Robbery

Everything good about this film shows up later in Peter Yates' filmography. The gripping narrative, the sharp camera work, the tight editing and the high-octane set pieces. It even has a great car chase. Is it as good as Bullitt? Almost. It's so close to being great it's almost annoying.

As a very procedurally-minded heist movie it reminds me a little bit of its contemporary, better-known "The Italian Job", albeit more serious in tone. Characters aren't front and center here, and there is no heroic action or slick dialogue, which I think sacrifices entertainment value in favor of that procedural realism. Yates would later make better films, but this is quite good already.

Yates’ earlier heist film also has a great, long chase sequence, but surprisingly this is bigger scale and more ambitious than his Bullit. It shows the heist(s) from criminal and police perspectives; it's hard work that requires meticulous planning, while still greatly depending on luck. The film resembles the hard-boiled French crime films and it’s biggest fault is that it has no room for expanding the characters. Baker and the rest of the cast is very good. Minor gem.