Collection

The Greatest Films About Robbery

Cinema's most compelling explorations of theft, heist, and the criminal underworld.

22 films · showing 8
  1. 1

    The Asphalt Jungle (1950)

    John Huston · United States · 112 minutes

    The definitive heist film — a meticulous jewellery robbery assembled by a criminal mastermind and executed by a crew whose human frailties doom it from within.

  2. 2

    The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)

    Charles Crichton · United Kingdom · 81 minutes

    A mild-mannered bank clerk who has spent years overseeing gold bullion shipments devises an audacious plan to smuggle stolen gold out of Britain.

  3. 3

    Touchez pas au grisbi (1954)

    Jacques Becker · France, Italy · 94 minutes

    An ageing gangster who has pulled off the perfect gold bullion robbery finds his peaceful retirement shattered when his partner is kidnapped.

  4. 4

    Rififi (1955)

    Jules Dassin · France · 118 minutes

    Four criminals execute a seemingly flawless jewellery heist in Paris — thirty minutes of pure cinema, conducted in absolute silence.

  5. 5

    The Killing (1956)

    Stanley Kubrick · United States · 84 minutes

    A paroled thief assembles a crew to rob a racetrack on the day of a big race.

  6. 6

    Bob le flambeur (1956)

    Jean-Pierre Melville · France · 98 minutes

    An honourable ageing gambler with a code of his own hatches a plan to rob the casino at Deauville.

  7. 7

    Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958)

    Mario Monicelli · Italy · 106 minutes

    A gang of bumbling Roman amateurs attempts to rob a pawnshop through the wall of an adjoining apartment — with catastrophically comic results.

  8. 8

    Pickpocket (1959)

    Robert Bresson · France · 75 minutes

    A young Parisian man drifts into a life of pickpocketing, finding in its precision and transgression a strange spiritual release.

14 more films in this collection

The full ranking of 22 films, with reviews, quotes and trivia for every entry, is available inside the Film Canon app.

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