The Great Riviera Bank Robbery 1980

Bert, Ian McShane and Jean, Warren Clarke, are hard-edged members of a right-wing nationalist group closely connected to the Organisation armée secrète. Both men are ex-military, and yet they find themselves on the wrong side of the law in Nice, France. In a desperate bid to fund weapons, Bert—known to allies and enemies alike as “The Brain”—conceives a bold plan to dig into a bank vault from beneath the city streets.

To carry out this audacious heist, they recruit a circle of local French gangsters, offering a share of the loot in exchange for their criminal know-how. The gang’s motive is simple profit, while Bert insists his aim is political, insisting that the money will fuel their cause rather than just line pockets. Over several tense nights, they work their way through a sewer wall, finally breaching the vault and opening the safe deposits. They move with care, planning a clean getaway that keeps the crime from immediate discovery.

To stall the pursuing authorities, they weld the vault door shut, convincing the bank that the door itself was faulty. The criminals retreat to a villa where the loot is divided with a careful hand, each participant kept at peace with the terms of the split, and a quiet fear that betrayal could erupt at any moment. The police, meanwhile, struggle to trace leads, while the gang’s money begins to reveal its origins as notes surface and point back to the conspirators.

As the cash spreads through the criminal network, the fascists behind the operation attempt to move the gold bars. They lean on corrupt government contacts to smuggle the fortune aboard a flight to Japan, camouflaged as camera equipment, and the bars pass through hands as if they were ordinary goods. The shallow promise of anonymity soon gives way to evidence, and the loot funds arms purchases that fuel further danger.

Eventually, law enforcement closes in. A breakthrough comes from within the gang’s own network, revealing the location of “The Brain” and the remaining conspirators. He, along with several others, is arrested and the arms are recovered. Facing a stack of charges, he attempts to strike a deal, offering a full, detailed account of the robbery in exchange for dropping the arms accusations. But before a courtroom confrontation can unfold, those still free among his accomplices abduct him from custody, and he escapes to South America, leaving his fate—and the larger questions about political violence—haunting the case.