Holland alec guinness is a shy retiring man who works as a bank transfer agent for the delivery of gold bullion one day he befriends pendlebury stanley holloway a maker of souvenirs holland remarks that with pendleburys smelting equipment one could forge the gold into harmless looking toy eiffel towers and smuggle the gold into france soon after they gain the services of professional criminals lackery sid james and shorty alfie bass and the four plot their crime unaware of the