Based on the real-life Brink’s Company bank robbery of 1950 in Boston, The Brink’s Job proved that Friedkin – who by this time had The Exorcist and The French Connection to his name – can also employ a light touch to his filmmaking. Starring stellar 1970s-character actors Peter Falk, Warren Oates, and Peter Boyle (among others), what The Brinks Job lacks in Friedkin’s patented brooding intensity it made up for as an entertaining crime caper that walks that tightrope between comedic farce and high-stakes crime story.
Amazingly the film itself was caught up in its own crime story, when thieves threatened to destroy 15 unedited reels of film if a ransom wasn’t paid. Unbeknownst to them, they only had deleted scenes and outtakes. During a ransom call, Friedkin (who is lukewarm on The Brink’s Job) told the thieves to shove their threats, proof that the man is a maverick off the film set as well.
