The Brink's Job
Encyclopedia
The Brink's Job is a 1978 film
directed by William Friedkin
and starring Peter Falk
, Peter Boyle
, Allen Garfield
, Warren Oates
, Gena Rowlands
, and Paul Sorvino
. It is based on the Brink's robbery in Boston
, where almost 3 million dollars
were stolen.
The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Art Direction
(Dean Tavoularis
, Angelo P. Graham
, George R. Nelson
).
crook Tony Pino (Peter Falk
) tries to make a name for himself. He and his five associates attempt to pull off a large-scale robbery whenever they could. After Tony and his gang easily rob over $30,000 in cash from a Brinks Armored Car, Tony disguises himself as a sparkplug salesman and is able to get inside Brinks' large and so-called "impregnable fortress" headquarters in the city's North End, a company renowned for its unbreachable security and private banking throughout the East Coast. Once inside, Tony realizes that Brinks is anything but a fortress and the employees treat the money "like garbage". Still wary of Brinks' image, Tony breaks in one night after casing the building to find that all but two doors in the building are locked, and one is easily bypassed by leaping a gate. The only thing locked in the building is the vault. Also, Tony realizes that unlike what Brinks claims, there is only a 10-cent alarm in the vault room itself, and is almost impossible to set off. Assumingly, Brinks had made so much of a presence and intimidation as the most secure bank there was, they had not locked the doors. Pino then begins to plan out the robbery, using the rooftop of a neighboring building as a watch tower.
After realizing that Brinks is his for the taking, Tony and his dim brother-in-law Vinnie (Allen Garfield
) put together a motley gang of thieves to rob Brinks. They include the debonair Jazz Maffie (Paul Sorvino
) and the slightly deranged Iwo Jima
veteran, Specs O'Keefe (Warren Oates
), who proposes to blow open the Brink's safe with a bazooka. Over the crew's objections, Pino also invites the arrogant fence Joe McGinnis (Peter Boyle
) to be in on the job.
Together, the robbers, led by Pino, on the night of Jan. 17th, 1950, make off with more than a million dollars in cash, along with another million-plus in securities and checks. Brink's, a company that prides itself in the safekeeping of money, is nationally embarrassed by what the press is calling "the crime of the century." Even FBI director J. Edgar Hoover
(Sheldon Leonard
) takes a personal interest in finding the culprits, even so much as creating a make-shift FBI Office in Boston.
Law enforcement agents begin rounding up suspects. They come to the home of Tony and Mary Pino, as they often do for crimes in the area. Mary is so familiar with them by now, she makes the cops dinner. Tony is brought in for questioning, but reacts with indignation at being accused.
The crooks begin to crack, however. McGinnis infuriates them by destroying a large sum of the hold-up money, claiming the bills could be traced. He also hangs onto the rest, defying threats by Pino and his cohorts to hand over their shares.
Specs and another of the gang, Stanley Gusciora, go on the road to meet his "sugar doughnut" in Pittsburgh, where they are picked up by Pennsylvania State Police
on a burglary charge enroute at Bradford, Pennsylvania
and are each handed a long jail sentence, Gusciora at the Western Penitentiary-Pittsburgh . Specs grows more and more disturbed behind bars, demanding that money from his cut be sent to his ill sister. In interrogation, Specs and Stanley are pressured more each day to reveal whatever they might know about the Brink's job. Specs ultimately confesses.
One by one, the rest of the gang is apprehended, mainly by the Boston Police Department
. Tony is on his way to jail in Boston and so is Vinnie, but they unexpectedly find themselves hailed as heroes by people on the street for having pulled off one of the great crimes of all time. One teen remarks to Pino, "You're the greatest thief who ever lived! Nobody will ever do what you did Tony!"
. Locations included:
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by William Friedkin
William Friedkin
William Friedkin is an American film director, producer and screenwriter best known for directing The French Connection in 1971 and The Exorcist in 1973; for the former, he won the Academy Award for Best Director...
and starring Peter Falk
Peter Falk
Peter Michael Falk was an American actor, best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the television series Columbo...
, Peter Boyle
Peter Boyle
Peter Lawrence Boyle, Jr. was an American actor, best known for his role as Frank Barone on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, and as a comical monster in Mel Brooks' film spoof Young Frankenstein ....
, Allen Garfield
Allen Garfield
Allen Garfield, born and sometimes credited as Allen Goorwitz , is an American film and television actor.-Biography:...
, Warren Oates
Warren Oates
Warren Mercer Oates was an American actor best known for his performances in several films directed by Sam Peckinpah including The Wild Bunch and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia...
, Gena Rowlands
Gena Rowlands
Gena Rowlands is an American actress of film, stage and television. The four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner is best known for her collaborations with her actor-director husband John Cassavetes in ten films, in two of which, Gloria and A Woman Under the Influence, she gave Academy...
, and Paul Sorvino
Paul Sorvino
Paul Anthony Sorvino is an American actor. He often portrays authority figures on both sides of the law, and is possibly best known for his roles as Paulie Cicero, a portrayal of Paul Vario in the film Goodfellas and Sgt. Phil Cerreta on the police procedural and legal drama television series Law...
. It is based on the Brink's robbery in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, where almost 3 million dollars
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
were stolen.
The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Art Direction
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(Dean Tavoularis
Dean Tavoularis
Dean Tavoularis is an American motion picture production designer whose work appeared in numerous box office hits such as The Godfather films, Apocalypse Now, The Brink's Job, One from the Heart and Bonnie and Clyde.-Biography:...
, Angelo P. Graham
Angelo P. Graham
Angelo P. Graham is an American art director. He won an Academy Award and was nominated for three more in the category Best Art Direction.-Selected filmography:Graham won an Academy Award for Best Art Direction and was nominated for three more:Won...
, George R. Nelson
George R. Nelson
George R. Nelson was an American set decorator. He won an Academy Award and was nominated for three more in the category Best Art Direction.-Selected filmography:...
).
Plot
Small-time BostonBoston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
crook Tony Pino (Peter Falk
Peter Falk
Peter Michael Falk was an American actor, best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the television series Columbo...
) tries to make a name for himself. He and his five associates attempt to pull off a large-scale robbery whenever they could. After Tony and his gang easily rob over $30,000 in cash from a Brinks Armored Car, Tony disguises himself as a sparkplug salesman and is able to get inside Brinks' large and so-called "impregnable fortress" headquarters in the city's North End, a company renowned for its unbreachable security and private banking throughout the East Coast. Once inside, Tony realizes that Brinks is anything but a fortress and the employees treat the money "like garbage". Still wary of Brinks' image, Tony breaks in one night after casing the building to find that all but two doors in the building are locked, and one is easily bypassed by leaping a gate. The only thing locked in the building is the vault. Also, Tony realizes that unlike what Brinks claims, there is only a 10-cent alarm in the vault room itself, and is almost impossible to set off. Assumingly, Brinks had made so much of a presence and intimidation as the most secure bank there was, they had not locked the doors. Pino then begins to plan out the robbery, using the rooftop of a neighboring building as a watch tower.
After realizing that Brinks is his for the taking, Tony and his dim brother-in-law Vinnie (Allen Garfield
Allen Garfield
Allen Garfield, born and sometimes credited as Allen Goorwitz , is an American film and television actor.-Biography:...
) put together a motley gang of thieves to rob Brinks. They include the debonair Jazz Maffie (Paul Sorvino
Paul Sorvino
Paul Anthony Sorvino is an American actor. He often portrays authority figures on both sides of the law, and is possibly best known for his roles as Paulie Cicero, a portrayal of Paul Vario in the film Goodfellas and Sgt. Phil Cerreta on the police procedural and legal drama television series Law...
) and the slightly deranged Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
veteran, Specs O'Keefe (Warren Oates
Warren Oates
Warren Mercer Oates was an American actor best known for his performances in several films directed by Sam Peckinpah including The Wild Bunch and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia...
), who proposes to blow open the Brink's safe with a bazooka. Over the crew's objections, Pino also invites the arrogant fence Joe McGinnis (Peter Boyle
Peter Boyle
Peter Lawrence Boyle, Jr. was an American actor, best known for his role as Frank Barone on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, and as a comical monster in Mel Brooks' film spoof Young Frankenstein ....
) to be in on the job.
Together, the robbers, led by Pino, on the night of Jan. 17th, 1950, make off with more than a million dollars in cash, along with another million-plus in securities and checks. Brink's, a company that prides itself in the safekeeping of money, is nationally embarrassed by what the press is calling "the crime of the century." Even FBI director J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
(Sheldon Leonard
Sheldon Leonard
Sheldon Leonard was a pioneering American film and television producer, director, writer, and actor.-Biography:...
) takes a personal interest in finding the culprits, even so much as creating a make-shift FBI Office in Boston.
Law enforcement agents begin rounding up suspects. They come to the home of Tony and Mary Pino, as they often do for crimes in the area. Mary is so familiar with them by now, she makes the cops dinner. Tony is brought in for questioning, but reacts with indignation at being accused.
The crooks begin to crack, however. McGinnis infuriates them by destroying a large sum of the hold-up money, claiming the bills could be traced. He also hangs onto the rest, defying threats by Pino and his cohorts to hand over their shares.
Specs and another of the gang, Stanley Gusciora, go on the road to meet his "sugar doughnut" in Pittsburgh, where they are picked up by Pennsylvania State Police
Pennsylvania State Police
The Pennsylvania State Police is the state police force of Pennsylvania, responsible for statewide law enforcement. It was founded in 1905 by order of Governor Samuel Pennypacker, in response to the private police forces used by mine and mill owners to stop worker strikes and the inability or...
on a burglary charge enroute at Bradford, Pennsylvania
Bradford, Pennsylvania
Bradford is a small city located in rural McKean County, Pennsylvania, in the United States 78 miles south of Buffalo, New York. Settled in 1823, Bradford was chartered as a city in 1879 and emerged as a wild oil boomtown in the Pennsylvanian oil rush in the late 19th century...
and are each handed a long jail sentence, Gusciora at the Western Penitentiary-Pittsburgh . Specs grows more and more disturbed behind bars, demanding that money from his cut be sent to his ill sister. In interrogation, Specs and Stanley are pressured more each day to reveal whatever they might know about the Brink's job. Specs ultimately confesses.
One by one, the rest of the gang is apprehended, mainly by the Boston Police Department
Boston Police Department
The Boston Police Department , created in 1838, holds the primary responsibility for law enforcement and investigation within the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the oldest police departments in the United States...
. Tony is on his way to jail in Boston and so is Vinnie, but they unexpectedly find themselves hailed as heroes by people on the street for having pulled off one of the great crimes of all time. One teen remarks to Pino, "You're the greatest thief who ever lived! Nobody will ever do what you did Tony!"
Cast
- Peter FalkPeter FalkPeter Michael Falk was an American actor, best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the television series Columbo...
- Tony Pino - Peter BoylePeter BoylePeter Lawrence Boyle, Jr. was an American actor, best known for his role as Frank Barone on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, and as a comical monster in Mel Brooks' film spoof Young Frankenstein ....
- Joe McGinnis - Allen GarfieldAllen GarfieldAllen Garfield, born and sometimes credited as Allen Goorwitz , is an American film and television actor.-Biography:...
- Vinnie Costa (as Allen Goorwitz) - Warren OatesWarren OatesWarren Mercer Oates was an American actor best known for his performances in several films directed by Sam Peckinpah including The Wild Bunch and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia...
- Specs O'Keefe - Gena RowlandsGena RowlandsGena Rowlands is an American actress of film, stage and television. The four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner is best known for her collaborations with her actor-director husband John Cassavetes in ten films, in two of which, Gloria and A Woman Under the Influence, she gave Academy...
- Mary Pino - Paul SorvinoPaul SorvinoPaul Anthony Sorvino is an American actor. He often portrays authority figures on both sides of the law, and is possibly best known for his roles as Paulie Cicero, a portrayal of Paul Vario in the film Goodfellas and Sgt. Phil Cerreta on the police procedural and legal drama television series Law...
- Jazz Maffie - Sheldon LeonardSheldon LeonardSheldon Leonard was a pioneering American film and television producer, director, writer, and actor.-Biography:...
- J. Edgar HooverJ. Edgar HooverJohn Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972... - Gerard Murphy - Sandy Richardson
- Kevin O'Connor - Stanley Gusciora
- Claudia Peluso - Gladys
- Patrick HinesPatrick HinesPatrick Hines, born Mainer Patrick Hines, was an American actor best known for his role as Kappelmeister Bonno in the 1984 film Amadeus. Other roles included 1776, The Brinks Job and Bloodrage.Patrick died in 1985 aged just 55 years old....
- H.H. Rightmire - Malachy McCourtMalachy McCourtMalachy Gerard McCourt is an Irish-American actor, writer and politician. He was the 2006 Green Party candidate for governor in New York State, losing to the Democratic candidate Eliot Spitzer. He is the younger brother of Frank McCourt.-Personal life:Born in Brooklyn, New York, McCourt was raised...
- Mutt Murphy - Walter Klavun - Daniels
- Randy Jurgensen - FBI agent
- John Brandon - FBI agent
- Robert ProskyRobert ProskyRobert Prosky was an American stage, film, and television actor.-Life and career:Prosky, a Polish American, was born Robert Joseph Porzuczek in the Manayunk neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Helen and Joseph Porzuczek. His father was a grocer and butcher...
- Lineup Gallery Cop
Filming locations
The movie was filmed primarily on location in BostonBoston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. Locations included:
- The parking garage on Prince Street in the North End and the former Brinks Headquarters, where the Brink's robberyGreat Brinks RobberyThe Great Brinks Robbery was an armed robbery of the Brinks Building at the corner of Prince St. and Commercial St. in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts, USA, on January 17, 1950. Today the building is a parking garage located at 600 Commercial Street....
actually took place; - The old Boston Police Headquarters on Berkeley Street (since renovated as the Back Bay Hotel);
- Copp's Hill TerraceCopp's Hill TerraceCopp's Hill Terrace is an historic terrace and park between Commercial and Charter Streets west of Jackson Place on Copp's Hill in Boston, Massachusetts near Copp's Hill Burying Ground....
in the North End. - An alley in the opening sequence reveals the Pilgrim Theatre(since demolished) in what was then Boston's Combat ZoneCombat Zone (Boston)The "Combat Zone", in Boston, Massachusetts, was the name given to the adult entertainment district in downtown centered on Washington Street between Boylston Street and Kneeland Street. It extended up Stuart Street to Park Square...
, an infamous Red-light districtRed-light districtA red-light district is a part of an urban area where there is a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, adult theaters, etc... - Another shot in that sequence shows the faded sign painted on the side of the Combat ZoneCombat Zone (Boston)The "Combat Zone", in Boston, Massachusetts, was the name given to the adult entertainment district in downtown centered on Washington Street between Boylston Street and Kneeland Street. It extended up Stuart Street to Park Square...
's Gaiety Theatre (also demolished). - Tony and Joe fight in Roxbury's Dudley SquareDudley SquareDudley Square is the primary commercial center of the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located at the intersection of Dudley Street and Washington Street...
Station when it was part of the MBTA's old elevated Orange LineOrange Line (MBTA)The Orange Line is one of the four subway lines of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. It extends from Forest Hills in Jamaica Plain, Boston in the south to Oak Grove in Malden, Massachusetts in the north. It meets the Red Line at Downtown Crossing, the Blue Line at State, and the Green...
(since demolished; the old station is now a bus and Silver LineSilver Line (MBTA)The Silver Line is the only bus rapid transit line currently operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority . It operates in two sections; the first runs from Dudley Square in Roxbury to downtown Boston, Massachusetts and South Station, mostly via Washington Street, with buses...
terminal). - The New England Mutual Life Insurance Company building on Boylston StreetBoylston StreetBoylston Street is the name of a major east-west thoroughfare in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. Another Boylston Street runs through Boston's western suburbs....
in the Back Bay was used as the Boston Courthouse. - The Old North ChurchOld North ChurchOld North Church , at 193 Salem Street, in the North End of Boston, is the location from which the famous "One if by land, and two if by sea" signal is said to have been sent...
is visible in several shots. - The Custom House TowerCustom House TowerThe Custom House Tower - now Marriott's Custom House Hotel - is a skyscraper in McKinley Square, in the Financial District neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. Construction began in the mid-19th century; the tower was added in the 1910s...
in Downtown Boston is seen one of the rooftop scenes, and its base was used as the Suffolk County CourthouseSuffolk County CourthouseThe Suffolk County Courthouse, also known as the "John Adams Courthouse", is a historic courthouse building on Pemberton Square in Boston, Massachusetts that is home to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court....
in the film's final indictment sequence. - The Traffic Box scene where Spec's O'Keefe drives through Towanda, PA was filmed in Stoneham, MassachusettsStoneham, MassachusettsStoneham is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Its population was 21,437 at the 2010 census, down from 22,219 in 2000. The town is the birthplace of Olympic figure skating medalist Nancy Kerrigan and is the home of the Stone Zoo.- History :...