the split start a career criminal mac mcclain ( jim brown ) arrive back in los angeles and there he hook up with his ex wife ellie ( diahann carroll ) and his associate gladys ( julie harris ) . mac say he need a big job and gladys tell him about a plan she have to steal half a million dollar in taking from the 80 and 000 plus seater colleseum football stadium during the match between the los angeles ram and the green bay packer and the match have no advance ticket sale so every seat have to be pay for in cash on the day at the gate . mac like the idea and set out recruit a gang to pull it off and the muscle be supply by bert clinger ( ernest borgnine ) and the wheel man be harry kifka ( jack klugman ) and the weapon man and shooter be dave negli ( donald sutherland ) and the professional hi tech thief and lock picker and safe cracker be marty gough ( warren oates ) . everything be prepared and the day of the heist arrive . direct by gordon flemyng this late 60 crime heist action thriller be unfairly rather obscure but be worth the effort to track a copy down and although you can compare the split to the italian job ( 1969 ) since they be both 60 heist film the split be make and release a year before . the script by robert sabaroff be base on the novel the seventh by donald e. westlake can be divide into three chunk and the first third of the film revolve around the recruiting of the team with some fun set piece to make sure each member be up to the task and the second third of the film be my favourite when they carry out the heist and there that feeling that you root for them and you want to get away with it and all the close call they have and watch the plan unfold be pretty fun and then the final third of the film be perhaps the weak a several random event come together and tear the thief apart and it become a rather dull runaround after the money which go miss through no fault of their own but do obviously cause problem a they do not know who to trust . that about it really . i would have be happy if the split have end after the gang have steal the money and get away with it but there this tack on end a lot of which feels very random and like how do ellie landlord know she have the money . why leave the money in such an exposed place . then there the end when everyone get shot and it just all seem rather pointless . the plot wouldn not work now of course and what with the amount of cctv and security and the fact a lot of people pay by credit card and i do not understand why the gang do not try to cover their face . they rob the place without any mask or glove so if the hostage do not identify them their finger print surely would . for such a well plan robbery that quite a big oversight and isn not it . director flemyng do a good job and he keep the film move along and it always feel like something be happen . the character be also very good with each member of the gang have a distinct personality and get at least a few minute screen time to develop it although mcclain be hard to like a the lead character since he only seem interested in serve himself . the split be apparently the first film to be give an r rating by the mpaa thanks to some fun fight and a few shoot out and a bit of mild bad language ( although the n word be use here in a casual fashion and something unthinkable these day especially when the imdb flag it a a prohibited word a i have just find out . ) and a bit of blood . there also a neat car chase here as well . it somewhat surprising that the split be such an obscure film with it crowd please heist plot and the top drawer cast but it be and last night i saw a full widescreen 2 represent35 represent1 panavision print of this and while the colour be a bit wash out and a bit pastel it look very nice . technically the film be very good and it have good production value and good stunt work and nice cinematography . the one aspect of the split i do not like be the music and it horrible and date the film more than anything else in it . damn and just look at that cast . there aren not many film that boast a cast as good a the split . jim brown and ernest borgnine and julie harris and warren oates and the peerless jack klugman and donald sutherland and gene hackman . the acting be top notch from one of the best cast of character actor your ever likely to see in the same film . the split be a good heist film that start out like the italian job but go in a significantly dark direction although not to the film overall benefit in my opinion . i like it a a one time watch and the cast be great but i be not sure i would want to see it again anytime soon .