The Big Heist
| Company type | Television movie |
|---|---|
| Industry | Entertainment, Television |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Headquarters | United States, Canada |
| Products | Crime drama television movie |
The Big Heist is a crime drama television movie from 2001, directed by Robert Markowitz and penned by writers Jere Cunningham and Gary Hoffman. The storyline is adapted from the 1986 factual book The Heist authored by Ernest Volkman and John Cummings, portraying the infamous 1978 Lufthansa heist. This joint production between the United States and Canada features performances by Donald Sutherland, John Heard, Jamie Harris, and Janet Kidder. It was first broadcast on A&E on June 10, 2001.
Plot
The narrative is based on The Heist: How a Gang Stole $8,000,000 at Kennedy Airport and Lived to Regret It, depicting the sequence of events surrounding the 1978 Lufthansa heist.
Cast
- Donald Sutherland portrays Jimmy Burke
- John Heard appears as Detective Richard Woods
- Jamie Harris plays Frankie Burke
- Janet Kidder takes the role of Maria
- Nick Sandow acts as Henry Hill
- Michael P. Moran embodies Louis "The Whale", a character inspired by Louis Cafora
- Joe Pingue plays Martin Krugman
- Bo Rucker features as Parnell "Stacks" Edwards
- Rocco Sisto depicts Tommy DeSimone
- Robert Morelli acts as Angelo Sepe
- Joe Maruzzo portrays Paolo Falcone, a character based on Paolo LiCastri
- Gino Marrocco plays Paulie Vario
- Sam Coppola appears as Paul Castellano
- Steven Randazzo acts as John Gotti
- Craig Eldridge is cast as FBI Agent Billings
Related works
The Lufthansa heist also served as inspiration for the 1990 film Goodfellas, directed by Martin Scorsese, along with the 1991 television movie The 10 Million Dollar Getaway. The filming locations included Toronto.
Historical accuracy
While the film accurately represents the Lufthansa robbery and depicts Jimmy Burke leading a crew associated with Paulie Vario, it misattributes their affiliation; in reality, they were connected to the Lucchese crime family, not the Gambino crime family as shown. The stolen funds played a crucial role in financing operations for Tony Corallo.
The portrayal of Burke as an Irish immigrant speaking with a pronounced Irish accent is inaccurate; he was actually born and raised in the United States.
Although Burke maintained connections with John Gotti, Gotti was not involved in the Lufthansa heist and reportedly kept his distance from it. An alleged FBI wiretap from the 1980s quotes Gotti criticizing the heist as reckless. Furthermore, Hill’s book The Lufthansa Heist alleges that Gotti personally murdered Tommy DeSimone, a participant in the robbery crew.