The Hot Rock (1972)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hot_Rock_(film)
After Dortmunder (Redford) is released from his latest stint in prison, he is approached by his brother-in-law, Andy Kelp (Segal), about another job. Dr. Amusa (Gunn) seeks a valuable gem in a Brooklyn museum that is of great significance to his people in his country in Africa, stolen during colonial times and then re-stolen by various African nations on multiple occasions since. Kelp and Dortmunder are joined by driver Stan Murch (Ron Leibman) and explosives expert Allan Greenberg (Paul Sand) and concoct an elaborate plan for stealing the gem from a museum in Brooklyn. Although the plan (and each subsequent plan) basically works, something always seems to go awry, and the quartet has to steal the diamond again and again.
First off, the diamond is eaten by Greenberg when he alone gets caught by the police during the initial heist. After Greenberg tells his partners where he hid the rock in the police precinct jail (after bodily disposing it), the quartet attempt another heist on the precinct. Although the plan works, the rock is nowhere to be found. It is later discovered that Greensberg's father Abe (Zero Mostel), a dishonest lawyer who bailed his son out of jail, was the only other person who knew where it was.
After a series of bluffs, Abe Greenberg reveals that he put the diamond in his safe deposit box and has made his own deal to sell the gem to Dr. Amusa, which will leave Dortmunder's quartet with nothing. Dr. Amusa fires Dortmunder for his incompetence. However, with the help of a hypnotist, Dortmunder is able to gain access to Abe's safe deposit box and retrieve the gem just after the bank opens in the morning. As Dortmunder exits the bank, Abe and Dr. Amusa arrive at the bank but do not see him in the crowd. Dortmunder climbs into a car where the others are waiting and a rousing cheer erupts as they drive off.
One lengthy scene depicts the gang flying by helicopter through Manhattan to break into a police station. During this footage, the helicopter flies close to the World Trade Center, then under construction. During some broadcasts of the film in 2005, television station TBS edited this sequence out of the film.
The key phrase of the hypnotism section is "Afghanistan banana stand." The hyponotist had given the guard of the safe deposit boxes a post-hypnotic suggestion that was triggered when Dortmunder repeated this phrase during his morning visit to the bank. The phrase still appears in popular culture, although mostly used as a nonsense phrase.
When originally released in the United Kingdom the film was called "How to Steal a Diamond in Four Uneasy Lessons".
