Many years ago i remember seeing an excellent crime thriller on TV. I do
not know whether it was a film shown on TV, a made for TV movie , or a
thriller which is part of a series or just a one off television program. The
program aired sometimes in the late sixties. The setting for the program was
somewhere in the united states. I would love to identify this program so
below I have indicated the basic plot.
1 Man kidnaps 6 criminal types and brings them to unknown location in
desert.
2 Man (referred to as leader from here on) explains he is going to train them
to rob money from a town.
(All banks, large retail stores, and Gas pumps)
3 When robbery is complete 6 men and the leader will get on light plane with
proceeds. Each man will parachute back to earth with his share of the
robbery. The leader will parachute last and the plane will self destruct
at a predefined point over the ocean.
4 Training for the robbery is meticulous with the names of each of the six
men only known to the leader. During the training session each man is
assigned a number and the group uses the assigned number to identify
each other.
5 Part of plan is to cut off electrical power to town in order to confuse
targeted business's
6 Redundancey is also built into plan so that if one or more are injured ,
killed, captured etc. plan can still continue with remaining men taking
proceeds of robbery.
7 Outcome of robbery is that one of the six men is captured by police
and end up in prison hospital with a gunshot wound. The leader and other 5
men successfully take off with the proceeds. The reason for the one man
been captured is due to the town's ex-sheriff's vigilance. Because of his
unpopular stand on law and order he has been sacked (or not voted) from his
position as sheriff. Nevertheless because of his vigilant attitude,
he recognises that the robbery is taking place and informs the local
cops.
8 Story ends with a brillant twist which i will not reveal.
I will be delighted if Anyone out there who can identify film , tv program ,
or thriller.
Kind Regards
Mongolia |
Request for Question Clarification by
pinkfreud-ga
on
19 Jul 2003 15:34 PDT
The plot that you're describing sounds very much like the storyline of
a novel called "The Score," by Richard Stark (who is better known
under the name Donald E. Westlake).
A movie version of "The Score" was filmed in 1967. It was called "Mise
à Sac," and was originally in French. A dubbed English version
entitled "Pillaged" was released.
Here's a synopsis of the plot of "The Score":
"It was an impossible crime: knock off a huge plant payroll, all the
banks, and all the stores in one entire city in one night. But there
was one thief good enough to try-Parker. All he needed was the right
men, the right plan, and the right kind of help from Lady Luck.The men
and the plan were easy; Lady Luck was another story. She turned out to
be a good-looking blonde with a taste for booze and eyes for Parker.
And Parker knew this chilling caper could either be the perfect
crime...or a set-up that would land him in jail-for life.
...Parker is hired to plan a robbery focusing on an entire town. The
heist goes off without a hitch, but unforseen circumstances come into
play, and Parker has to fix the problem his own way."
http://www.mystery-book-store.com/s/Richard_Stark/The_Score_0446677736.htm
Does this sound familiar? Could "Mise à Sac" (AKA "Pillaged") be the
movie you're looking for?
Here's a bit more about "Mise à Sac":
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0176999
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Clarification of Question by
mongolia-ga
on
22 Jul 2003 09:59 PDT
dear Pinkfreud
I suspect from your answer that the program /tv movie could indeed
been based on the plot of the 'Score'.It certainly is not the French
Movie to which you refer.The actual town which i believe would have
been a fictional town would have been located in the south west of the
US (arizona, Nevada, California)
If it were a TV program it would probably have been aired by one of
the three
networks (NBC,ABC,etc)
Regarding the time I saw the program it may have been somewhat later
than I
suggested in my initial request perhaps early seventies (but no later
than
1975). I cannot remember any Lady Luck (i.e. Blond Lady) Also the
time period
for the story would definately been the Sixties..
If I had more information about the plot of the Score I could perhaps
connect
better it better to the program i saw. In your answer you refer the
fact that
while the Heist apparently went off flawlessly Parker was still left
with a
major problem.
The program I saw ended with an interesting twist which would have
meant that
while the heist did succeed, ultimately the leader and his group
would have
been caught.
|
Clarification of Question by
mongolia-ga
on
28 Jul 2003 07:45 PDT
any more information on this?
Cheers
Mongolia
|
Clarification of Question by
mongolia-ga
on
30 Jul 2003 10:48 PDT
Dear Goddessdoc
Thank you so much. This was indeed the film which I saw. I am a little taken
aback by the lousy reviews but I am very impressed by the low budget.
Very best regards.
Mongolia
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