The Anderson Tapes

Sidney Lumet's crime drama sees Sean Connery, helped by some notable eccentrics, set out to burgle a luxury apartment block, unaware that his every move is under surveillance from various law enforcement agencies. The implicit ironies - that the agents can't see the larger picture of a major robbery for all their attention to the smaller details - are never quite forged into the intended satire, but Lumet does manage to inject proceedings with a certain sarcastic humour. Martin Balsam is outstanding as a flauntingly gay antiques dealer, Christopher Walken makes one of his first major film appearances and and Margaret Hamilton (The Wizard of Oz's Wicked Witch) appears in one of her final roles.