charlie croker (michael caine) is out of jail and on the make with an ingenious plan for the heist of the century. aided and abetted by top criminal mastermind mr bridger (noël coward), charlie sets off with an ace team of villains and three very special minis to lift $4,000,000 from under the noses of the turin polizei. the trouble is that the cops and the mafia are on his tail.