MovieChat Forums > The First Great Train Robbery (1979) Discussion > The REAL Ending (according to the book)

The REAL Ending (according to the book)

posted 18 years ago by raishal
5 replies | jump to latest

After reading the book, I thought I'd share what really happened at the end...

The entire robbery was actually a success. Pierce leaves the train station with no real problems. After the heist, Pierce keeps (and then hides) the gold and instructs the "gang" that the money will be divided up in 2 years. A year and a half after the robbery, Agar's mistress gets busted for pick-pocketing and, in the process, tells the police that Agar was involved in the Great Train Robbery. At this time, Agar is in prison for counterfeiting fake money. The police question Agar until he finally caves in, telling them that Pierce was the mastermind and where he lives. Pierce and Burgess are then arrested. Pierce serves a few months in prison before the trial, where he confesses. After the trial, Pierce is put in a van to be taken back to prison. Barlow intercepts the van and he and Pierce knock out the guards, drop them off in a ditch, and steal the van. Pierce, Barlow, and Miriam are never seen or heard from again. Agar is exiled to Australia, Burgess dies in prison, and they money is never recovered (presumably split up between Pierce, Barlow, and Miriam).

[–] kec8 15 years ago

I watched the movie right after reading the book. The movie ending was terribly done. I'm not sure why they didn't follow the book, it was much better. What was Crighton thinking? They beat up the guards and escape right in front of the court house? Give me a break. I was a bit dissapointed in the movie. There were some really good quotes from the book that I could see Sean Connery saying. Pierce was in prison for a while before he confessed to the crime. In the court they asked him if he had seen Barlow recently and he something like this, 'Yes, He visited me at prison. We discussed how he was going to break me out'. 'Why didn't you teel us this earlier?', 'Because you never asked.' Piece was very confident about not going to Jail even when Agar gave him up, he already counted on this happening and planned the escape.

[–] TongueFu 15 years ago

Who's Crighton?

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] manipool 13 years ago

Crichton, the director.

[–] TeraBlight 13 years ago

The screwsman Robert Agar was sentenced to transportation to Australia for his part in The Great Train Robbery. Agar died a wealthy man in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, in 1902. His grandson Henry L. Agar was the Lord Mayor of Sydney from 1938 to 1941.

This is one of my favourite snippets from the book ending. The police use the prospect of "Transportation" as a psychological club to beat Agar into co-operating, then betray him by sending him off anyway - and it ultimately turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to him. That's at least a triple subversion of the "crime does not pay" theme which is central to the whole book. Lovely. :)