The Big Heist
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The Big Heist | |
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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 |
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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[]
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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[]
- 2001 television films
- 2000s crime films
- 2001 films
- American television films
- American films
- Canadian television films
- Crime films based on actual events
- Films set in New York City
- Films set in 1978
- Films directed by Robert Markowitz
- American heist films
- Lufthansa heist
- Films about the American Mafia
- Canadian heist films
- Canadian films
- Cultural depictions of Paul Castellano
- Cultural depictions of John Gotti