The mastermind behind the Great British Train Robbery finally speaks out after over 50 years of silence. And this documentary is his chance to set a few things straight. Including identifying the elusive Post Office inside man who walked away and disappeared with an absolute fortune.
The biggest robbery ever carried out in Britain has been extensively documented by the media and the story of the 15 unarmed men swarming onto the Glasgow to London mail train stealing 120 bags full of cash is widely known. However, this is the very first time that 84-year-old Douglas Gordon Goody recounts his version of the events.
Aptly referred to as the Swingin’ Sixties, what we need to take into consideration is that this robbery took place during a historic period when social boundaries were pushed, taboos challenged and citizens began to rebel to the social norms on clothing, music, drugs and sexuality. In the 60s, new, radical trends flourished, subversive events in the name of change took place and the dark corners of the conservative establishment were exposed.
In 1963, when the Great British Train Robbery took place, Martin Luther King was writing his I Have A Dream Speech and the Profumo affair was shedding light on the corruption permeating British politics, which eventually led to the resignation of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. People were far more inclined to support civil disobedience and that’s probably how the Great British Train Robbery thieves became somewhat unlikely heroes of a society that was finding its own awakening with anti war and civil war movements. And perhaps this is why a documentary with an explosive revelation can still generate interest today, over fifty years on.
Directed by Chris Long, A Tale Of Two Thieves is a subjective first person account of Gordon Goody, one of just two surviving members of the Great British Train Robbery gang. Gordon is now a softly spoken, quiet man living a simple life in Spain and this gripping documentary features the tall, self confessed “thief, never a gangster” in a straight to camera interview. Curiously, the documentary intercuts with a young actor impersonating Gordon but not adding much to the tale, as his testimony is much more riveting. Thanks to Gordon’s help, and a great deal of hard work, the team behind the documentary manages to identify the mystery man.
Just over an hour long, A Tale Of Two Thieves is out now on DVD and it is an unmissable piece of the puzzle on the Great British Train Robbery.
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