From the very start of "The Great Bank Robbery," it seems that Warner Brothers was trying to cash in on the popularity of a couple of large group comedies. A large cast of many moderately size roles had worked with two recent comedies in Hollywood. Both of those were independent films distributed by United Artists. And, the screenplays were written by the same person – William Rose. The mold was cast in 1963 with "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World," which was a smashing success. It was followed three years later by "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming," also a big success.
"Mad World" had more than a dozen big name stars in significant roles and more than two dozen well-known actors in supporting roles. It had a total of some 100 roles cast. "The Russians" had six big name stars and half a dozen key supporting roles, with a total of 38 roles cast. And, significantly, both of those films had top comedy actors of the day. Jonathan Winters appeared in both films, as did Carl Reiner and Paul Ford. The cast of "Mad World" reads like a list of top comedy actors and writers of the time.
So, now the Warners try their hand at the large scale group comedy. They need a different setting and original plot, and they go with a Western. That was fine because Westerns already had shown promise with comedies and more would in the future. So, then they needed a plot with a screenplay. To be very good, it should include situations, humorous antics and lots of funny dialog. Then, it needed the cast to fill the many roles. And that's where this movie flops – on all levels but the original idea for a plot. The script is very weak in comedy. For instance, Claude Akins has lines that repeat the same thing several times -- that he will have to do something bad to people, that he doesn't like killing all these people. It wasn't even funny the first time. His lines throughout mostly are terrible, and he is not a comedy actor. Clint Walker's lines and acting are hardly better. John Anderson as Mayor Kincaid is mostly a straight character throughout. Kim Novak is fair as the flighty but not otherwise funny Sister Lyda. Only three roles in this entire film are done well, and with some humor.
Zero Mostel is very good as Rev. Pious Blue, Ruth Warrick is genuinely funny as Mrs. Applebee, and Akim Tamiroff is good, but wasted with very little screen time. The only two people in the entire cast that have comedy talent are Mostel and Tamiroff. And the cast has no more than half a dozen actors total that audiences would recognize at the time. Many stock players fill in supporting roles, but with almost no comedy.
The film was based on a novel by Frank O'Rourke. I imagine it was supposed to be a funny story, but Warner Brothers wasn't able to pull it off with this film. I couldn't find the budget for this movie anywhere, but it's box office return in 1969 was just $1.5 million.That probably didn't come even close to paying the bills. In one word, "The Great Bank Robbery" is a dud. If you want to see great comedy and top comedians and other actors of the period, watch either of the other two films – "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World," or "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming." Their box office takes were $60 million (more than six times its budget) for Mad World in 1963, and nearly $22 million (more than five times its budget) for The Russians Are Coming in 1966.
"Mad World" had more than a dozen big name stars in significant roles and more than two dozen well-known actors in supporting roles. It had a total of some 100 roles cast. "The Russians" had six big name stars and half a dozen key supporting roles, with a total of 38 roles cast. And, significantly, both of those films had top comedy actors of the day. Jonathan Winters appeared in both films, as did Carl Reiner and Paul Ford. The cast of "Mad World" reads like a list of top comedy actors and writers of the time.
So, now the Warners try their hand at the large scale group comedy. They need a different setting and original plot, and they go with a Western. That was fine because Westerns already had shown promise with comedies and more would in the future. So, then they needed a plot with a screenplay. To be very good, it should include situations, humorous antics and lots of funny dialog. Then, it needed the cast to fill the many roles. And that's where this movie flops – on all levels but the original idea for a plot. The script is very weak in comedy. For instance, Claude Akins has lines that repeat the same thing several times -- that he will have to do something bad to people, that he doesn't like killing all these people. It wasn't even funny the first time. His lines throughout mostly are terrible, and he is not a comedy actor. Clint Walker's lines and acting are hardly better. John Anderson as Mayor Kincaid is mostly a straight character throughout. Kim Novak is fair as the flighty but not otherwise funny Sister Lyda. Only three roles in this entire film are done well, and with some humor.
Zero Mostel is very good as Rev. Pious Blue, Ruth Warrick is genuinely funny as Mrs. Applebee, and Akim Tamiroff is good, but wasted with very little screen time. The only two people in the entire cast that have comedy talent are Mostel and Tamiroff. And the cast has no more than half a dozen actors total that audiences would recognize at the time. Many stock players fill in supporting roles, but with almost no comedy.
The film was based on a novel by Frank O'Rourke. I imagine it was supposed to be a funny story, but Warner Brothers wasn't able to pull it off with this film. I couldn't find the budget for this movie anywhere, but it's box office return in 1969 was just $1.5 million.That probably didn't come even close to paying the bills. In one word, "The Great Bank Robbery" is a dud. If you want to see great comedy and top comedians and other actors of the period, watch either of the other two films – "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World," or "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming." Their box office takes were $60 million (more than six times its budget) for Mad World in 1963, and nearly $22 million (more than five times its budget) for The Russians Are Coming in 1966.