The thieves steal gold in the 1951 British crime comedy The Lavender Hill Mob. The gold arrives in London as bullion, and the criminals plan to melt it into miniature Eiffel Towers so it can be smuggled out of the country.
Alec Guinness plays Henry “Dutch” Holland, a timid bank employee who supervises the transport of gold bullion. He joins forces with Alfred Pendlebury, played by Stanley Holloway, to steal the shipment. Their scheme depends on converting the gold into souvenirs that appear harmless.
The title refers to Lavender Hill, the south London street where Holland lives. The film follows the consequences of the robbery, mixing criminal planning with escalating comic mishaps. Charles Crichton directed the picture, which became one of the classic Ealing comedies.
The stolen material is sometimes remembered as money because Holland works in a bank, but the plot specifically concerns gold bullion. The Eiffel Tower shape is another distinctive detail: the criminal partners use miniature towers to disguise the stolen gold during export.