Bank robbery films have captivated audiences since the early 1950s, providing a glimpse into the get-rich-quick schemes that some petty criminals are ready to pursue in order to accomplish a shortcut to the American Dream. It’ll be all gold and smiles if they work out, but if they don’t, you can bet there’ll be an endless parade of cops ready to take down the anti-heroes in full-flight.
To watch heist films which are based on true events, below is the list of films regarding the same:
1. Public Enemies (2009)
Director- Michael Mann
The challenging 1930s are a time when robbers prey on banks and other wealthy targets on a regular basis. None is more well-known than John Dillinger, whose gang operates with devious effectiveness against large corporations while leaving ordinary folks alone. As Dillinger becomes a folk hero, FBI Director J. Edger Hoover vows to bring him down by appointing ace agent Melvin Purvis to track him down. Dillinger confronts a gloomy future with the loss of friends, dwindling alternatives. Also, a shifting world of organised crime with little room for him as Purvis battles with the manhunt’s realities.
True Event:- Based on the FBI agent Melvin Purvis’ pursuit of legendary bank robber John Dillinger and Dillinger’s connection with Billie Frechette.
2. Bandits (2001)
Director- Barry Levinson
Two criminals, one charming and the other hypochondriac, break out of jail and embark on a bank robbing rampage, kidnapping bank managers. And spending the night with their families, and then stealing the banks the next morning. The three successfully pull off multiple jobs using a dimwitted stunt man as their getaway driver and lookout. So become known as “The Sleepover Bandits”. Everything is going swimmingly until the bank managers understand that the thieves are non-violent. Hence pose no threat to them or their staff, which changes the game for the Bandits. To add to the complexities, the thieves kidnap a bored and unhappy housewife, who develops romantic affections for both Willis and Thornton. Therefore, resulting in a tangled love triangle.
True Event:- Terry Lee Connor and Joseph Daugherty, real-life bank robbers, are loosely based on the characters. This film properly depicts several aspects of their heists, including breaking into a bank manager’s home and providing Pepsi to one of their victims.
3. The Bank Job (2008)
Director- Roger Donaldson
Michael X blackmails the British government in 1971 by releasing compromising images of members of parliament having kinky sex with prostitutes. He stores the images in a Lloyds Bank safe deposit box on Baker Street. Tim Everett, an ambitious MI-5 Federal Agent, devises a daring method to recover the photos in a bank robbery. He apprehends former model Martine Love in an airport for drug trafficking. He offers her security information in order to facilitate a bank robbery. Martine travels to East London to meet up with her previous lover, auto dealer Terry Leather, who is married with two daughters. But owes money to a hazardous loan shark, and informs him that the bank’s alarm will be turned off for a few days.
Terry enlists the help of his friends, and the amateur gang pulls off the theft. However, in addition to the money, the gang steals Michael X’s images, a book containing transactions with Scotland Yard’s dirty cops and the pornographer Lew Vogel, and photos of politicians from Sonia Bern’s brothel. Now, other groups are organising manhunts for Terry and his companions, each with a different goal in mind.
True Event:- Based on the heist of money and valuables on Baker Street in downtown London in 1971, which was never recovered.
4. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Director- Arthur Penn
Bonnie Parker is dissatisfied with her existence and yearns for a change. When she meets Clyde Barrow, a charming young drifter, she gets her opportunity. Clyde fantasises about a life of crime that will allow him to escape the Depression’s burdens. They fall in love and embark on a criminal spree that spans Oklahoma and Texas. They rob tiny banks with finesse and elegance, quickly becoming minor celebrities with a national following. People are proud to have been robbed by Bonnie and Clyde; to their victims, the two are doing what no one else can. According to the law, the two are vile bank thieves who should be shot where they stand.
True Event:- Based on the kidnappings of H.D. Darby, an undertaker, and his companion Sophia Stone on April 27, 1933, near Ruston, Louisiana.
5. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Director- Sidney Lumet
Sonny, a Vietnam veteran turned bank robber aiming to steal enough money ($2500) for his “wife” to have a sex change procedure, held a Chase Manhattan Bank branch in Gravesend, Brooklyn, New York, hostage in August 1972. Sonny and two accomplices, Stevie and Sal, set out to rob the First Savings Bank of Brooklyn on a sweltering July afternoon. Stevie becomes agitated and escapes. Despite the fact that the bank manager and female tellers agree not to intervene with the robbery. Sonny discovers that there isn’t much to steal because the majority of the cash has been collected for the day.
Sonny then receives an unexpected phone call from NYPD Captain Moretti. He informs him that the location is encircled by the entire police force of the city. With few choices, Sonny nervously talks with Moretti for a safe escort to the airport and a flight out of the country in exchange for the bank employees’ safety.
True Event:- Based on P.F. Kluge’s essay “The Boys in the Bank,” which relates a similar narrative about John Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturale robbing a Brooklyn bank on August 22, 1972.
6. The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery (1959)
Director- Charles Guggenheim
George Fowler is introduced to a gang aiming to rob a bank in St. Louis on a Friday that they believe will have $100,000 in cash. Gino, an old girlfriend’s older brother, recruits George to be the gang’s driver. While the gang plans, George and Gino must find a method to survive for the next two weeks, and they turn to Gino’s sister, Ann, for assistance. George want to return to college, and the money he would earn would go a long way toward assisting him in this endeavour. The gang’s boss, John Egan, doesn’t trust George to keep his cool, so he shifts him to the inside, but the theft doesn’t go as planned.
True Events:- Based on the attempted bank heist of Southwest Bank in St. Louis in 1953. St. Louis served as the backdrop for this film. Some members of the St. Louis Police Department, as well as locals and bank employees, reprise their roles from the robbery attempt.
