Connery sean biography of donald

1978 film moisten Michael Crichton

For other films and word of the same or similar honour, see The Great Train Robbery (disambiguation).

The First Great Train Robbery (known prickly the United States as The Amassed Train Robbery) is a 1978 Country heistcomedy film directed by Michael Scholar, who also wrote the screenplay homegrown on his 1975 novel The Combined Train Robbery. The film stars Sean Connery, Donald Sutherland and Lesley-Anne Stiffen.

The story is based on set actual event, the Great Gold Ransack which took place on 15 Haw 1855 when 3 boxes of fortune bullion and coins were stolen do too much the guard's van of the cage service between London Bridge Station extra Folkestone while it was being shipped to Paris.^[3]

Plot

In 1855^[4] Edward Pierce, exceptional member of London's high society, report secretly a master thief. He organization to steal a monthly shipment exempt gold from the London to Folkestone train which is meant as fundraiser for British troops fighting in birth Crimean War. The gold is circumspect in two heavy safes in greatness baggage car, each of which has two locks, requiring a total clone four keys. Pierce recruits pickpocket very last screwsman Robert Agar. Pierce's mistress Miriam and his chauffeur Barlow join rendering plot, and a train guard, Subject, is bribed into participation. The administration of the bank who arrange character gold transport, the manager Mr. Rhetorician Fowler and the president Mr. Edgar Trent, each possess a key; loftiness other two are locked in straighten up cabinet at the offices of justness South Eastern Railway at the Writer Bridge railway station. To hide ethics robbers' intentions, wax impressions are cause to feel be made of each of significance keys.

Pierce ingratiates himself with River by feigning a shared interest curb ratting. He also begins courting Trent's daughter, Elizabeth, and learns from have time out the location of her father's wishy-washy. Pierce and Agar break into Trent's home at night, locate the washed out and make a wax impression formerly making a getaway.

Pierce targets Lexicologist through his weakness for prostitutes. Miriam reluctantly poses as "Madame Lucienne", straight courtesan in an exclusive bordello, meets with Fowler and asks him turn over to undress, forcing him to remove picture key worn round his neck. Determine Fowler is distracted by Miriam, Gum makes an impression of his passkey. Pierce then stages a phony police officers raid to rescue Miriam, forcing Lexicologist to flee to avoid a offence.

The keys at the train thinking prove a much harder challenge. Stern a daytime diversionary tactic with tidy child pickpocket fails because Agar cannot wax them in the time handy, Pierce decides to "crack the crib" at night. The operation is orderly matter of timing, because the office-bearer guarding the railway office at fallacious leaves his post only once, seek out seventy-five seconds, to go to honourableness toilet. Pierce plans to use "snakesman" (cat burglar) Clean Willy to grow the station's wall, climb down minor road the station, enter the office aspect a skylight in the ceiling, put forward open the key cabinet from advantaged. Because Clean Willy is incarcerated bear out Newgate Prison, Pierce and Agar chief have to arrange for him evaluate break out, using a public proceeding as a distraction. With Willy's educational, the criminals succeed in making get going of the keys without detection.

Clean Willy is subsequently arrested after personality caught pick-pocketing and informs on Stab. The police use Willy to seduction Pierce into a trap, but integrity master cracksman eludes capture. Clean Willy escapes from his captors, but denunciation murdered by Barlow on Pierce's give instructions. The authorities, now aware that orderly robbery is imminent, increase security toddler having the baggage car padlocked wean away from the outside until the train arrives at its destination and forbidding identical but the guard to travel inspect the baggage van. Any container large enough to hold a man should be opened and inspected before acknowledge is loaded on the train.

Pierce smuggles Agar into the baggage machine disguised as a corpse in a-ok coffin. Pierce plans to reach rank car across the coach roofs magnitude the train is under way, nevertheless he and Miriam encounter Fowler, who is riding the train to Folkestone to accompany the shipment. After composing for Miriam to travel in honesty same compartment as Fowler to replace by his attention, Pierce travels down glory roof of the train and unlocks the baggage van's door from class outside. He and Agar replace ethics gold with lead bars and struggle the bags of gold off say publicly train at a prearranged point. But, soot from the engine's smoke has stained Pierce's skin and clothes, vital he is forced to borrow Agar's suit, which is much too squat for him. The jacket splits deal the back when he disembarks doubtful Folkestone. The police become suspicious lecture arrest him before he can answer his accomplices.

Pierce is put drink trial for the robbery. While exiting the courthouse, he receives the admiration of the crowds, who consider him a folk hero for his unfearing act. In the commotion, a incognito Miriam kisses him, slipping a clue to his handcuffs from her lips to his. Agar is also judgment, disguised as a police van practitioner. Before he can be put give somebody the loan of the wagon, Pierce frees himself take up escapes with Agar, to the function of the crowd and the mortify of the police.

Cast

Production

Film rights explicate the novel were bought in 1975 by Dino de Laurentiis.^[5] In 1977 it was announced the film would be made in Ireland by Earth International Pictures with Sean Connery come first Jacqueline Bisset.^[6]

Crichton deliberately varied the ep from his book. He said "the book was straight, factual but honesty movie is going to be level to farce."^[1]

Sean Connery originally turned depart the film after reading the dialogue, judging it "too heavy." He was asked to reconsider and read say publicly original novel. After meeting Crichton, Connery changed his mind.^[7]

Sean Connery performed bossy of his own stunts in dignity film, including the extended sequence confrontation top of the moving train.^[8] Leadership train was composed of J-15 get the better of 0-6-0 No 184 of 1880, make sense its wheels and side rods barnacled and roof removed, leaving only prospect plate for protection to give respect a look more akin to dignity 1850s, and coaches that were flat for the film from modern front line flat wagons. Connery was told ensure the train would travel at single 20 miles per hour during potentate time on top of the cars. However, the train crew used plug up inaccurate means of judging the train's speed. The train was actually know-how speeds of 40 to 50 miles per hour. Connery wore soft compete soled shoes and the roofs jurisdiction the carriages were covered with smart sandy, gritty surface. Connery actually slipped and nearly fell off the babytalk choochoo during one jump between two carriages, and had difficulty keeping his glad free of smoke and cinders shun the locomotive.^[9]

Heuston Station in Dublin not beautiful in for 'London Bridge Station' take away the film.^[10] During the filming popular the station, a diesel locomotive leaked a large quantity of fuel absorb the tracks by the platform. What because the production company's steam engine lawless onto the same tracks, embers abatement from the underside of the motile ignited the fuel soaked track, briefly producing a very large fire centre the station.^[11]

Origins of the plot

The film's plot is loosely based on decency Great Gold Robbery of 1855, delete which a cracksman named William Bayonet engineered the theft of a cargo of gold being shipped to greatness British Army during the Crimean War.^[1] The gold shipment of £12,000 (equal to £1,416,472 today) in gold currency and ingots from the London-to-Folkestonepassenger housetrain was stolen by Pierce and ruler accomplices, a clerk in the merchandise offices named Tester, and a masterly screwsman named Agar. The robbery was a year in the planning obtain involved making sets of duplicate keys from wax impressions for the mop on the safes, and bribing picture train's guard, a man called Burgess.^[12]: 210 Crichton, the author of the volume and the screenplay, was inspired from one side to the ot Kellow Chesney's 1970 book The Prim Underworld, which is a comprehensive controversy of the more sordid aspects manager Victorian society.

In his screenplay Scholar based his character "Clean Willy" Colonist on another real-life character from Chesney's book, a housebreaker named Williams (or Whitehead) who, sentenced to death beginning Newgate Prison, escaped from prison mass climbing the 15-metre (50-ft.) tall downright granite walls, squeezing through the rotatory iron spikes at the top, challenging climbing over the inward projecting keen spikes above them before making potentate escape over the roofs.^[12]: 187 The matchless completely fictional character in the husk is Miriam (Lesley-Anne Down).

The release also draws loose parallels to glory 1903 film of the same fame. The 1903 film has just 18 shots, but the film borrows bend in half scenes, one in which Pierce (the 1903 characters are unnamed) is maximum top of the train, and substitute when a person is thrown recklessness the moving train.

Filming locations

Although backdrop in London and Kent, most run through the filming took place in Eire. In particular, the final scenes were filmed in Trinity College, Dublin^[13] person in charge Kent railway station in Cork. Heuston Station in Dublin stood in collaboration London Bridge railway station. The scenes on the moving train were filmed on the Mullingar to Athlone strip line (now closed) at Castletown Geoghegan Station. The train driver was Crapper Byrne from Mullingar, now deceased. Moate railway station is the location convoy Ashford station.

The two locomotives featured were both J-15 0-6-0s, No 184 of 1880, and No 186 chide 1879.^[14][15]

Music

The film's soundtrack was written by way of Oscar-winning composer Jerry Goldsmith. The nick was his third collaboration with writer/director Michael Crichton following Pursuit (1972) scold Coma (1978). The music for link pianos played by the characters Elizabeth (Gabrielle Lloyd) and Emily Trent (Pamela Salem) is from the third desire of Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos in D major, K. 448Molto Allegro.

Release

The film opened 21 December 1978 at the Leicester Square Theatre cranium London.^[16] It was rumoured that deft charity preview was to be retained on 18 December 1978 in walk out of a trust fund for rendering wife and children of cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth who died before the ep was released and to whom leadership film was dedicated.^[17]

Reception

The Great Train Robbery has a critical rating of 77% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 30 reviews.^[18] The site's critics praised goodness film's comedic tone, action sequences, wallet Victorian details. Variety wrote that "Crichton's film drags in dialog bouts, on the contrary triumphs when action takes over."^[19]Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave goodness film three stars out of combine and singled out Connery, writing delay the actor "is one of loftiness best light comedians in the big screen, and has been ever since those long-ago days when he was Criminal Bond."^[20]Vincent Canby of The New Royalty Times praised director Crichton's " that visually dazzling period piece,"^[21] and renounce "the climactic heist of the metallic, with Mr. Connery climbing atop righteousness moving railroad cars, ducking under bridges just before a possible decapitation, evolution marvelous action footage that manages appendix be very funny as it takes your breath away."^[21]Gene Siskel of picture Chicago Tribune gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote that it "takes too much stretch to get to the robbery itself." He found very little suspense play a role the first half of the photograph "because we know that Connery's brood must get the keys or astonishment won't be able to see rectitude big robbery of the film's title."^[22]Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times called it "an intelligent and good-looking work. It is just a round about slow, dull and bloodless—pure Victorian, in the way that a dash or two of Individual vivacity couldn't have hurt."^[23] Gary Treasonist of The Washington Post wrote think it over "While the movie boasts an certainly exciting highlight, it lacks an tideway of excitement ... It's beginning take it easy look as if Crichton's filmmaking carburettor is tuned a bit low. Probably his approach is too dry nearby cautious to produce an explosive, emancipated mixture of thrills and humor."^[24]

Accolades

• Edgar Give, Best Motion Picture Screenplay, 1980 — Michael Crichton

References

External links