86-539: The Bank Job is a 2008 heist thriller film directed by Roger Donaldson and written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais . It is based on the 1971 burglary of Lloyds Bank safety deposit boxes in Baker Street . It stars Jason Statham . The producers allege that the story was prevented from being told in 1971 because of a D-Notice , to protect a prominent member of the British royal family . According to
172-454: A safety deposit box in a particular Lloyd's Bank branch. Belonging to black militant gangster Michael X , it contains compromising photos of Princess Margaret , insurance to keep the British authorities off Michael's back. Martine Love, an ex-model romantically involved with MI5 agent Tim Everett, is caught smuggling drugs into the country, and to avoid going to jail, she makes a deal with
258-595: A Million (1966). In France Rififi spawned a number of lower-budget crime films which often used Rififi as part of their title. These include films such as Rififi in Tokyo (1963) and Du rififi à Paname (1966). As the decade continued, the French also began to produce more glossy heist films which served as star vehicles for big names of the time, such as Any Number Can Win (1963) starring Alain Delon and Greed in
344-580: A basement that, the group calculated, was at the same level as the bank vault. Road works nearby meant the trembler alarms in the vault floor were turned off after several false alarms. A member of the local security company alerted the gang of the timing of the digging and when the alarms were off. Work began on the tunnel on the Friday evening of the August bank holiday 1971 and continued until 10 September 1971. To avoid being overheard, they dug only during
430-565: A burglary. A Dictionary of Law by the Oxford University Press defines robbery as "The offence of using force against any person, or putting them in fear of being subjected to force, in order to commit a theft"; burglary is defined as "The offence, under the Theft Act 1968 , of ... entering a building ... with the intention of committing one of three specified crimes in it ... [including] theft." Initially
516-519: A convicted robber who claims to be a perpetrator, and he indicated that embarrassing photos were found but deliberately left behind for the police, including child pornography. The film-makers acknowledged that they made up the character Martine, and David Denby wrote in The New Yorker that it is "impossible to say how much of the film's story is true". The fictional character of Lew Vogel may allude to pornographer and racketeer Bernie Silver ,
602-523: A flat in Wimpole Street , half a mile (800 m) away from the Lloyds branch, picked up the walkie-talkie conversations of the gang. He heard comments over the radio that made him think a local cigarette shop was being burgled. At 11:30 pm, he phoned the police; the local police officer thought it was a prank call, and told Rowlands that he should record the conversation if anything interesting
688-563: A handful made in France were influenced by and responding to the American style. Two notable examples are Rififi (1955), which is known for its detailed 30 minute heist sequence, and Bob Le Flambeur (1956), known for an ending which plays with the conventions of the genre. The 1950s also marked the beginning of British heist film, including The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) and The Lady Killers (1955) , pictures which introduced comedy to
774-416: A large amount of time to the recruiting of variously skilled criminals to form a team. Two earlier films that some consider prior examples of the genre, and others just key to its development, are Criss Cross (1949) and The Killers (1946). While these do follow the planning, execution, and aftermath of a single heist from the criminals' perspective, some critics argue that they devote too much time to
860-466: A leather goods shop near the bank, tunnels below the vault, then uses thermal lance to break through the floor into the vault. They loot the safety deposit boxes, but Terry notices Martine's interest in box 118 and discovers the photos. The police are alerted to the robbery by a ham radio operator who overhears the gang's walkie-talkie communications, but by the time they locate the bank, the gang has already fled. The robbery rattles important figures who used
946-604: A major figure in Soho in the 1960s and early 1970s who was imprisoned in 1975 for the 1956 murder of Tommy "Scarface" Smithson, and also to later events surrounding his associate pornographer James Humphreys . The Sunday People published photographs in 1972 of Commander Kenneth Drury, the head of the Metropolitan Police Flying Squad , spending a luxurious two-week holiday with Humphreys in Cyprus, and
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#17327827449561032-514: A news blackout was imposed on the radio messages to avoid letting the burglars know their conversations had been overheard by the police, but this was lifted by Monday 13 September. On that morning bank staff opened the vault and found that they had been burgled. Police found the thermal lance, walkie-talkies and other tools, including an oxyacetylene torch, in the shop. Eight hundred pieces of evidence were logged and forensically examined. Police announced that they were searching for four men and
1118-418: A police raid on Humphreys' house uncovered a diary cataloguing itemised payments to 17 police officers. Humphreys was imprisoned for eight years in 1974 for wounding his wife's former lover. He then turned Queen's Evidence , testifying against some of Scotland Yard 's most senior officers in two major corruption trials in 1977, for which he received a Royal Pardon and was released from prison. In 1994, Humphreys
1204-469: A senior officer at Scotland Yard, was appointed to head an inquiry into the allegations. In 2011 The Baker Street Robbery , a documentary on the burglary, was broadcast on The History Channel ; the programme included an interview with Robert Rowlands and the recordings he made of the robbery. In 2023 the History channel series History's Greatest Heists used dramatised re-enactments in a documentary of
1290-439: A sentence of eight years, less than the others as he was in his 60s. There have been several rumours connected with the burglary, including one that the government issued a D-Notice to censor the press; that one of the safety deposit boxes contained compromising photographs of Princess Margaret and the actor and criminal John Bindon ; and that photographs of a Conservative cabinet minister abusing children were found. There
1376-415: A woman. They thought that during the burglary the woman was acting as a controller, based in a different location to the lookout and the gang. The police later widened their search to include five others. The bank provided the police with the names of 260 box owners; eight others refused to allow their names to be passed on. Up to 120 detectives worked on the case, organised into four teams: one examining
1462-404: Is The Italian Job (1969), which shows the planning and execution of the heist but doesn't fully show the aftermath. Other tropes of the genre include the failure of the heist due to fate, or the traits of the criminals involved. Among them is one of the participants getting injured during the heist, or betraying the others during or after. This trend started as a result of the initial films in
1548-476: Is "one last job", whereby a criminal looking to quit the life enlists the team to commit one last heist so they will have money for the rest of their days. This can be seen in early films such as The Asphalt Jungle (1950) as well as more recent like Heat (1995). While elements of the heist film can be seen in movies as early as The Great Train Robbery (1903), the genre didn't become fully fledged until
1634-487: Is a thoroughly entertaining British heist thriller." Metacritic reports the film has a weighted average score of 69 out of 100 based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore graded the film an average "B+" on an A+ to F scale. The Bank Job grossed $ 30.1 million in the United States and Canada, as well as $ 36.1 million in other territories (including $ 8.1 million in
1720-469: Is murdered in 1973. The murders of both Bambas and Guy Singer are never solved. The loot taken from the robbery consists of £4 million. The film is in part based on historical facts about the Baker Street robbery . A gang tunnelled into a branch of Lloyds Bank at the junction of Baker Street and Marylebone Road in London on the night of 11 September 1971 and robbed the safe deposit boxes that were stored in
1806-488: Is no evidence to support these claims and they have been widely dismissed. Some of the rumours inspired the story for the 2008 film The Bank Job . Many of the papers relating to the burglary remain under embargo at the National Archives until January 2071. In 1970 Anthony Gavin, a 38-year-old photographer from North London , began planning the burglary of the branch of Lloyds Bank at 185 Baker Street , in
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#17327827449561892-405: Is no unanimous agreement on what constitutes a heist film, there are some common characteristics that most films in the genre share. The most basic is that films in the genre tend to follow the planning, execution and aftermath of one large robbery. While there can be smaller crimes leading up to the major crime, this major crime is the centerpiece of the film and is the event which informs much of
1978-401: Is that photographs of a Conservative cabinet minister abusing children were discovered by the gang and left behind for the police to find, but no action was taken. In 1976 James Humphreys , a Soho -based pornographer and strip club owner, alleged that police officers had stolen £1 million worth of gems "as their share" of the burglary. The following year Commander Bert Wickstead,
2064-434: Is the assembling of a team to complete the heist, with each member contributing a unique skill or trait needed to complete the job. Over time filmmakers have taken these characteristics and changed them to create interesting plays on the genre. For example, Reservoir Dogs (1992) skips the execution of the heist and most of its planning, choosing instead to focus almost exclusively on the aftermath. Another example of this
2150-526: The Aldwych Underground station , and at Paddington station . The crew used Chatham Historic Dockyard to shoot the sequence at the side entrance of Paddington, where the final showdown between Terry and Lew Vogel takes place. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 80% of 148 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Well cast and crisply directed, The Bank Job
2236-505: The High Court in 1977, by which time there were 138 plaintiffs seeking damages of £660,000. One witness, a retired jeweller, recounted how he identified some of his property that had been recovered by police. He walked around tables laid out at the bank, on which several items were placed; he and twenty other people were unsupervised while they did this. He noticed a single diamond that could easily have been stolen, which he estimated
2322-545: The Marylebone district of the City of Westminster , London. His plan was inspired by " The Red-Headed League ", an 1891 Sherlock Holmes story in which criminals tunnel into a bank vault from the cellar of a nearby shop. A former army physical training instructor with connections to several career criminals , Gavin is described by the journalists Tom Pettifor and Nick Sommerlad as "a forceful personality ... [who] had
2408-484: The Wireless Telegraphy Act 1967 for listening to unlicensed transmissions, but no charges were laid against him. Shortly after the court case, Lloyds Bank sent him a cheque for £2,500 to thank him for his actions. The two Gangjis were remanded in custody until 16 November, when bail was set at £75,000. Tucker, Gavin and Stephens were all remanded on bail of £30,000 each on charges relating to
2494-468: The "assembling the team" trope that later became a common characteristic of heist films. The period between 1955 and 1975 is considered by scholars to be the most productive for the heist genre. It began with American filmmakers continuing the noir heist trend in films like 5 Against the House (1955) and The Killing (1956). The ‘50s also saw the release of the first international heist films. Notably,
2580-479: The 1950s to mid-1970s". The journalist Duncan Campbell describes Eist as "One of the most active bent officers from the 1950s to the 1970s". In May 1971 the owners of the leather goods shop Le Sac at 189 Baker Street—two doors down from the bank—sold the lease of the premises for £10,000 to Benjamin Wolfe, a 64-year-old seller of ornaments and knick-knacks , and a contact of several gang members. The building had
2666-495: The 2000s. These range from British efforts like Snatch (2000) and Sexy Beast (2000) to kids' films like Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) to popular Hollywood films like Inside Man (2006) and remakes of heist classics like The Italian Job (2003). Some of the most popular heist films of this era are the remake of Ocean's 11 (2001) and its sequels Ocean's 12 (2004) and Ocean's 13 (2007), which remain so today. Baker Street robbery The Baker Street robbery
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2752-417: The American film Seven Thieves (1960). Despite having conventional heist plots about gathering together a group to commit a heist, both films balance comedy and drama, unlike the darkness of the earlier noir heist films. The mainstream shift as well as a growing cultural interest in travel led to a wave of glossy heist films involving exotic international locals, such as Topkapi (1964) and How to Steal
2838-486: The Sun (1964) starring Jean-Paul Belmondo . The most celebrated French heist films of this time where directed by Jean-Pierre Melville , whose heist film Le Cercle Rouge (1970) is often regarded as one of the greatest heist movies of all time. This expansion of the genre in the 1960s also led to remakes of older heist movies, with an early example being Cairo (1963) , which is a remake of The Asphalt Jungle . In 1968,
2924-602: The UK), for a worldwide total of $ 66.1 million. The film opened at No. 4 in North America and grossed US$ 5.9 million in 1,603 cinemas in its opening weekend. Heist film The heist film or caper film is a subgenre of crime films and the caper story , focused on the planning, execution, and aftermath of a significant robbery . One of the early defining heist films was The Asphalt Jungle (1950), which Film Genre 2000 wrote "almost single-handedly popularized
3010-569: The air with both radios at six o'clock in the morning. Second voice: I suggest we carry on tonight, mate, and get it done with. First voice: Look, the place is filled with fumes where we was cutting. And if the Security come in and smell the fumes we are all going to take stoppo and none of us have got nothing. Whereas this way we have all got 300 grand to cut up when we come back in the morning. And if Security have naused it for us, well at least we have got something. The disagreement between
3096-491: The authorities to retrieve the photos. Martine approaches her friend Terry, a struggling car salesman with criminal contacts, and tells him that if he can assemble the gang to help her rob the bank, he will be richly rewarded, but does not tell him about the photos in the deposit box. Terry's team includes Eddie (one of his employees), Dave, Kevin, Bambas, and Guy Singer. While scouting the bank, Dave runs into gangster Lew Vogel, for whom he made pornographic films. The gang rents
3182-662: The bank, including Lew Vogel, who kept a ledger of police payoffs inside. He notifies Michael X in Trinidad , who deduces Gale Benson —the lover of his associate Hakim Jamal —is spying for MI5, and murders her. Vogel decides Dave’s presence outside that bank was not a coincidence, and has him kidnapped and tortured for information. Dave gives in, and Lew has Gerald Pyke and Nick Burton—two policemen working on his payroll—kidnap Eddie at Terry's garage. Meanwhile, Terry discovers explicit photographs of government officials among their loot and uses them to secure passports and new identities for
3268-464: The bank. Tucker opened an account with £500 in December 1970 and two months later he rented a safety deposit box in the branch; over the next few months he visited his box thirteen times. Bank practice of the time was for staff to leave customers in private while visiting the vault. As soon as Tucker was alone, he would measure the room using the span of his arms and an umbrella he brought with him; he
3354-399: The boxes in the bank; at the time of the robbery he was Lord Chancellor , the most senior member of the judiciary. Estimates of the amounts stolen vary between £150,000 and nearly £4 million. Because of the way the gang communicated the burglary was soon nicknamed "the walkie-talkie job". Although the common name for the events is the "Baker Street Robbery", it is legally defined as
3440-407: The break-in. Shortly afterwards the bank's insurers offered a £30,000 reward for information that would lead to more arrests. The trial of the four gang members and the two Gangjis opened on 2 January 1973. Stephens, Tucker, Wolfe and Gavin were charged with breaking into the bank and stealing the contents of the security boxes—valued at a minimum of £1.5 million—and of possessing explosives;
3526-407: The building, using their basement floor as the roof of the tunnel. The tunnel was 40 feet (12 m) long when finished, and at the end, under the vault, the gang created a cavity 7 by 4 by 5 feet (2.1 by 1.2 by 1.5 m). The digging created 8 long tons (8.1 t ) of waste, which was hauled back into Le Sac and dumped towards the rear of the premises. The tunnel, which needed no supports,
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3612-434: The case; no reason was given and no date to resume proceedings was set. There have been several rumours circulating about the burglary. One is that the government issued a D-Notice —a formal request that the media not publish a story on a specific subject for reasons of national security —to stop any news being released. The claim is dismissed by Duncan Campbell who writes "no D-Notice was even requested, far less granted";
3698-506: The connection between a newly acquired pub and Gavin. After several weeks of surveillance and investigation police had identified Wolfe, Gavin, Stephens and Tucker as the key individuals to arrest, but they also wanted to speak to three or four other people who they thought were involved. One of those they were interested in had been living in France and Italy since October 1971; there were no extradition agreements in place to request overseas police arrange for his return to Britain. Towards
3784-406: The conversations, which were subsequently made public. The film includes lines recorded by Rowlands, such as the lookout's comment that "money may be your god, but it's not mine, and I'm fucking off." The film's producers said that they have a source, identified in press reports as George McIndoe, who was an executive producer. McIndoe claimed that he had talked with two of the gang, who even visited
3870-498: The easy ones and we now face the hard ones." At 2:00 am Rowlands decided he had enough material recorded to call the police again; he did not recontact his local station, but phoned Scotland Yard directly. Scotland Yard sent members of the Flying Squad to listen to the tapes, and they confirmed that they thought a burglary was taking place. The officers stayed with Rowlands until 8:30 am on Sunday 12 September when
3956-451: The end of October 1971 police surveillance teams saw Tucker hand over a bag to two men, Abdullah Hashan Gangji and his nephew Ackbar Mohammad Ali Gangji. The two were arrested and £32,000 of notes were seized. Wolfe, Gavin, Stephens and Tucker were also picked up within the next two days. Police recovered £231,000 they identified as stolen from the vault. After the end of the investigation Scotland Yard considered prosecuting Rowlands under
4042-421: The film set. The film's plot includes a fictional issue of a D-Notice by MI5, requesting no further press reports on grounds of national security because of a safe deposit box holding sexually compromising pictures of Princess Margaret . The possible connection to Michael X is based on material from McIndoe, who said he had spoken to two men who claimed they were involved robbers. The Daily Mirror interviewed
4128-434: The film's plot. As a result of this, heist films tend to focus on the process of the crime, often planned in great detail, followed by extended exposition of the heist itself. The genre is also distinct for almost exclusively following those committing the crime rather than whoever is trying to stop them. This often leads to the viewer building some form of sympathy or respect for the criminals. Another common characteristic
4214-437: The filming took place on location at the offices of Websters, 136 Baker Street, where the rooftops were used for lookout locations. The exterior scenes of the bank and adjacent shops were done at Pinewood Studios on a specially constructed set of Baker Street, to retain an authentic feel of the period and to allow for greater control. This partial set was extended using visual effects. The production also shot on location inside
4300-497: The final radio transmission "Would you like to change to the other channel, over". Rowlands thinks this was the code for leaving the bank. Police contacted bank staff and local security firms to open up their branches as they began to check 750 banks in an 8-mile (13 km) radius. Each branch was visited by both bank staff and police. They visited the Baker Street branch of Lloyds at 3:30 pm on 12 September. They found
4386-437: The floor to support it. What they did not know was that there was an old well under where the tunnel ended, and the pressure of the jack pushed the bottom of their tunnel down into the well, rather than raising the vault's floor upwards. The gang then used the thermic lance in an attempt to cut through the floor; when this failed they drilled holes in the underside of the vault floor and packed them with gelignite . On Saturday
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#17327827449564472-500: The gang co-ordinated the blast of the explosives with the movement of traffic in the area to mask the noise. A 12-inch-wide (30 cm) hole was blasted through the floor and into the vault. The tunnel was cleared of the debris created, and the hole was widened with a hammer and chisel. By the time they had finished, the exit of the tunnel measured 12 by 14 inches (30 by 36 cm). At around 11:00 pm on Saturday 11 September Robert Rowlands, an amateur radio enthusiast living in
4558-516: The gang returned to the shop and radioed the lookout. One of the gang members in the shop thanked him for staying on the roof all night and informed him that they planned to finish the job early that afternoon. At one stage in the morning a waiter from the Chicken Inn restaurant heard noises from within the bank and peered through the windows of the building to see if anything could be seen. Shortly afterwards Rowlands and listening policemen heard
4644-474: The gang soon after the break-in; one of the burglars, Benjamin Wolfe, had signed the lease for Le Sac in his own name and informers provided information that led to Gavin. At the end of October 1971 police arrested Wolfe, Gavin, Reg Tucker and Thomas Stephens. They continued to search for other members of the gang, including one woman, for five years, but no further arrests were made. Gavin, Tucker and Stephens were sentenced to twelve years in prison; Wolfe received
4730-456: The gang. Vogel's men track down and murder Bambas and Guy Singer. Eddie refuses to cooperate with Vogel, who has Gerald execute Dave and threatens to kill Eddie unless Terry surrenders the ledger; Terry agrees to meet up with Vogel at Paddington Station to exchange the ledger. He arranges for the meeting to happen at the same time as he will be picking up the new passports and immunity from prosecution from MI5 and Lord Mountbatten in exchange for
4816-572: The genre being made in Hollywood during the Motion Picture Production Code , which prohibited criminals from getting away with their crime. While this has changed since the disappearance of the code, the trope of failed heists still remains. One of the most dynamic examples is Reservoir Dogs , which focuses solely on trying to figure out which of their group members betrayed them after a failed heist. Another popular trope
4902-400: The genre for mainstream cinema". It featured robbers whose personal failings ultimately led to the failure of their robbery. Similar films using this formula were Armored Car Robbery (1950), The Killing (1956), and The Getaway (1972). By the 1990s, heist films began to "experiment and play with these conventions," incorporating elements such as comedy into their stories. While there
4988-407: The genre. A notable Italian heist film from this period is Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958), a parody of the genre. In the 1960s heist stories became more mainstream, with glossier and higher-budget heist films which moved away from the fatalism and darkness present in the earlier noir heists. Two examples of this from the early 1960s are the British film The League of Gentlemen (1960) and
5074-427: The genre. The 1990s would see the return of the heist film, with a number creating new interest. While pictures like John Woo 's Once a Thief (1991) and Steven Soderbergh 's Out of Sight (1998) would bring some attention to the genre, the three returned the genre to prominence were Reservoir Dogs (1992), Heat (1995) and The Usual Suspects (1995). This led to a large output of heist films throughout
5160-471: The journalist Graeme McLagen observes that there was a news embargo on the Sunday—while the burglary was still in progress—but that the events were widely reported over the following days. Another rumour is that one of the safety deposit boxes contained compromising photographs of Princess Margaret and the actor and criminal John Bindon . Campbell describes the story as "cheerful nonsense". A third rumour
5246-409: The late 1940s and the early 1950s. The film widely agreed upon as the first to do so is John Huston's 1950 The Asphalt Jungle , starring Sterling Hayden and Sam Jaffee (with Marilyn Monroe in a supporting role). It contains many of the heist hallmarks, focusing from the criminal's perspective on the elaborate planning, flawed execution, and calamitous aftermath of a single heist. It also devotes
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#17327827449565332-432: The lookout and gang continued for a while, and the lookout said "Money may be your God, but it's not mine, and I'm fucking off!" Eventually, after input from a woman's voice and a fourth person who seemed to carry more sway than the others, the lookout agreed to remain on the roof overnight. The lookout man was also given an update on the progress they had made in opening the safety deposit boxes: "We have done 90 per cent of
5418-487: The money. Terry and his family leave England. Vogel's ledger causes Scotland Yard to undergo a major corruption purge in the police force. The activities of Sonia Bern's brothels make several senior officials resign. Michael X is hanged in 1975 for the murder of Gale Benson and his file in the British National Archive remains classified until 2054. Lew Vogel is sentenced to 8 years in prison. Hakim Jamal
5504-521: The motion picture production code was abolished, paving the way for a number of heist films that didn't shy away from portraying graphic violence. This included films like Charley Varrick (1973) and The Getaway (1972). The period between 1975 and the early 1990s is considered a low point for productivity in the heist genre. While some were made, such as Thief (1981) and a remake of Big Deal on Madonna Street called Crackers (1984), some critics do not consider them as meaningful developments of
5590-535: The pictures of Princess Margaret. Meanwhile, Terry sends Kevin to cop Roy Given with a page torn from the ledger. Spooked, Vogel tries to flee, but Terry attacks and beats him—only to be arrested by the police. However, Given has Terry released and uses the information he supplied to arrest Lew, Gerald and Nick. Michael X is arrested as well and after Benson's body is found, his house is burned down. Eddie inherits Terry's car dealership, while Kevin and Martine prepare to begin separate new lives with their respective shares of
5676-486: The planning and aftermath of the crime and too little to the actual job. All of these films are also notable for having elements which are indebted to film noir , including their moody, expressionistic black and white cinematography and dark fatalistic tone. As a result, scholars such as Daryl Lee refer to such examples as “noir heists”. Anne Billson of the BBC cites Akira Kurosawa 's Seven Samurai (1954) as an influence on
5762-408: The police, who initially did not take him seriously, so he used a small cassette recorder to make a recording of the burglars' conversations. The second time he contacted the police they accepted what he was saying, and began hunting for the burglars while the break-in was in progress. They searched 750 banks in an 8-mile (13 km) radius, but failed to locate the gang. Police found the members of
5848-434: The police. The burglary was planned by Anthony Gavin, a career criminal , who was inspired by " The Red-Headed League ", a Sherlock Holmes short story in which criminals tunnel into a bank vault from the cellar of a nearby shop. Gavin and his colleagues rented Le Sac, a leather goods shop two doors from the bank, and tunnelled during weekends. The interior of the vault was mapped out by one gang member using an umbrella and
5934-525: The producers, this film is intended to reveal the truth for the first time, although it apparently includes significant elements of fiction. The premiere was held in London on 18 February 2008, and it was released in the UK on 29 February 2008 and in the US on 7 March 2008. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and grossed $ 66 million worldwide. In 1971, British Security Services ( MI5 ) have taken interest in
6020-472: The propensity to be physically threatening". According to Paul Lashmar, the head of journalism at the University of Sussex , Gavin was a member of a gang headed by Brian Reader , who was also involved in the burglary, although Reader firmly denies that he had any involvement in the events at Baker Street. Gavin asked Reg Tucker, a second-hand car salesman who had no criminal record , to reconnoitre
6106-555: The robbery. A fictionalised version of the burglary is the subject of the 2008 film The Bank Job , which uses the storyline that the crime was either set up—or later covered up—by MI5 to secure the compromising photographs of Princess Margaret, that were being kept in a deposit box at the bank by Trinidadian radical Michael X . The advertising for the film played up many of the rumours, both fuelling and reinforcing them: [the gang] ... looted safe deposit boxes of cash and jewellery worth millions and millions of pounds. None of it
6192-460: The scene, one contacting the known safety box owners, one covering the co-ordination from the control centre and one team dealing with all external enquiries. Police soon identified Wolfe from the lease documents, and within four days the police had a list of likely suspects that they were investigating. Informers provided the first names of two of the gang members and incomplete details of a pub that had been taken over by another member. Police made
6278-539: The span of his arms to measure the dimensions and location of the furniture. The gang initially tried to use a jack to force a hole in the vault floor and when this failed they used a thermal lance . When this also failed to work, they used gelignite to blast a way through. Once inside, they emptied 268 safety deposit boxes. The gang had posted a lookout on a nearby roof, who was in contact via walkie-talkie , and their radio transmissions were accidentally overheard by Robert Rowlands, an amateur radio enthusiast . He called
6364-401: The two Gangjis were charged with handling stolen goods. Stephens, Tucker and Gavin pleaded guilty, Wolfe and the two Gangjis pleaded not guilty. The two Gangjis stated that they were acting as couriers for a Swiss-based finance house involved in purchasing sterling . Wolfe claimed that after he signed the lease for Le Sac, he had only returned to the shop once, to pick up the post, and that he
6450-425: The vault secure; they were unable to open the vault to check as it was time locked . It is not known if the gang were still in the vault at the time, although police suspect that they were, but keeping quiet following a warning from the lookout. During the burglary 268 safety deposit boxes were opened, about a quarter of the boxes present; the gang did not try to crack the bank's safe. Lord Hailsham owned one of
6536-438: The vault. The robbers had rented a leather goods shop named Le Sac two doors down from the bank, and tunnelled approximately 40 feet (12 metres), passing under the Chicken Inn restaurant that was located between the shop and the bank. The tunnelling took three weeks, working on weekends. Ham radio operator Robert Rowlands overheard conversations between the robbers and their rooftop lookout. He contacted police and tape-recorded
6622-468: The weekends. Gavin led the digging of the tunnel from Le Sac to under the vault floor. He later said that he lost 2 stone (28 lb; 13 kg) in the process. The entry hole he, Tucker and a third gang member created in Le Sac was 15 inches (38 cm) wide and through 6 inches (15 cm) of concrete. Gavin dug until he reached the walls of the Chicken Inn's basement, then dug down and continued under
6708-441: Was aided in getting exact measurements by the regularly sized floor tiles, each of which was nine inches (23 cm) square. He drew a map of the room, plotting where the cabinets were and the position of the furniture. Thomas Stephens, another second-hand car salesman with no criminal record, was used to acquire the tools needed for the break-in, including a thermal lance and a 100-ton jack ; one of Reader's friends, Bobby Mills,
6794-430: Was employed to be the lookout man. Two others were brought in for the job, one of whom was an explosives expert. Another of Gavin's friends, Mickey "Skinny" Gervaise, a burglar-alarm expert, was brought on board, as were two men who have never been identified: "Little Legs" and "TH". Lashmar reports that TH was a contact of Detective Inspector Alec Eist , whom he describes as "by reputation the most corrupt Yard officer of
6880-483: Was imprisoned for 12 months for living off the earnings of prostitutes. The introduction of Michael X's character showing him leading a landlord locked in a slave collar is based on a historical incident. A passing glance at a photo of John Lennon found in Michael X's safety deposit box is inspired by Lennon's support for Michael X's "Black House" headquarters depicted in the film, and Lennon posting his bail. Part of
6966-446: Was later described in court as "a magnificent piece of engineering". The gang began their entry into the vault on Friday 10 September, after the bank closed for the weekend. The gang placed a lookout man on a rooftop overlooking the bank, and kept in contact by using walkie-talkies . Their intention was to use the 100-ton jack to force a hole in the 3-foot-thick (0.91 m) reinforced concrete floor, and railway sleepers were laid on
7052-431: Was overheard. Rowlands thought it was a good idea, so used a small cassette recorder to make a record of the conversations. At around midnight he recorded dialogue between the gang inside the shop and the nearby lookout about their need to take a break: First voice: Right, well listen carefully. We want you to mind for one hour from now until approximately one o'clock and then to go off the air, get some sleep and come on
7138-491: Was recovered. Nobody was ever arrested. The robbery made headlines for a few days and then disappeared – the result of a UK Government "D" Notice, gagging the press. This film reveals what was hidden in those boxes. The story involves murder, corruption and a sex scandal with links to the Royal Family – a story in which the thieves were the most innocent people involved. The 2015 Hatton Garden safe deposit burglary bears
7224-442: Was shocked to hear the news about the break-in. The trial ended on 23 January 1973 and sentences were handed down three days later. The two Gangjis were found not guilty, Stephens, Tucker and Gavin were each given sentences of twelve years; Wolfe received eight years—shorter than the others on account of his age. In March 1973, 64 of those whose safety deposit boxes had been broken into sued Lloyds for £500,000. The case opened in
7310-402: Was the burglary of safety deposit boxes at the Baker Street branch of Lloyds Bank in London, on the night of 11 September 1971. A gang tunnelled 40 feet (12 m) from a rented shop two doors away to come up through the floor of the vault. The value of the property stolen is unknown, but is likely to have been between £1.25 million and £3 million; only £231,000 was recovered by
7396-448: Was worth between £3,000 and £4,000 at the 1971 price. Another customer complained that he saw a ring in a wastepaper bin, that it was too easy to steal some of the smaller items, if one wished, and that one of the bank assistants had told him that two people had tried to claim the same pair of candlesticks. Four days into the trial, the judge visited the bank and the rooms where the property had been on show. The following day he adjourned
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