Aldo Ray and Peter O'Toole star in "The Day They Robbed the Bank of England," a 1960 film directed by John Guillerman. Ray plays Norgate, an American who sympathizes with the Irish republican movement. To this end, he and his cronies plan to rob the Bank of England. Befriending a guard, Captain Finch (O'Toole) while in a pub, over time Norgate manages to gather many details about the layout of the bank and the whereabouts of the vault with the gold bullion.This is the type of "caper" film very popular in the 1960s. It's a small British film and a little slow in spots, but intriguing. The Captain is one of O'Toole's early roles, so it's definitely of interest to see him. One of my problems with this movie is the weak script - it seemed odd to me that the Captain didn't realize pretty quickly what Norgate was up to. The acting, however, is very good, with some fine character actors offering great support: Kieron Moore, Albert Sharpe, and others. The lovely Elizabeth Sellars plays the liaison with Ireland -- she was widowed as a result of the cause.Entertaining.

Aldo Ray is sturdy and handsome as Irish-American recruited to help a group of disparate Irish characters rob the "impregnable" Bank of England in the early 1900s. Some suspense and neat ideas in this low-keyed, minimally-budgeted MGM production (one which rarely turns up on the Turner Classics channel). There's some confusion later on about the purpose of the bank robbery and why the wily coot who started the whole thing wants to pull out, but Peter O'Toole is wonderfully intense and suspicious (and incredibly young) as the chief soldier guarding the gold bullion, and Ray is always good to watch: he's not only the leader of this operation but the driving force behind the picture as well; his quick-thinking nature is mirrored in his eyes, and he never overdoes anything (he's all business). Straight-forward drama is given good direction and the supporting cast is colorful. As for the ending...do they get away with it? You may have to buy a bootleg copy to find out! **1/2 from ****

An enjoyable film. Low budget, however, the film does not suffer in the least. Typical of this era of British films, with a solid American actor (Aldo Ray), as the lead. Broody, but not really convincing. Good acting by Albert Sharpe played "Tosher". Cameos aplenty from stock actors. First time seeing Peter O'Toole in a supporting role, playing the guards officer in charge of security at the Bank. In my opinion he stole the show, if you will pardon the pun. I see that the film is based on a novel, so wishful thinking as far as the plot goes. I was born and now work in the City of London, so I know that there was obviously a lot of research concerning the sewers and the streets above them. This made the film even more enjoyable.

This modest but proficient thriller pretty much tells you its plot in the title.It deals with an attempt by the Irish republican movement at the turn of the twentieth century to break into the vaults of the Bank of England and extract the fortune in gold bullion stored there.They call in an American -woodenly played by Aldo Ray -to mastermind the venture and he extracts key information from a Britsh officer ,an early screen role for Peter O'Toole and from a Thames vagrant with knowledge of the sewer system. The climax sees the gang tunneling under the bank in a race against the military who have begun to suspect something is amiss. Cheaply made and slackly written this is still worth watching for the parade of British character actors who pop up and add substance to minor roles and for the touch of cynicism about politics -the Irish movement having plotted the heist find it politically expedient to try and stop it when the political scene changes in their favourAlso on the plus side is its brevity -the movie is under 90 minutes and never drags