It stars Jean-Paul Belmondo and Bourvil as a pair of French petty crooks, David Niven as a British Army officer who is secretly a criminal mastermind and Eli Wallach as a Sicilian mafioso.

Arthur, due for release from prison in four days' time, escapes to join his accomplice Anatole in robbing a night train carrying millions in cash from Paris to Brussels.

The money belongs to NATO and in charge of its transit is Colonel Matthews, nicknamed 'The Brain' and the unknown mastermind behind the Great Train Robbery.

As the Statue of Liberty is hoisted aboard the passenger liner SS France, Arthur climbs into it and finds the money, which falls in a shower of banknotes over the crowds on the quay.

The film ends on the ship as it enters New York Harbor, where Matthews lets Arthur and Anatole into the secret of his next operation, which is to hijack a consignment of bullion bound for Fort Knox.