The Big Heist

The Big Heist
The Big Heist
Genre	Docudrama
Based on	The Heist; by Ernest Volkman; John Cummings
Screenplay by	Jere Cunningham; Gary Hoffman
Directed by	Robert Markowitz
Starring	Donald Sutherland; John Heard; Jamie Harris; Janet Kidder
Theme music composer	Lou Pomanti
Country of origin	Canada; USA
Original language	English
Production
Producers	Robert Markowitz; Mark Winemaker
Cinematography	Rudolf Blahacek
Editor	David Beatty
Running time	92 min
Production companies	Alliance Atlantis; A&E Networks; Gary Hoffman Prod.
Release
Original network	A&E
Original release	June 10, 2001 (US);

The Big Heist is a Canadian-American TV movie which first aired in 2001, on the A&E Television Networks.

Plot[]

Based on the 1986 book The Heist: How a Gang Stole $8,000,000 at Kennedy Airport and Lived to Regret It,^[1] the film tells the story about the 1978 Lufthansa Heist.

Cast[]

Donald Sutherland as Jimmy Burke
John Heard as Richard Woods
Jamie Harris as Frankie Burke
Janet Kidder as Maria
Nick Sandow as Henry Hill
Michael P. Moran as Louis the Whale, inspired by Louis Cafora
Joe Pingue as Martin Krugman
Bo Rucker as Parnell "Stacks" Edwards
Rocco Sisto as Tommy DeSimone
Robert Morelli as Angelo Sepe
Joe Maruzzo as Paolo Falcone, inspired by Paolo LiCastri
Gino Marrocco as Paulie Vario
Sam Coppola as Paul Castellano
Steven Randazzo as John Gotti
Craig Eldridge as Agent Billings

Production[]

Similar projects[]

The heist was also the subject of the much better-known 1990 film Goodfellas, directed by Martin Scorsese, and of the 1991 made-for-television film, .^[2]

Historical context[]

Although the movie correctly depicts the Lufthansa Heist, showing Jimmy Burke as the leader of a crew linked to Paulie Vario, the crew wasn't part of the Gambino family as depicted, but rather was a large part of the Lucchese crime family, and the robbery brought a large quantity of funding for Tony Corallo^{[citation needed]}.

Although Burke did have connections with John Gotti, Gotti was never involved with the Lufthansa Heist nor did he want to be a part of it. According to a rumour, on an FBI wire tap from the 1980s years after the original heist, Gotti was heard to say to underboss and his capo Aniello Dellacroce: "I didn't want any part of that shit that Burke and those other fucks pulled. Only micks would do something crazy like this. Micks are fucking crazy; end of fucking statement".^{[citation needed]} It was also alleged by Hill, in Hill's book The Lufthansa Heist, that John Gotti personally killed Tommy DeSimone, a member of the actual stick-up crew.^[3]

References[]

^ Volkman, Ernest & Cummings, John (October 1986). The Heist: How a Gang Stole $8,000,000 at Kennedy Airport and Lived to Regret It (1st; Hardcover ed.). Franklin Watts. ISBN 978-0531150245.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
^ "Movies: The 10 Million Dollar Getaway". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. 2009. Archived from the original on 24 January 2009. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
^ Simon, Daniel & Hill, Henry (Aug 1, 2015). The Lufthansa Heist (1st ed.). Rowman & Little head. ISBN 9781493018963.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)

External links[]

The Big Heist at AllMovie
The Big Heist at IMDb

[1] Volkman, Ernest & Cummings, John (October 1986). The Heist: How a Gang Stole $8,000,000 at Kennedy Airport and Lived to Regret It (1st; Hardcover ed.). Franklin Watts. ISBN 978-0531150245.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)

[2] "Movies: The 10 Million Dollar Getaway". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. 2009. Archived from the original on 24 January 2009. Retrieved 26 December 2012.

[3] Simon, Daniel & Hill, Henry (Aug 1, 2015). The Lufthansa Heist (1st ed.). Rowman & Little head. ISBN 9781493018963.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)

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