''The Great Riviera Bank Robbery'', also known as ''Dirty Money'' and ''Sewers of Gold'', is a 1979 British heist film written and directed by

Francis Megahy Francis Megahy (18 March 1935 – 1 May 2020) was a British film director. Filmography *''Freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a p ...

and starring

Ian McShane Ian David McShane (born 29 September 1942) is an English actor. His television performances include the title role in the BBC series ''Lovejoy'' (1986–1994), Al Swearengen in '' Deadwood'' (2004–2006) and its 2019 film continuation, and M ...

Warren Clarke Warren Clarke (born Alan James Clarke; 26 April 1947 – 12 November 2014) was an English actor. He appeared in many films after a significant role as Dim in Stanley Kubrick's '' A Clockwork Orange''. His television appearances included '' D ...

Stephen Greif Stephen John Greif (; 26 August 1944 – 23 December 2022) was an English actor known for his roles as Travis in ''Blake's 7'', Harry Fenning in three series of '' Citizen Smith'', Signor Donato in '' Casanova'' and Commander John Shepherd in ...

and

Christopher Malcolm Christopher Malcolm (19 August 1946 – 15 February 2014) was a British born Canadian actor and theatrical producer. He first achieved notoriety for his role as Brad Majors in the original stage production of ''The Rocky Horror Show''. Early ...

. In the film, based on a bank robbery masterminded by

Albert Spaggiari Albert Spaggiari (14 December 1932 – 8 June 1989), nicknamed Bert, was a French criminal chiefly known as the organizer of a break-in into a Société Générale bank in Nice, France, in July 1976 that resulted in the theft of an estimated 46 ...

in 1976, members of a

neo-fascist Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology which includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, ultraconservatism, racial supremacy, right-wing populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xe ...

group team up with professional criminals to rob the safe deposit vault of a bank in a French resort town. It is the British version of the French film ''Les Égouts du paradis'', released the same year.

Plot

Bert and Jean are members of a

right-wing nationalist Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right populism, is a Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideology that combines right-wing politics with populism, populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti-Elitism, ...

organisation closely connected to the ''

Organisation armée secrète The ''Organisation armée secrète'' (OAS, "Secret Army Organisation") was a far-right dissident French paramilitary and terrorist organisation during the Algerian War, founded in 1961 by Raoul Salan, Pierre Lagaillarde and Jean-Jacques S ...

''. Both men are ex-military, but now find themselves on the wrong side of the law in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million paratrooper A paratrooper or military parachutist is a soldier trained to conduct military operations by parachuting directly into an area of operations, usually as part of a large airborne forces unit. Traditionally paratroopers fight only as light infa ...

known as 'The Brain', devises a plan to dig their way into a

bank vault A bank vault is a secure room used by banks to store and protect valuables, cash, and important documents. Modern bank vaults are typically made of reinforced concrete and steel, with complex locking mechanisms and security systems. This article ...

from below. Requiring criminal expertise, they persuade some local French

gangster A gangster (informally gangsta) is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''Organized crime, mob'' and the suffix ''wikt:-ster, -st ...

s to join them, in return for a cut of the haul. The gangsters' interest is purely financial, whilst Bert is at pains to point out that his interest is political. After several nights spent digging through a wall in a sewer, they break their way into the

safe deposit box A safe deposit box, sometimes referred to as a safety deposit box, is an individually secured container, usually held within a larger safe or bank vault. Safe deposit boxes are generally located in banks, post offices or other institutions. S ...

es, and try to make their getaway without being caught. They delay pursuit by welding the vault shut so that the crime is not discovered immediately as the bank assumes it is a faulty door, which will not open. The gang lie low in a villa and go to great lengths ensure the loot is shared fairly with the gang to avoid recrimination. The police struggle to get a lead but the gangsters soon start spending their shares and the notes are traced back to them leading to all the gangsters being arrested. Meanwhile, the fascists are trying to sell the gold bars. They use connections with corrupt government officials to get it on a flight to Japan, disguised as camera equipment. It is then sold without questions being asked. They spend their share on buying arms. Eventually the police get a lead from the gangsters criminal network as to the whereabouts of ''The Brains''. He and most of the others are arrested and the arms found. He tries to cut a deal, exchanging a full disclosure on how the robbery was carried out in exchange for the arms charges being dropped. Before he can be brought to trial those accomplices who remain free snatch him from police custody and he escapes to South America.

Cast

as The Brain *

as Jean *

as Rocco *

as Serge *

Nigel Humphreys Nigel Humphreys (born 24 September 1950 in Bognor Regis, Sussex) is a British actor who is best known for his television work. His most prominent roles include Dickie Fleming in ''Coronation Street'' and PC Pete Dodds in '' Softly, Softly: Task ...

as Alex *

Eric Mason Eric Mason (12 July 1927 – 7 June 2010) was a British actor. Originally a stevedore working at Surrey Docks, he sustained a back injury in a road accident and end up taking an acting career. He made his theatrical debut in ''Gentle Jack'' by Ro ...

as Fernand * Matthew Long as Michel *

Alain Guano Alain may refer to: People * Alain (given name), common given name, including list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Alain (surname) * "Alain", a pseudonym for cartoonist Daniel Brustlein * Alain, a standard author abbreviation u ...

as Alain * Barry Lowe as Lawyer *

John Malcolm Major-General Sir John Malcolm GCB, KLS (2 May 1769 – 30 May 1833) was a Scottish soldier, diplomat, East India Company administrator, statesman, and historian. Early life Sir John Malcolm was born in 1769, one of seventeen children of G ...

as Gendarme *

Jonathan Elsom Jonathan Elsom (born 22 September 1938) is a New Zealand-born television actor, writer, sculptor and artist. He appeared in many British and Australian television series and films, which include '' The Troubleshooters'', ''The Avengers'', ''The S ...

as Magistrate *

Arnold Diamond Arnold Diamond (18 April 1915 – 18 March 1992) was an English character actor, regularly cast in small parts on television such as in '' The Avengers'' 1967 episode entitled ''Who's Who'' when he played Krelmar. He graduated from RADA in 19 ...

as Town Hall Man * Christopher Burgess as Policeman * Kevin Brennan as Customer *

Sheila Ruskin Sheila Ruskin (born 28 March 1946) is an English actress. She played Vipsania in the BBC adaptation of '' I, Claudius'' (1976); Kassia in the ''Doctor Who'' serial ''The Keeper of Traken'' (1981); and Alta One in the ''Blake's 7'' episode "Red ...

as Bank Girl *

Adrian Shergold Adrian Shergold (born 24 March 1948 in Croydon, Surrey) is a British film and television director. Selected filmography *'' Pierrepoint'' (2005) *'' Funny Cow'' (2017) *'' Cordelia'' (2019) *Denmark (2019) Selected television *'' Christabel'' ( ...

as Young Leftie

Miscellanea

A French film based on the same events, ''

Les Égouts du paradis ''Les Égouts du paradis'' (''The Sewers of Paradise'') is a 1979 French film directed by José Giovanni, based on a 1976 heist by Albert Spaggiari. Cast and roles * Francis Huster as Albert Spaggiari * Jean-François Balmer as 68 * Lila Kedrova ...

'', directed by Jose Giovanni, was released the same year. The robbery on which the film is based was carried out by the French criminal

Media releases

The film was released on Region 2

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

in 2007.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Great Riviera Bank Robbery 1979 films 1970s biographical films 1979 crime drama films 1970s heist films Biographical films about French gangsters British crime drama films British heist films Crime drama films based on actual events Films scored by Stanley Myers Films set in France Films set in Nice 1970s English-language films 1970s British films English-language crime drama films English-language biographical films