Classic Caper Films

The Hot Rock (1972)

The Hot Rock is a 1972 comic caper film written by William Goldman and directed by Peter Yates, starring Robert Redford, George Segal and Moses Gunn. The film was based upon Donald E. Westlake’s novel of the same name.
Dr. Amusa approaches Dortmunder about a valuable gem in a museum that is of great signifigance to his people in Africa, stolen during colonial times. Dortmunder assembles a crack team of cat burglars and hatches an elaborate plan for stealing the gem. Despite their care and experience, circumstances and plain bad luck keep the gem just out of their reach.

Quick Change (1990)

Quick Change is a 1990 comedy film starring Bill Murray, who also co-directed with the film’s screenwriter Howard Franklin. With Genna Davis and Randy Quaid.

When a man dressed as a clown enters a bank and tries to rob it, no one takes him seriously at start. But as this New Yorker pulls this daring robbery with the help of his friends, it looks like leaving the bank with all the stolen money is the easy part! All they have to do now is make it out of the city and to the airport. They have plenty of time, but its not that easy as they seem to get out of one problem only to fall into another. Will they make before the cops catch up with them?

Heartbreakers (2001)

Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ray Liotta, Jason Lee, Zach Galifianakis and Gene Hackman. Heartbreakers is a 2001 caper-romantic comedy film directed by David Mirkin.

Max and Page are a mother and daughter con team. Max seduces wealthy men into marrying her, then Page seduces them into infidelity so Max can rake them over the divorce court coals. And then it’s on to the next victim.

Sneakers (1992)

Sneakers is a 1992 caper film directed by Phil Alden Robinson and starring Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd, Ben Kingsley, Mary McDonnell, River Phoenix, Sidney Poitier and David Strathairn.

Topkapi (1964)

A small-time con-man with passport problems gets mixed up with a gang of world-class jewelry thieves plotting to rob the Topkapi museum in Istanbul. Turkish intelligence, suspecting arms smuggling, gets involved, and under pressure the con-man rises to heights he’d never dreamed of.

Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Catch Me if you Can is a 2002 American comedy caper film based on the life of Frank Abagnale Jr, who, before his 19th birthday, successfully performed cons worth millions of dollars by posing as a Pan American World Airways pilot, a Georgia doctor, and a Louisiana parish prosecutor. His primary crime was check fraud; he became so skillful that the FBI eventually turned to him for help in catching other check forgers. The film is directed by  Steven Spielberg and stars Leonardo DiCaprico as Abagnale, Tom Hanks as Hanratty, along with Christoper Walken, Amy Adams, Martin Sheen and Nathalie Bave.  

The LadyKillers (2004)

The Ladykillers is a 2004 dark comedy caper film directed, written and produced by the Coen brothers and stars Tom Hanks.  It is based on the 1955 British Ealing comedy of the same name. 

An eccentric, if not charming Southern professor and his crew pose as a band in order to rob a casino, all under the nose of his unsuspecting landlord: a sharp old woman.

The Ladykillers (1955)

The Ladykillers is a 1955 British black comedy caper film. Directed by Alexander MacKendrick, it stars Alec Guiness, Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom, Peter Sellers, Danny Greeen, Jack Warner and Katie Johnson. 

Five diverse oddball criminal types planning a bank robbery rent rooms on a cul-de-sac from an octogenarian widow under the pretext that they are classical musicians.

The Sting  (1973)

The Sting is a 1973 American caper film set in September 1936 that involves a complicated plot by two professional grifters (Paul Newman and Robert Redford)  to con a mob boss (Robert Shaw). The film was directed by George Roy Hill.  

When a mutual friend is killed by a mob boss, two con men, one experienced and one young try to get even by pulling off the big con on the mob boss. The story unfolds with several twists and last minute alterations.

The Pink Panther (1964)

A notorious gem thief (David Niven) charms his way to snatch the world’s most spectacular diamond. Lukewarm on the trail, the deliciously bumbling Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers) in his first screen case. Writer-director Blake Edwards envelops sophistication around the cartoonish silliness in a still sparkly entertainment, my darling. With Robert Wagner and Capucine as Mrs. Clouseau.