Top 20 British Heist Movies

#20: “Perfect Friday” (1970)

Peter Hall is widely regarded as one of the UK’s most significant figures in theatre and cinema. This was one of his many celebrated movies, featuring former Bond girl Ursula Andress and actor Sir Stanley Baker. The protagonist is a bank deputy tired of his menial career, so after meeting a daring aristocrat couple, he decides to break bad. This trio are pretty chaotic, making for a comical first couple of acts culminating in a twist-filled finale. It additionally features many comedic elements and builds up to an elaborate burglary you can’t look away from.

#19: “The Good Die Young” (1954)

Lewis Gilbert was a majorly productive director, creating 40 films over 6 decades, including three classic Bond pictures. This title dropped 11 years into his directing career and is the only heist picture he made. Four men struggling with romance and money come together to plan their first crime, a daring robbery. A questionable gentleman named Miles “Rave” Ravenscourt is the main instigator for the plan, played by the talented Laurence Harvey. Interestingly, Harvey married his on-screen wife Margaret Leighton 3 years later. Praise was primarily given to the atmosphere and the loaded cast list, featuring a much younger Sir Stanley Baker.

#18: “Bellman and True” (1987)

Richard Loncraine began his filmmaking career in 1975, which eventually led to him directing highly celebrated works like “Richard III” and “Band of Brothers.” He made two heist movies: the first was “Bellman and True,” which later inspired his Hollywood blockbuster, “Firewall.” The former is discussed far more often than the latter these days. Its protagonist is a computer programmer with an alcohol dependency who gets bribed into giving robbers details of a bank’s security system. Things get worse when they force him to get involved in their crooked scheme, taking his son hostage as collateral.

#17: “A Prize of Arms” (1962)

Another Sir Stanley Baker feature enters our list, showing just how prolific he was in his prime. Cliff Owen directs this one, noteworthy for his collaboration with Morecambe and Wise in the 60s. It’s set 6 years before its release, with a plot focused on three thieves trying to profit off the Suez Crisis. They plan to head into an army barracks and rob the pay corps. Despite critics being fond of it at release, it was a commercial disaster, earning 43k at the box office with a budget of £258,000, making it a cult classic today.

#16: “Payroll” (1961)

Many film fanatics have labelled Sidney Hayers as one of the 60s' most underrated directors. One of his most treasured releases is this neo-noir heist thriller, based on a novel from 1959 and shot in Newcastle. As the name suggests, they’re trying to pilfer wages from an armoured van. Without spoiling too much, the job doesn’t go as smoothly as they’d like. Most of the film then covers the hectic aftermath of the heist gone wrong. We can’t find exact box office figures, but it was so popular they labelled it a “money maker.”

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#15: “The Great St. Trinian’s Train Robbery” (1966)

The St. Trinian’s comic strips became so adored that they were adapted into a four-film series in the 50s and 60s. It’s a relatively dark comedy about an all-girls boarding school, St Trinian’s. This was the final movie, which, as the name implies, is about the school getting embroiled in a robbery, heavily inspired by the actual Great Train Robbery 3 years prior. It’s one of the less serious entries here, but it’s still a blast to watch. Not only is it hilarious, but it’s loaded with satire of the era, specifically regarding Harold Wilson and the UK school system.

#14: “Strongroom” (1962)

This picture is less focused on sensationalised schemes concocted by master robbers. Instead, it’s about a trio of incompetent criminals, who accidentally lock two employees in a safe while burgling a bank. It’s a bank holiday weekend, though, and air is limited, so they’re likely to perish, leading to murder convictions for the robbers. This was before capital punishment was abolished, meaning they’re likely to be hanged if found. So, most of the film covers them trying to free the pair of workers without authorities figuring them out. Despite its extremely low budget of £17,000, many believe the final product to be a masterpiece.

#13: “Cash on Demand” (1961)

Peter Cushing is most likely known best for portraying Grand Moff Tarkin in “Star Wars.” Long before he became an Imperial soldier, he played the lead character in this black-and-white crime thriller. He’s a bank manager who appears cold and stoic on the outside, but secretly loves his family, despite rarely showing it. This is used by a crook to exploit him and rob almost 100k from his workplace. It doesn’t sensationalise crime and violence; instead, it’s a more down-to-earth and personal heist movie. This, combined with Cushing’s stellar performance, makes it a must-watch classic B movie.

#12: “Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels” (1998)

Few directors' debut movies are as globally adored as Guy Ritchie’s. This comedy crime caper had an all-star cast, featuring Vinnie Jones, Sting from The Police, and Jason Statham in his first-ever acting role. Most of the criminals are hilariously incompetent, with the primary protagonists getting in way over their heads. They gamble 100k on a rigged poker game, so to pay off the debt, they plot a heist, hoping to steal a student’s homegrown narcotics stash. It then becomes increasingly chaotic, resulting in one of the messiest heist aftermaths in cinema history.

#11: “The Bank Job” (2008)

Our previous entry defined Statham as an action star, leading to him being featured in a plethora of crime movies, such as this one. Directed by Roger Donaldson, it’s inspired by the real-life burglary of Lloyds Bank in 1971. Apparently, the truth behind the tale was hidden, which this film seeks to reveal. This is because a rumour claims they found revealing pictures of Princess Margaret. The source was claimed to be George McIndoe, who spoke to a couple of gang members responsible and even invited them on set. Despite this, it allegedly featured many fictional elements, but either way, it’s a thrill to watch.

#10: “The First Great Train Robbery” (1978)

American author and filmmaker Michael Crichton became a highly acclaimed writer during his lifetime. Crichton created this British comedy heist, adapting an earlier novel of his. Legends of cinema Sean Connery, Donald Sutherland, and Lesley-Anne Down star as the lead trio. It’s set in 1855 and covers a fictionalised version of that year’s Great Gold Robbery, where three boxes of gold were pilfered from a train headed to Paris. It earned itself a great deal of praise at release, with reviewers admiring the performances, humour, and its action-packed set pieces, which are as thrilling as they are comedic.

#9: “Robbery” (1967)

The Great Train Robbery of 1963 led to a plethora of films and series inspired by it. This is one such example, although it wasn’t at all trying to be accurate. It was directed by Peter Yates, known for his astounding range across genres. Sir Stanley Baker was also in this picture, which was the first released by his production company, Oakhurst Productions. One of its most acclaimed scenes was the car chase at the start, which influenced a bunch of later chase scenes. Despite being far less extravagant than its modern counterparts, it feels more thrilling than most, on account of its long-drawn-out shots, as opposed to being an overly edited mess.

#8: “The League of Gentlemen” (1960)

Not to be confused with the comedy series set in Royston Vasey, this action comedy is about a bunch of former soldiers trying to loot a London bank. Struggling officers are invited to a lunch where they’re asked to carry out the heist, each being promised a 100k reward. It was directed by Basil Dearden, famous for his time at Ealing Studios, and also featured Richard Attenborough in the cast list. Critics adored it at release, primarily praising the screenplay and the characters. People still love it today, leading to David Fletcher beginning a remake in 2025.

#7: “Sexy Beast” (2000)

Jonathan Glazer kicked off his directing career with a bang, with his debut “Sexy Beast” becoming an instant classic. It featured an all-star trio playing the core characters, specifically Ray Winstone, Ian McShane, and Ben Kingsley, with the latter’s performance earning him an Oscar nomination. Winstone plays a retired safecracker who is convinced by Kingsley’s character to go on one last job together. Kingsley was easily the most praised aspect, but critics had few negative things to say. The heist itself is also fairly creative, as they need to dive underwater to rinse the bank of its valuables.

#6: “Widows” (2018)

Sir Steve McQueen is another filmmaker on our list so talented he was knighted. Originally, the story was told in an 80s ITV series, which was later remade for this superb piece of cinema. This version’s set in Chicago and was a British-American co-production. It’s about four widows trying to pilfer $5 million from a politician played by Colin Farrell. Unfortunately, despite its positive reviews, it wasn’t a box office smash. This was largely blamed on its marketing department. McQueen commented on this, saying people simply “weren’t ready yet.” The positive but small response means it could eventually become a cult classic.

#5: “Snatch” (2000)

Two years after Ritchie’s debut, he released “Snatch,” which improved upon its predecessor in virtually every sense. The cast list is almost identical, but the budget was almost ten times higher. This one features Hollywood A-lister Brad Pitt, who was so in love with his debut he asked to be in the follow-up. Pitt was first meant to play Statham’s character, Turkish, but his Cockney accent was so diabolical that he was instead made to play the traveller, Mickey. Ritchie thought it would be hilarious if he then made his character unattractive and incoherent, since Pitt was People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive twice.

#4: “A Fish Called Wanda” (1988)

If we’re going solely by nominations, Charles Crichton’s final movie is also considered his greatest. It was written by and stars comedy marvel John Cleese. Alongside him are Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and fellow Python Michael Palin. It’s about a group of diamond thieves who carry out a pretty smooth heist towards the beginning. The rest of the film then covers them backstabbing and betraying each other so they won’t have to share the rewards. It was nominated for three Oscars, with Kevin Kline winning one for Best Supporting Actor. At home, it got 9 BAFTA nominations, with John Cleese and Michael Palin winning two.

#3: “The Ladykillers” (1955)

Years before Alec Guinness was known as Obi-Wan Kenobi, he was better recognised as the talented star of many of Ealing’s dark comedies. One of his most famous was this dark-toned comedy crime flick. Guinness plays the villainous Professor Marcus, who rents a room in a kindly old lady’s house. He then begins plotting to rob a security van with his gang, posing as musicians to deceive their landlady. It’s a slow burn, but the payoff is completely worth it. Like a lot of these, the heist itself isn’t the selling point; it’s the hilariously chaotic aftermath where everyone rushes to backstab each other.

#2: “The Lavender Hill Mob” (1951)

Despite “A Fish Called Wanda” being the most internationally successful Charles Crichton movie, we personally preferred this one ever so slightly more. It’s not just us who think that; the Vatican seems to agree, as this was included in their best films list. Once again we have Alec Guinness as the lead, and once again, we can’t stop singing his praises. It includes one of the most elaborate heist schemes, where they intend to disguise gold bullion as miniature Eiffel Towers. A fun fact about it is that it was one of Audrey Hepburn’s first roles, albeit an incredibly minor one.

#1: “The Italian Job” (1969)

Taking our top spot is one of the most quintessentially British movies of all time. Even if they cut everything out except for the final half an hour, it would still take our top spot. Thankfully, it’s a complete 99-minute comedy caper, and it’s infinitely rewatchable. Michael Caine gives one of the best performances of his career, playing the Cockney rogue Charlie Croker. He then orchestrates a remarkably daring heist of an armoured truck in Turin. It includes one of the greatest climaxes in history, with potentially cinema’s best-ever car chase, followed by a cliffhanger that people still ponder today.

Do you have a favourite heist movie, and was it on our list today? Let us know in the comments below!