Indigo

+If you were a criminal going to rob a bank how would you do it?

+What kind of team would you assemble?

+Would you come in all guns blazing or would you quietly slip a note to the cashier?

+Would you do something else entirely?

+What would you wear? Masks? Balaclavas?

+How would you keep people compliant? Firearms, or something else?

+If everything went wrong how would you react? Shoot your way out? Take hostages? Give yourself up?

This is for a stageplay about a bank robbery that goes very, very wrong. My characters are professional thieves who have never worked together as a team before. They have experience of robbery, jewellers mainly, but only one of them has ever robbed a bank. For all of them this is the biggest stunt they have ever pulled. A few are over confident. The younger ones see themselves as outlaws, modern gunslingers, Bonnie and Clyde. Some may be inclined to take risks, wave guns around, talk like they're in a movie, that sort of thing.

They watch too many films and probably think that if you shoot a person they just die straight away, no mess, no fuss. Things are going to go horribly wrong, get horribly real and they aren't going to know how to deal with it.

It all takes place in the bank itself, putting all the characters, robbers and the public, in an enclosed space in a stressful situation and letting them fight it out. For the feel for the play think Reservoir Dogs rather than Oceans Eleven.


What do you think of this idea? How could I make it different? I know that the whole heist think has been done a million times on film but I don't know of it being used very often on stage.

Do you know of any real life bank robberies that I could take inspiration from?

Talia_Brie

Here's some things you need to know about robbing a bank.

1. The money in a bank is insured, so the people working there couldn't give a shit if you take it or not. They just don't want to get shot.
2. Bank staff are trained to follow instructions explicitly in the case of a robbery, refer to note 1. on not getting shot. This means if your bank robber instructs them very clearly that they are not to sound the alarm, are not to hand over any marked bills or dye bombs, there's a very good chance these things will not happen. Alarms will sound once you leave the bank, but it could very well be too late to stop you then.
3. On the friday afternoon before a three day weekend we would put around $250,000 in our ATMs. We had too, which means we were holding over half a million dollars in $20s and $50s, already loaded into nice big cassettes that are easy to carry.


So, to answer some of your questions:

You would need three people, one in the car, and two in the bank. The car needs to be running, because in most cases you've probably got about 3 minutes from when you leave the front door to when you can no longer get out of the city.

Guns blazing? You need to make a statement and get everyone's attention, but the staff also need to be able to follow instructions, so you can't freak them out too much.

Wearing? You need to cover you face, and your clothes, and possible disguise you're height if you can. Anything that would make you easy to describe needs to be replaceable. You also need to change clothes (and cars) quickly on leaving the bank.

What if it goes wrong? That's a character question, and probably instrumental to your story, so it doens't really matter how I'd react.

There's a very successful bank robber in Australia called Brendon Abbott. On one of his robberies he waited in the roof space of the bank overnight, and when the branch manager came in the next morning to open up, down he came. Took the manager hostage, and gradually captured the staff one by one as they came in. Got away with the money and disappeared.

You should see if you can get hold of Dog Day Afternoon with Al Pacino. That's another classic bank robbery movie.

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smilinghelps

Perhaps in England procedures are different, but I worked for a large bank for a number of years in the US and there are certain times during the day when bank employees are most vulnerable. (EDIT) I just read the info on the bank robber that Talia Brie mentioned, he was a smart robber...

--One person enters the bank first. It is their job specifically to check the perimeter and give an all clear sign before other employees enter. The vault can not be opened by one person alone. There are two employees who share the code. During the opening is the time the employees are most vulnerable.

--There are other safety measurements taken everyday. One is a phone call chain, one bank branch calls and says a phrase that you have a pre-determined response for which means ALL CLEAR, if you fail to give that code authorities are notified. Then you call your assigned branch and wait for their response.

--If thieves were in the bank overnight, they would be able to ambush the employees after the vault is open and after the ALL clear phone call, usually before anyone else would even enter the premises. Talia Brie is right, on a Friday ATMs are filled and cartridges are easy to take, although they are heavy. Some banks have satellite ATMs (not attached to the building, but may be in the middle of a parking lot) they too are easy targets.

--There are also back doors where employees go out for cigarette breaks, a good thief (or conscientous one) would make note of times when employees go out back for a break and use that open door as a way to get in.

Watch the movie Inside Man with Denzel Washington, it's the most clever Bank Robbery film I've ever seen.

Good luck and let us know what you come up with.

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"I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day."
E. B. White

lin

I think I'll go to England to rob banks.

You'd be EXTREMELY lucky to get $3000 from any bank holdup in the U.S. There just isn't money laying around where you can get at it.

Personally, I would hit the guys from the armored car that picks up and delivers cash. When the door's open they're the most vulnerable and the closest you're going to get to lots of cash in plain sight.

Being on the street or parking lot lends itself very well to the kind of screw-up you have in mind. Almost anybody can get involved, from kids playing Jackass in shopping carts to skatepunks to half-blind grannies driving into things to a bus of little league players yelling encouragement to other people with guns showing up.
Bank robbery is pretty much a twilight industry in the U.S. it barely happens. The guys who would be doing have turned to easier, more lucrative jobs.
Look around a bank and ask yourself how much money you see. Now walk into a jewelry store and ask yourself the same question.
Or come with something new to steal. I was in prison with some guys who rushed into a university chemistry lab waving guns to steal platinum catalytic flasks.

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Indigo

Wow. Thank you all so much, this is great. One of the thinks I love about this site is the sheer variety of people and knowlege out there. The information you've given me is invaluable.

Thank you!

Sam Winchester

That bank-robber movie with Denzel Washington was a good one - it wasn't Firewall; that was Harrison Ford, wasn't it? What the heck was it called?

Edit: Sorry, Smiling, didn't read your post.

Anyway. You would go in with a pistol and a Balaclava. Get all the hostages into one area. Get the backup robber (always have someone other than yourself) to keep an eye on them while you get the teller to hand over the money. At this stage, you have to assume that someone (either outside the bank or by a silent alarm) has alerted the cops. So, depending on the city, location of the bank, and speed and skill of the responding officers, you've probably got from anywhere between two to eight minutes from you enter the bank until the police arrive. Use that time wisely. Don't make your character greedy. Set yourself a time limit, and adhere to it steadfastly. Make sure someone's outside with the engine running. Get as much money as you can, and hightail it. Dump the car about a couple of miles later, and jack another one.

Sam.

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Sam Winchester

As far as bank robbery films go, Inside Man is probably the best. I would recommend Metro with Eddie Murphy. There's a smart trick used in it, too. Something similar to Inside Man, and I personally think Inside Man got its inspiration from that trick.

Sam.

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lin

Here's my plan for doiing it the down-home, old-timey way.


FADE IN:
INT. BANK LOBBY - DAY
A small town bank, old-fashioned teller cages. A couple of Customers in line at two windows. Ex-cop-looking Security Guard dozes. A BUSINESSMAN in western-cut suit sets a thick leather clutch on the counter to fill out a deposit slip.
COLE HASKINS--cowboy type, brave, young and handsome--fidgets in line. He moves forward, getting a dirty look from the waspish TELLER.

COLE

'Scuse me, cousin, can I cut through here? Bit of a hurry.

TELLER

Please wait your turn, sir.

BUSINESSMAN

Hold your horses, pal. I'm right in the middle of something.

COLE

I don't think it matters all that much, frankly.

He tips his hat to the scowling Teller.

COLE

This being a stick-up and all.

The teller gasps, quails back from the window. The Security Guard, more alert than he looked, comes up from his chair, slapping leather.
Cole whirls in a Sundance move, whipping out a big Bisley grip revolver with startling speed. The Guard knows the drop when he sees it, raises his hands.

COLE

Just toss your pistol over in that planter, if you like.
The guard complies. Cole turns to the two frozen Tellers.

COLE

Can't think of nothing original, so just, you know... put the cash in a nice sturdy bag.

He takes off his hat and faces the Customers.

COLE

And y'all please just drop your valuables right in my Stetson, that'll do just fine.
He gets some wallets and watches, but nothing from the Businessman, who clutches his case, distraught. Amused, Cole gestures with the revolver. Businessman shakes head.
Cole tips the hat full of loot back on his head, steps over and drags the case out of his clutches. Opens it to whistle appreciatively at a whole lot of cash.

BUSINESSMAN
(Ruefully)

Probably more in there than you're rakin' from the bank, Hoss.

COLE

Looks like it from here.

BUSINESSMAN

Don't suppose you'd let me finish my deposit? I was first in line, after all.

COLE

Sure, but make it snappy, okay?

BUSINESSMAN

I've got my slip made out and everything.

The Teller dumps a till into a trashbag, knots the top, pushes it across the counter at Cole. Cole nods at Businessman, who hands over the deposit slip.

TELLER

Sir, we can't possibly accept...

Cole grabs the trashbag, sticks a gun in Teller's face.

COLE

Accentuate the possible, my mama used to say.

The terrified teller takes the slip, hits register keys, hands out a receipt. Businessman gives Teller the cash bag, Cole takes it back.

COLE

There ya go. Now it's just between him and FDI of C. Thanks to you both and adios.

Cole tucks the money case under his left arm and grabs the trashbag with his left hand. Backing towards the door, he touches his hat brim with his gun hand.

EXT. TOWN STREET - DAY
A sleepy desert town with old-fashioned storefronts. On the far corner two TOWN BOYS, one bigger than the other, tussle over a skateboard.
A police cruiser pulls up to curb, an OLDER COP exits the passenger side and confronts the boys, who begin pointing fingers as he referees in a kindly manner.
Cole steps out of the bank on the near corner, carrying the trashbag, money case, and pistol. The Older Cop spots him and reacts at once, pushing the boys around the corner.

A YOUNG COP pops out of the driver's door, shouting into a microphone and swinging a shotgun over the roof. The Older Cop, sheltered by the corner, also pulls a gun.

Cole steps between two diagonal-parked cars and lays his gun over the hood of one. Just as the trashbag explodes in a splatter of bills and orange dye. An alarm bell on the bank façade starts ringing. Nearby sirens approach.
Cole gapes at the money on the street, blowing into drifts along the face of the building. He opens the money case, grabs bills off the street and stuffs them into it.

The Young Cop fires a warning shotgun blast. Cole snaps erect and fires a quick shot that hits the shotgun a block away. The Older Cop stares, then returns fire.

Another squad car pulls up at the near corner, two Backup Cops jump out and draw down on Cole, who grabs money with his gun hand, stuffs it into the case and his pockets. He moves onto the sidewalk, covering himself with spooky quickness and incredible shooting. He snatches more money from the piles by the bank front.

The front window of the bank blows out in a shower of glass and Cole goes down, hit and bleeding. The Security Guard stands inside the ruined window in a cop's shooting crouch, but when Cole returns fire, he flattens out.
Cole rolls to his knees, grabs more cash. Another hit topples him up against the front wall. He pushes himself up along the wall, staggers along it in a stoop, grabbing money between pointing his gun at the cops. He's hit in the thigh and goes down again. He snaps a shot that makes both Backup Cops duck, but there is no report. He's empty.

Cole inches along the wall, groveling up money into the case, pointing his gun at the Cops. They duck the first few times, then move from cover, surrounding Cole as he slides along the wall, scooping bills into his waistband.
All four Cops approach Cole, pointing guns at him, staring in disbelief as he grimly grabs up cash, spinning to point the gun first at one, then the other. They relax a little, look at each other in amazement.

At which point a car arrives spectacularly on the scene, bombing up the sidewalk to clip all four Cops off their feet. It screeches to a stop, throwing the passenger door open right in front of Cole.

He lurches to the door, tosses in the case, pulls himself painfully up into the seat. He reaches out for more money and takes a hit in the shoulder from inside the bank.

The driver of the car, an attractive but somewhat terrifying young woman named BUNNY BEAUMONT, leans over with a large automatic pistol and blasts a barrage through the window, diminishing further resistance. She yells with a pronounced southern accent.

BUNNY

Get your feet in Cole! Get in, damn your sorry butt! Cole!!!

Groaning, spurting blood from a half-dozen sites, Cole lugs his legs inside. Bunny hits the gas and the car leaps down the sidewalk, slamming the door shut through sheer momentum.
At the far corner, Bunny's car runs over the disputed skateboard, lunges onto the street, and blasts out of view.

TOWN BOYS
(Unison)

Awesome!!!

INT. GETAWAY CAR - DAY
Bunny, steely-eyed when shooting at cops and performing vehicular assault, loses it as she floors the car down a two-lane desert highway. She waves her pistol, whapping Cole to keep his attention focused among the living.

BUNNY

Don't you even think about dying on me, Cole Haskins. You make one dying move, I'll blow your damn head off. You hear me, Cole?

COLE

Watch your driving, Honeybunny. We don't need no accidents in this damn town. They're mean here.

BUNNY

Shut up, Cole Haskins! You die on me and I'll kill you an inch of your no-good life.

COLE

I can't believe I left all that money lying in the street.

BUNNY

Money??? Goddam you, Cole!

She hauls off to hit him with the gun, but he spits blood and she recoils, drops it. She turns her attention to the highway, pouring on the speed, jabbering.

COLE

Shut up, Cole. Just shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up.

COLE

Believe I will.

He passes out, cash gripped in his fist, as Bunny bites her lip, tearing along in search of Plan B.

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Truth-Teller

This is why you're not published, Lin.

And will never be.

lin

Actually, I am published. Have been for years. With two novels on contract to come out this year.

The film above has been optioned.

TT, we appreciate the effort you go to around here to amuse us, but we don't really NEED all these reminders that you are a bottom-feeding cretin. We KNOW.

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Industrial

LMAO ouch son.

heh. Robbing a bank, scout it out get to know it, bust in there and make that bread then DIPSET

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Jon1jt

I'd ask the cutest teller to dinner. Best to have somebody on the inside you can ride into the sunset with, wisps of silky hair a-blowing, the way they do in the movies.

As far as real life bank robbers, I recommend watching the old black & white films of Butch Cassady & the Sundance Kid. Or read about the wild wildness of Mr. Wyatt Earp. The portrayal of bad guys always winning, as it should be.

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"He was nauseous with regret when he saw her face again, and when, as of yore, he pleaded and begged at her knees for the joy of her being. She understood Neal; she stroked his hair; she knew he was mad."
---Jack Kerouac, On The Road: The Original Scroll

Indigo

Sounds good to me

Guys - this is all fantastic advice! So glad I decided to post this.

HarryG

If the play is in an English setting, then you could read about the Shoreditch robbery planned by the Knight family, they robbed the Security Express offices in Shoreditch. A number of guards where taken hostage by the gang who spent hours on the premises, allowing for some great interplay between the characters. They got away with a great deal of money, but most of them were eventually caught, years later.


Most of the money was transported to Spain by Ronnie Knight, Barbara Windsor's husband.