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Calculated Risk (1963) movie poster

Timeline

Calculated Risk (1963) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Release, runtime and language
1963 · 72 mins · English
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Directed by
Norman Harrison
Starring
David Brierly, Warren Mitchell, Peter Welch, Harry Landis, Terence Cooper, William Lucas

After spending a long time in prison, Kip is still willing to pull off one more big job

Drama Crime Cast, crew & box office
On this page (6)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 Events in order (12)
  3. 3 Timeline questions answered
  4. 4 Movie threads
  5. 5 Movies like Calculated Risk
  6. 6 Every angle
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12 events in order · contains spoilers

Calculated Risk Timeline: Events in Chronological Order

Every key event of Calculated Risk (1963) in order, scene by scene, with when and where it takes place. Use it to untangle flashbacks, time jumps and parallel storylines, to refresh your memory before the sequel or to find the exact scene you are thinking of.

  1. Kip's release from prison

    Kip is released from Wormwood Scrubs on a snowy morning. He goes to visit the grave of his wife, who died while he was in prison. Back home he begins to plan a bank robbery, inspired by an idea a dying co-prisoner had whispered to him.

    When
    snowy morning
    Where
    Wormwood Scrubs Prison

  2. Return home and plan the heist

    After the visit, Kip returns home and starts to organize a bank job. He bases the plan on the co-prisoner’s suggestion, aiming to exploit a basement access and an old air-raid shelter. This sets the course for a carefully planned robbery.

    When
    that day
    Where
    Kip's home

  3. Steve assumes leadership

    Kip's weak heart forces him to delegate. Steve, Kip's young brother-in-law with planning skills, takes command of the operation. He has planned crimes before, but never participated; now he must lead the heist.

    When
    that day
    Where
    Kip's home

  4. Basement entry through trap door

    The crooks access the basement of the empty building next to the bank via a trap door. They break through the wall separating the properties and descend into the subterranean space. They discover a large unexploded WWII bomb in the bombed area.

    When
    that afternoon
    Where
    Basement of the empty building beside the bank

  5. Bomb discovery changes plans

    Inside the basement, they are shocked to find a large unexploded bomb from the Second World War. The presence of the bomb imposes new risk on their operation. They proceed with caution, aware that any mishap could bring disaster.

    When
    that night
    Where
    Basement near the bank

  6. Rat scare and vault breach planning

    To frighten a squeaking rat, Steve throws a brick toward the wall, startling the group. The brick hits the bomb's casing, escalating the danger. They plant explosives in the rear wall of the bank vault.

    When
    during the breach setup
    Where
    Basement near the bank

  7. Ticking bomb goes unspoken

    Just after breaking through, Steve hears the bomb ticking but says nothing to the others. The timer adds a deadly tension to the operation. The crew presses on with the plan, hoping to complete the break-in.

    When
    immediately after breach
    Where
    Basement

  8. Kip returns home to check progress

    Kip, impatient and alone at home, arrives to see how the job is progressing. He finds no one in control and grows anxious as the ticking continues. The team, hearing his approach, abandons their attempt and prepares to flee.

    When
    later that day
    Where
    Kip's home

  9. Lintel collapses on Steve

    As the team attempts to flee, a concrete lintel collapses onto Steve, injuring him and derailing their escape. The injury slows their withdrawal and heightens the peril around them. A forewarning from a gang member prompts someone nearby to call for help.

    When
    moments after Kip's return
    Where
    Basement

  10. Police alerted by a warning

    One gang member forewarns his girlfriend living in a nearby house. She promptly calls the police, spreading alarm about the attempted robbery. The warning accelerates law enforcement's response to the scene.

    When
    minutes after the lintel incident
    Where
    Neighborhood near the bank

  11. Kip's fatal heart attack during loot retrieval

    Desperate to end his life of poverty, Kip stays behind to retrieve the sacks of money. His attempt to lift the beam from Steve triggers a fatal heart attack. Kip dies amid the collapsing scene, the robbery collapsing with him.

    When
    that night
    Where
    Basement

  12. Steve reaches the trap door and the bomb explodes

    Injured but still conscious, Steve crawls toward the trap door. He stumbles on loose bricks and falls back, exhausted. The bomb explodes just as he falls, ending the caper in catastrophe.

    When
    shortly after Kip's death
    Where
    Basement

Last updated: March 05, 2026 at 18:41

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Timeline questions answered

Calculated Risk Timeline Explained: Your Questions Answered

When does it happen, and why in that order? The questions people ask about the chronology of Calculated Risk (1963): time jumps, flashbacks, cause and effect between scenes and the correct order of events, each answered with spoilers.

Q1

Why does Kip decide to pull off a bank robbery right after being released?

Kip wants to change his fortunes after spending years in prison. His wife died while he was locked up, leaving him with nothing. A dying co-prisoner whispered the idea of accessing the bank through a bombed house basement and old air-raid tunnel, giving Kip the specific plan he needed to attempt one last big score.

  • kip walton
  • bank robbery
  • prison
  • motivation
  • heist plan
Q2

Why does Steve keep the bomb ticking sound secret from the others?

Steve hears the bomb's ticking after they breach the vault but chooses not to tell the gang. He likely believes they could finish quickly and escape before the bomb detonated, or he didn't want to panic the team and abandon the job. Keeping quiet proves fatal when the bomb explodes before they can get out.

  • steve bannerman
  • unexploded bomb
  • ticking
  • silence
  • danger
Q3

Why does one gang member warn his girlfriend and cause the police to be called?

During the chaos when the bomb starts ticking and the lintel collapses, one gang member panics and runs to warn his girlfriend in a nearby house. She immediately calls the police, turning a private robbery into a public emergency. This decision accelerates the downfall of the entire operation.

  • gang member
  • girlfriend warning
  • police
  • betrayal
  • arrest
Q4

What causes Kip to have a fatal heart attack during the heist?

Kip suffers a fatal heart attack when he stays behind to grab the sacks of money and tries to lift the concrete beam trapping Steve. His weak heart, which had already caused him to collapse earlier, cannot handle the physical strain. He dies desperate to escape poverty but unable to complete the simple act of saving himself.

Foreshadowing: Kip's weak heart had earlier forced him to delegate leadership to Steve, establishing his physical vulnerability.

  • kip walton
  • heart attack
  • death
  • money
  • trapped
Q5

Why can't Steve escape the basement before the bomb explodes?

Steve is injured when a concrete lintel collapses onto him during the escape attempt. Despite being hurt, he crawls toward the trap door, but he stumbles on loose bricks and falls back, exhausted. The bomb detonates just as he falls, trapping him in the basement.

  • steve bannerman
  • injury
  • trap door
  • escape
  • bomb explosion
Q6

What happens when Steve throws a brick at the rat near the bomb?

A squeaking rat startles the gang while they're working. Steve throws a brick toward the wall to scare the rat away, but the brick hits the bomb's casing. This moment escalates the tension significantly, as the group realizes any sudden vibration could detonate the unexploded WWII device they discovered in the basement.

  • rat
  • brick
  • bomb
  • vibration
  • danger
  • ww2 bomb
Q7

How did an unexploded WWII bomb end up in the basement they were tunneling through?

The basement connects to an old air-raid shelter from the Second World War. The house above was bombed during the war, and the large unexploded bomb remained buried in the scarred earth. The gang's route through the bombed house and interconnecting shelter unknowingly led them directly to this deadly remnant of wartime London.

  • ww2 bomb
  • unexploded bomb
  • air-raid shelter
  • bombed house
  • basement
Q8

Why does Steve, who has never pulled off a heist, become the leader of the robbery?

Steve is Kip's young brother-in-law and has a talent for planning criminal operations. Even though he has masterminded crimes on paper before, he has never actually participated in pulling one off. When Kip's weak heart causes him to collapse, Steve must step up and translate his theoretical plans into dangerous real-world action.

Foreshadowing: Kip's collapse early in the planning forces Steve into leadership, showing his inexperience with actual fieldwork.

  • steve bannerman
  • leader
  • planning
  • first heist
  • brother-in-law

Movie threads

More Movies Like Calculated Risk, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes Calculated Risk tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Methodical Heist Movies Like Calculated Risk

Stories of meticulously planned capers that unravel due to chance and human fallibility. If you liked the tense, procedural build-up and fatalistic collapse in Calculated Risk, explore these other movies featuring meticulously planned capers that go terribly wrong. Find similar crime dramas focused on suspense over spectacle.

  • suspenseful
  • meticulous
  • fatalistic
  • anxious
  • desperate
  • claustrophobic
  • Tone: tense, fatalistic
  • Pacing: steady, methodical
Why these movies?

The story pattern: Narratives in this thread follow a linear, procedural build-up to a central heist. The tension escalates steadily as a seemingly foolproof plan encounters unforeseen obstacles, often rooted in human error or simple bad luck, leading to a catastrophic and often bleak conclusion.

Why they belong together: These films are grouped by their shared focus on suspenseful, methodical pacing, a tense and fatalistic tone, and the narrative pattern of a 'perfect' plan collapsing. They prioritize psychological dread over explosive action.

Crime 101 movie poster

Crime 101

2026
King of Thieves movie poster

King of Thieves

2019
Seven Thieves movie poster

Seven Thieves

1960
The Big Caper movie poster

The Big Caper

1957
The Score movie poster

The Score

2001
Calculated Risk movie poster

Calculated Risk

1963
How to Steal 2 Million movie poster

How to Steal 2 Million

2011
Mystery Street movie poster

Mystery Street

1950

Fatalistic Noir Thrillers Similar to Calculated Risk

Grim crime stories where characters are trapped by circumstance and impending doom. For fans of the grim inevitability and tense mood in Calculated Risk, this list features movies with a similar fatalistic noir vibe. Discover stories of desperate characters ensnared by fate, marked by a steady pace and medium emotional weight.

  • fatalistic
  • desperate
  • suspenseful
  • claustrophobic
  • anxious
  • bleak
  • Tone: tense, bleak, fatalistic
  • Pacing: steady, deliberate
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative pattern involves a protagonist, typically already compromised, embarking on a path that seems to be their only way out, only to find themselves ensnared by a predetermined tragic outcome. The journey is characterized by rising dread and a lack of true agency.

Why they belong together: This grouping is based on a shared bleak and tense tone, a focus on themes of fate and desperation, and a narrative arc that leads to an inevitable, often sad, conclusion. The experience is one of psychological suspense and claustrophobic dread.

The Blue Lamp movie poster

The Blue Lamp

1950
Algiers movie poster

Algiers

1938
The Fat Man movie poster

The Fat Man

1951
Colorado Territory movie poster

Colorado Territory

1949
Calculated Risk movie poster

Calculated Risk

1963
A Night for Crime movie poster

A Night for Crime

1943
The Mirror Crack'd movie poster

The Mirror Crack'd

1980
I Love a Mystery movie poster

I Love a Mystery

1945

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Every angle

Calculated Risk (1963) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

Everything about Calculated Risk in one place: what happens in the plot summary, the timeline in chronological order, the characters and meaning and a spoiler-free summary. What's After the Movie adds the cast, box office and post-credit scenes.

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