, Armoured (2009), Charles Bronson, Christopher Lee, Circus of Fear (1966), Donald Westlake aka Richard Stark, Edward G Robinson, Eva Bartock, Farewell, Francoise Prevost, Friend (1968), Grand Slam (1967), Gunshine State, heist films, I Promise to Pay (1959), Killer Force (1976), Klaus Kinski, Matt Dillon, Maud Adams, O J Simpso, Operation Amsterdam (1959), Payroll (1959), Peter Fonda, Psycho Circus (1966), Rififi (1955), Sidney Hayers, Skip Martin, Suzy Kendall, Sweeney 2 (1978), Telly Savalas, The Asphalt Jungle (1950), The Day of the Wolves (1971), The Diamond Mercenaries (1976), The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973), Val Guest

The heist always goes wrong, part 2: reader picks and other favourite heist movies

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Andrew Nette| 11 Comments

My recent post The heist always goes wrong – ten of the best heist movies ever made, generated some great reader feedback. The best thing about the response was that it pointed me in the direction of a number heist films I hadn’t seen or that I need to revisit.

Based on your comments and the thoughts I’ve had on the subject since the original post, here are follow up list of other films that could be included in a best of heist films list (and my shameless editorialising regarding what I think about the merits of not of them).

Straight Time (1978)

A huge thanks to West Australian crime writer David Whish Wilson for alerting me to Straight Time, which I’d seen previously but forgotten. Dustin Hoffman plays a career criminal just out of prison, trying to stay on the right side of his ball breaking parole officer, masterfully played by one of my screen heroes, M. Emmet Walsh, and avoid the temptation of re-offending.

Straight Time is based on the book No Best So Fierce, by real life con Edward Bunker (who has a small role in the film). Everything about this film works, the script, the down at heel late seventies feel, the cast, which includes Theresa Russell, Gary Busey, Kathy Bates and Harry Dean Stanton.… Read more

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Posted in 1960s American crime films, 1970s American crime films, Donald Westlake aka Richard Stark, Fernando Di Leo, Film Noir, French cinema, Heist films, James Woods, Jim Thompson, M Emmet Walsh, Robert Ryan, Sterling Hayden, Steve McQueen, Yaphet Kotto

Tagged Ali McGraw, Ben Johnson, Best Seller (1987), Blue Collar (1978), Clint Eastwood, Coleen Grey, Don Rickles, Donald Sutherland, Dustin Hoffman, Elisha Cook Jr, Elke Sommer, Faye Dunaway, Fernando Di Leo, Gary Busey, Gary Lockwood, Gavin MacLeod, Harry Dean Stanton, Harvey Keitel, heist films, Jack Palance, Jules Dassin, Karen Black, Kelly’s Heroes (1970), Lee J Cobb, Milano Calibre 9 (1972), oe Don Baker, Paul Schrader, Plunder Road (1957), Richard Pryor, Rififi (1955), Robert Ryan, Sam Peckinpah, Set It Off (1996), Slim Pickens, Sterling Hayden, Steve McQueen, Straight Time (1978), Telly Savalas, The Anderson Tapes (1971), The Getaway (1972), The Killing (1956), The Outfit (1973), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), Theresa Russell, They Came to Rob Las Vegas (1968), Timothy Carey, Vince Edwards, Yaphet Kotto

The heist always goes wrong, part 1: ten of the best heist movies ever made

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Andrew Nette| 34 Comments

I love a good heist film.

I love the genius and intricacy of their plots and the variations they come in, whether it be the all star team assembled for a job or the desperate ex-cons trying for one last score.

But most of all I love them because of the golden rule of all good heist films – for whatever reason, the heist always goes wrong.

What do you need for a good heist?

You need a plan for actual heist itself, the getaway, and moving, storing and fencing whatever it is you’ve stolen. The more complicated the plan, the more likely it is that something will go wrong.

You need a crew of people; one man or woman alone cannot do a heist. This introduces the human element and all the problems that come with it, the greed, suspicions, jealousies and uncertainties.

I’ve been thinking for a while now about what my top ten-heist films would be and the following list, in no particular order, is it.

The robbery itself is almost immaterial to how I rate a good heist film. What I like is the context and atmosphere in which the heist takes place and inevitable problems that arise after it’s been pulled off. And the darker and more broken things get, the better the film is in my book.… Read more

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Posted in 1960s American crime films, 1970s American crime films, 1980s American crime films, Angie Dickinson, Charles Durning, Donald Westlake aka Richard Stark, Ernest Borgnine, Film Noir, French cinema, Gene Hackman, Heist films, James Caan, Jim Brown, Peter Boyle, Peter Yates, Robert Mitchum, Sidney Lumet, Stanley Baker, Sterling Hayden, Yaphet Kotto

Tagged A Cop (1972), Across 110th Street (1972), Al Pacino, Alain Delon, Angie Dickinson, Anthony Quinn, Armoured Car Robbery (1950), Basil Dearden, Catherine Deneuve, Charles Durning, Crime Wave (1954), Criss Cross (1949), Diahann Carroll, Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Don Siegel, Donald Westlake aka Richard Stark, Ernest Borgnine, Gene Hackman, Heat (1995), heist films, Jack Klugman, James Booth, James Caan, James Whitmore, Jim Brown, Joanna Pettel, John Cazale, Joseph Loosey, Money Movers (1979), Peter Boyle, Peter Yates, Richard Jordan, Richard Stark, Robbery (1967), Robert De Niro, Robert Mitchum, Robert Prosky, Ronald Reagan, Sexy Beast (2000), Stanley Baker, Sterling Hayden, Sydney Lumet, The Asphalt Jungle (1950), The Bank job (2008), The Criminal (1960), The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973), The Killers (1964), The League of Gentlemen (1960), The Red Circle (1970), Tuesday Weld, Warren Oates, Yaphet Kotto

Tag Archives: heist films

Parker on the screen #2: The Split (1968)

Parker on the screen #1: Mise a Sac (1967)

The heist always goes wrong, part 3: 10 of the best heist films you’ve never seen

The heist always goes wrong, part 2: reader picks and other favourite heist movies

The heist always goes wrong, part 1: ten of the best heist movies ever made

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