First Friday Film @ MRRL: The Duke

In 1961, Kempton Bunton, a 60-year-old taxi driver stole Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London. It was the first (and remains the only) theft in the Gallery’s history. Kempton sent ransom notes saying that he would return the painting on condition that the government agreed to provide television for free to the elderly. What happened next became the stuff of legend.

Only 50 years later did the full story emerge–a startling revelation of how a good man set out to change the world and in doing so saved his son and his marriage. British acting legends Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren star in this inspiring film.