# Funny Caper/Heist movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 15, 2015, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356 "2015-09-15T13:51:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/41 "2015-09-15T21:36:12Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Sneakers. Yes! Forgot that’s a comedy. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/42 "2015-09-15T21:45:51Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > [Going in Style](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079219/combined). You know, that movie was marketed as a laugh riot, but it’s not. It’s a real downer. The old men’s lives are so bleak that pulling off a robbery seems like the only alternative to dying in lonely squalor. And at the very end… well, it’s such an old movie that I shouldn’t bother with spoiler boxes, but here goes: [spoiler] Lee Strasberg and Art Carney are dead, while George Burns is in the state penitentiary. Which he figures isn’t really any worse than his life on the outside was. [/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/43 "2015-09-15T23:47:41Z")
Kelly’s Heroes ---
**Author:** ![Ferd\_Burfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@Ferd\_Burfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferd_Burfel)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/44 "2015-09-16T00:02:42Z")
Kelly’s Heroes and Thomas Crowne Affair have already been mentioned along with The Hot Rock. I’ll contribute [How To Beat The High Cost Of Living](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080895/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1). A piece of cinema fluff from the Whip Inflation Now era with Susan St James, Jane Curtin and Jessica Lange as suburban housewives plotting to rob a ball full of money in a mall. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/45 "2015-09-16T00:09:04Z")
[_Slither_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069282/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2) (1973), with James Caan, Peter Boyle and Sally Kellerman. Overlooked but highly recommended. [_Rat Race_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0250687/?ref_=nv_sr_1) (2001), a semi-remake of _Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World_, directed by Jerry Zucker of the _Airplane!_ Zuckers. ---
**Author:** ![neofishboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/neofishboy/32/444_2.png) [@neofishboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neofishboy)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/46 "2015-09-16T00:20:31Z")
A lot of classic movies have been suggested … quite a few of which I’m confident you’ve seen before. But seriously, if you haven’t seen _Quick Change_ that needs to be at the top of your list, as it sounds exactly like what you’re looking for in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/47 "2015-09-16T00:29:10Z")
[_The Blue Iguana_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094768/). Little-known but amusing. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/48 "2015-09-16T00:38:03Z")
> [@bunyupp](#): > > [After The Fox](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060200/) with Peter Sellers. I recently had the title song–by the Hollies with Peter Sellers–as an earworm for days. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/49 "2015-09-16T14:02:35Z")
> [@neofishboy](#): > > A lot of classic movies have been suggested … quite a few of which I’m confident you’ve seen before. Actually, I haven’t seen the vast majority of the films posted. In fact, it’d be quicker and easier to list the ones I have. So I really appreciate all the recommendations. I’ll be getting a ton of these from Netflix/Amzon Streaming/etc and will probably report back. So far “Hot Rock” is my first one and I’ve got a list of about 15-20 more from there. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/50 "2015-09-16T15:56:55Z")
The final Marx Brothers movie, one made for television and in which Harpo has a line, was a heist film. But for the life of me, I can’t remember its name and IMDB let me down. It’s only moderately funny, but still, it was the Marx Brothers (or at least three of them). ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/51 "2015-09-16T16:19:00Z")
I’m going to 2nd or 3rd _The Hot Rock_. I will also mention this is one of a book series by Donald Westlake, all featuring John Dortmunder, the brilliant yet unlucky crime planner. They are all very funny crime caper movies. Another of his made into a funny flick is The Bank Shot, where George C Scott steals a bank. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/52 "2015-09-16T16:20:22Z")
How about _ **The Great Muppet Caper** _? It has “Caper” right in the title! ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/53 "2015-09-16T16:37:39Z")
Kind of a reverse-caper movie - Alec Guiness is _The Man in the White Suit_. He invents a “perfect” cloth which cannot be stained and cannot be torn, resulting in the unions and the manufactuers cooperating in killing the product. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/54 "2015-09-16T16:43:03Z")
Ooh, how could I forget _Skin Game_?. James Garner sells Lou Gosset into slavery, over and over again. He sells him, helps him escape, and resells him in the next town. Etcetera. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/55 "2015-09-16T16:48:22Z")
Another Garner movie - Support Your Local Sheriff. Garner is a con man who somehow gets to be sheriff. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/56 "2015-09-16T16:59:18Z")
And if you can conceive of gruesome violent horror scenes as comical, then consider Quentin Tarantino’s _From Dusk Til Dawn_. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/57 "2015-09-16T18:08:41Z")
Does _The Ref_ count? It’s more about a home invasion after a caper’s gone awry, but it’s definitely a comedy. ---
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/58 "2015-09-16T18:35:47Z")
> [@TV\_time](#): > > The final Marx Brothers movie, one made for television and in which Harpo has a line, was a heist film. But for the life of me, I can’t remember its name and IMDB let me down. It’s only moderately funny, but still, it was the Marx Brothers (or at least three of them). I remember seeing this in the late 50s or early 60s. The movie was written by Harpo Marx, but I do not remember him speaking. In fact, the whole movie progressed with NO dialogue at all, until the very end, when, IIRC, Groucho said, “I want a lawyer!” ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/59 "2015-09-16T18:53:08Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > You know, that movie was marketed as a laugh riot, but it’s not. It’s a real downer. Oh, come on. The robbery was hilarious! :shoots clock: ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/60 "2015-09-16T19:00:52Z")
A played-for-laughs con game of a different sort: [Waking Ned Devine](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0166396/combined). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356.md?page=4)