The Great Bank Robbery is a 1969 Western comedy film

Comedy film

Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...

 from Warner Brothers directed by Hy Averback

Hy Averback

Hyman J. Averback, known as Hy Averback , was a radio, television, and film actor who eventually became a producer and director.-Radio:...

 and written by William Peter Blatty

William Peter Blatty

William Peter Blatty is an American writer and filmmaker. The novel The Exorcist, written in 1971, is his magnum opus; he also penned the subsequent screenplay version of the film, for which he won an Academy Award....

, based on the novel by Frank O'Rourke

Frank O'Rourke

Frank O'Rourke was an American writer known for western and mystery novels and sports fiction. O'Rourke ultimately wrote more than 60 novels and numerous magazine articles....

. The movie had a soundtrack with songs by Jimmy Van Heusen.

Plot

A motley group of phony church leaders attempts to rob a bank controlled by brothers in 1880's Texas.

Principal cast

Actor	Role
Zero Mostel Zero Mostel Samuel Joel “Zero” Mostel was an American actor of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of comic characters such as Tevye on stage in Fiddler on the Roof, Pseudolus on stage and on screen in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Max Bialystock in the original film version...	Rev. Pious Blue
Kim Novak Kim Novak Kim Novak is an American film and television actress. She began her career with her roles in Pushover and Phffft! but achieved greater prominence in the 1955 film Picnic...	Sister Lyda Kebanov
Clint Walker Clint Walker Norman Eugene Walker, known as Clint Walker , is an American actor best known for his cowboy role as "Cheyenne Bodie" in the TV Western series, Cheyenne.-Life and career:...	Ranger Ben Quick
Sam Jaffe Sam Jaffe (actor) Sam Jaffe was an American actor, teacher, musician and engineer. In 1951, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Asphalt Jungle and appeared in other classic films such as Ben-Hur and The Day the Earth Stood Still...	Brother Lilac Bailey
Mako Mako (actor) , born , was an Oscar- and Tony-nominated Japanese actor. Many of his acting roles credited him simply as Mako, omitting his surname. -Early life:...	Secret Agent Fong
Ruth Warrick Ruth Warrick Ruth Elizabeth Warrick , DM, was an American singer, actress and political activist, best known for her role as Phoebe Tyler on All My Children, which she played regularly from 1970 until her death in 2005....	Mrs. Applebee

Critical reception

Vincent Canby

Vincent Canby

Vincent Canby was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.-Life and career:...

 of The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

had nothing but disdain for the film: