The Day They Robbed the Bank of England

In London in 1901, during Ireland's struggle for independence, Charles Norgate, an Irish American, is recruited by Irish revolutionaries to rob the Bank of England. Iris Muldoon, widow of an Irish independence martyr, enlists Norgate for the heist. Led by O'Shea, the group plans to steal one million pounds in gold bullion as a political statement. Initially mistrusted, Norgate earns their confidence by revealing his Irish roots.

Norgate befriends Lieutenant Monte Fitch of the Guards and gains access to the bank's architectural plans by breaking into the bank's museum. Despite scepticism from Walsh, another revolutionary who, like Norgate, is infatuated with Muldoon, Norgate uncovers an underground sewer running beneath the bank vaults. Posing as an archaeologist, he convinces a tosher to help him locate the sealed sewer entrance. The revolutionaries begin tunneling toward the bank vaults, planning the heist for a long weekend in August, when the bank will be closed.

Lt. Fitch grows suspicious of Norgate and begins investigating. During the dig, the revolutionaries puncture a gas pipe, alerting the guards when the gas lights in the bank suddenly grow dim. However, with one keyholder on holiday, the vault cannot be immediately inspected. Meanwhile, O'Shea announces that the Irish Home Rule Bill has been reintroduced in Parliament, and the heist must be halted to avoid jeopardising its passage. Muldoon convinces Walsh to help her inform Norgate, but when he discovers that Norgate has already broken through to the vault, Walsh chooses to remain silent and joins in stealing the gold.

The revolutionaries manage to take a million pounds' worth of gold through the tunnel. Muldoon has sent away their escape boat, but despite her pleas, Norgate and Walsh load the gold onto a horse-drawn cart. Realising the tosher has not emerged from the sewers, Norgate returns to find him. The tosher, who had been overcome by gas, revives, and climbs the ladder into the bank vault by mistake. Norgate follows him. The overloaded cart collapses in the street, catching the attention of a passing policeman. Norgate and Walsh are arrested and led away in handcuffs, with Muldoon tearfully watching. The tosher, carrying a statue fragment from the tunnel that appears to be a Roman relic, walks away.

Filming started in London in September 1959.^[4] The cast included Peter O'Toole, then heavily in demand after his stage success on The Long and the Short and the Tall. O'Toole later said when offered the role "it wasn't the part I was offered that interested me but the Guards Officer who is reluctantly forced to think."^[5][6] He and producer Jules Buck formed their own production company in January 1960.