The Silent Partner (1978)

Set in Toronto, a nondescript bank teller (Elliott Gould) discovers his bank will soon be robbed. He begins siphoning the bank's money into his lunchbox so that when the robber (Christopher Plummer) eventually robs the bank, he won't get the money he knows has been deposited but instead get a meager amount. What the teller hadn't counted on is that the robber is a sadistic sociopath with homicidal tendencies and a cat and mouse came begins. Based on the novel THINK OF A NUMBER by Anders Bodelsen and adapted for the screen by Curtis Hanson (L.A. CONFIDENTIAL) and directed by Daryl Duke (THE THORN BIRDS). This is a terrific thriller! Hanson's screenplay is smart and precise without any fillers. It's pure suspense. The acting is first rate. Gould has never been more likable and Plummer's bat shit crazy villain sends shivers down your spine. This is not a man you want to cross. I could have done without one scene of gratuitous violence but other than that, the film is a gem of suspense. There's a nice underscore by Oscar Peterson. With Susannah York, John Candy and Celine Lomez as a femme fatale who seduces Gould.