At the heart of every movie heist is a thing or things that a gang wants to steal and someone else wants to keep. Not infrequently that thing is a diamond. If the audience is lucky, the gem is portrayed with detail and authenticity that imbue it with emotion. In other words, we can see what all the fuss is about. Too often, however, the writers skip that bit, and the diamond might just as well be money, drugs, or an unusually valuable pair of socks.
Our novel Stealing Time (Linden Tree Press) centers on a fictional yellow diamond, the Desert Sun. As part of our world-building, we sprinkled in numerous details about diamonds, including their age (sometimes billions of years!), physical structure, cultural significance (protections and curses in equal measure), how they refract light (ask Newton), and more. We also made sure to provide emotional heft to the Desert Sun by basing its theft on an actual crime, the 1964 robbery led by Jack “Murph the Surf” Murphy and his gang. (Full disclosure: the Desert Sun also operates as a time-travel portal, sending our 15-year-old main character from 2020 to team up with her then-15-year-old father in 1980, which is where the realism takes a bit of a dive.)
As we wrote Stealing Time, we read heist novels and watched heist movies, predominately those focused on diamonds. Here are our top examples, graded on both robbery and rock.
10:
Operation Amsterdam (1959)
It’s May 12, 1940, the eve of the Dutch surrender to the Nazis, and diamond expert Jan Smit (Peter Finch) must transport nearly $700 million in industrial diamonds necessary for Britain’s war effort.
Based on a true story, Operation Amsterdam isn’t a traditional heist. Still, it includes unexpected obstacles, possible double-crossing, and derring-do, all key elements of the genre. Perhaps because industrial diamonds are misshapen and ugly, we don’t see much of them.
Arguably, Operation Amsterdam launched a movie cliché. When Anna (Eva Bartok), its sole prominent woman, notices they’re being followed, she says, “We’ve got company.”
Heist: The film has tension and a few windmills (because Holland), but it’s slow.
Diamond: Despite a few seconds of accurate diamond handling, they primarily serve as MacGuffin.
9:
11 Harrowhouse (1974)
In order to pay off a blackmailer, diamond broker Howard Chesser (Charles Grodin) and his girlfriend Maren Shirell (Candice Bergen) decide to rob a major diamond exchange firm in London.
This little-known film flopped at the box office, but it’s great fun. The heist itself is clever, and unlike most of the other movies on this list, the objective is not one storied gem but a literal truckload. The diamonds themselves are discussed knowledgeably: we hear about cuts, carats, grain, and other convincing details. Alas, the visuals don’t match up, and the jewels look like plastic.
Heist: inventive and satisfying. Plus, the female characters have great agency, and the stunt driving is outstanding.
Diamond: Split grade. Authentic details: . Visuals: .
8.
Ocean’s Eight (2018)
Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) leads an all-female crew to steal the fictional $150 million Cartier Toussaint necklace during the Met Gala.
Unfortunately, the stones in the necklace lack the brilliance and sparkle of actual diamonds, which becomes obvious during a scene in Cartier showcasing real gems. However, the heist is clever, and the movie has style, wit, and glamour.
Heist: fashionable and engaging.
7.
The Great Muppet Caper (1981)
Miss Piggy is framed for the theft of the fabulous Baseball Diamond, the world’s largest diamond that’s not a round cut but actually spheroid (yes, like a baseball).
The jewel becomes the centerpiece of a chucklesome adventure filled with disguises, slapstick antics, and some surprisingly elaborate heist sequences. It’s a lighter, more family-friendly take on the diamond heist trope, although young children may be upset by the injustice of the frame-up.
Heist: joyful and ridiculous; justice triumphs.
Diamond: Doesn’t look real, but who cares?
6.
Hot Rock (1972)
Robert Redford and three accomplices are hired to steal the Sahara Stone, a large diamond, from the Brooklyn Museum to return it to an unnamed African nation.
Shown twice in the movie, the Sahara Stone is considered sacred, a concept possibly lifted from the earlier Pink Panther movies; but because it is bite-size, it pales in comparison.
Heist: complicated and fun.
- To Catch a Thief (1955)
This sophisticated movie features lovely scenery, elegant clothes, and Hitchcock’s go-to trope of the innocent man accused of a crime, plus multiple cat-and-mouse games between the police and retired cat burglar John Robie (Cary Grant), and between Robie and the real cat burglar.
Unfortunately, the necklace worn by Grace Kelly to trap the thief was a costume piece rented for $75 for the production, and looks it.
Heist: A classic worth seeing.
Diamond: Flawed.
4.
A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
This is a wildly funny and inventive movie involving multiple double-crosses and £13 million worth of diamonds, including a pair of ovals.
Great performances by John Cleese as an uptight lawyer, Kevin Kline as eccentric Otto, and Jamie Lee Curtis as a con artist named Wanda. (Another gang member, played by Michael Palin, names an angelfish after Curtis’ character.) But the diamonds are MacGuffins. We learn nothing about them except their price tag.
Heist: Made Tilia laugh till she snorted.
3.
Snatch (2000)
An eighty-four-carat round diamond is the prize every London gangster, hustler, and opportunist with a nickname (Franky Four Fingers, Boris the Blade) is after.
The movie gets a lot right about diamonds, including security protocols in diamond offices. Furthermore, several characters examine it under a loupe, though no one weighs it to confirm its carat weight. The jewel slips through the hands of competing gangs due to a series of betrayals and comic mishaps that may leave you unsure whom to root for.
Heist: Funny, violent and fast-paced.
Diamond: Would have scored higher if they ever weighed it.
2.
Lupin (2021)
Gentleman thief Assane Diop (Omar Sy) develops complicated cons, dons clever disguises, and experiences unexpected reversals as he steals the $15 million Le Collier de la Reine, or the Queen’s Necklace, said to have belonged to Marie Antoinette.
The heist is clever, suspenseful, and twisty; the fabulous necklace looks real and is essential to the plot.
Heist: Entertaining.
1.
The Pink Panther (1963)
David Niven plays a cat burglar who sets out to steal the titular gem, an enormous, pink, pear-shaped diamond with a flaw resembling a panther.
Niven was the intended star of the franchise until Peter Seller’s performance as Inspector Clouseau stole it in a heist all its own. The diamond appears in six of the eleven Pink Panther movies, and you can believe it’s worth stealing.
Heist: Complicated and lively.
Diamond: Detailed and specific.
So there you have it—our multifaceted list with a few gems.
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