| The First Great Train Robbery | |
|---|---|
| |
| Based On: | The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton |
| Directed By: | Michael Crichton |
| Released: | February 2, 1979 |
| Runtime: | 110 minutes |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
'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.
Plot[]
The story is loosely based on the Great Gold Robbery of 1855, in which a cracksman called William Pierce (named Edward Pierce in Crichton's book and film) engineered the theft of a train-load of gold being shipped to the British Army during the Crimean War; £12,000 (equal to £809,417 today which in turn is USD$1,281,550 and 930,143 Euros) in gold coin and ingots from the London to Folkestone passenger train was stolen by Pierce and his accomplices, a clerk in the railway offices called Tester, and a skilled screwsman called Agar. The robbery was a year in the planning and involved making sets of duplicate keys from wax impressions for the locks on the safes and bribing the train's guard, a man called Burgess.[1] The plot was inspired by Kellow Chesney's 1970 book 'The Victorian Underworld' , which is a comprehensive examination into the more sordid aspects of Victorian society.
