The 1971 film "The Anderson Tapes" is a crime heist film. Duke Anderson, a burglar, is released from prison after ten years, and after reconnecting with his girlfriend, starts planning his next caper, the robbery of all of the units of a small apartment building. Most of the apartment tenants and the people Duke has to deal with are being electronically monitored by government or private agencies, either being recorded or filmed. One of the apartments houses a boy who has a "valuable coin collection" but it isn't shown. At another apartment the robbers find gold "double eagle" $20 US coins and a young crew member asks an older member what they are.

Duke Anderson leaves prison with two friends "The Kid", imprisoned for a drug offense and "Pop" who has been in prison for 40 years. Duke first visits his long-time girlfriend Ingrid, the mistress of a wealthy man named Werner. Werner has private detectives in the basement recording conversations in the apartment and listens to recordings of Ingrid and Duke together.

Duke mentions that everyone living in the apartment must be rich and would have lots of items worth stealing. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents discuss their surveillance of mobster Pat Angelo.

The surveillance includes "bugging" Angelo's house and car. Duke visits a "Black Panthers" building to meet with his crew, two of whom are black men.

The building is being watched and filmed by FBI agents (or a similar agency). Duke meets with his crew of six men, most of whom he has met in prison. He then goes to meet mobster Pat Angelo.

Duke had asked Pat Angelo for assistance. Angelo agrees but only if Angelo can place an employee, "Socks" Parelli, with the robbery crew. It is the Labor Day weekend and time for the assault to begin.

The robbery crew arrives at the apartment in a Mayflower moving truck.

They first visit the office of a Doctor Rubicoff and steal some drugs. They then take the doctor to the apartment of two elderly women.

Miss Kaler, and Mrs. Hathaway have lived together for a long time. The robbers take some papers and the two women, more excited than scared, discuss the value of the papers which include old stock certificates. Duke visits the apartment of the Binghams who have a son named Jerry.

Mrs. Bingham tells Duke that Jerry can't walk and has to stay in his room. Duke has heard that Jerry has a valuable coin collection and asks Jerry to open the safe. Jerry also becomes excited and tells Duke to open it himself. Duke tells the Kid to open it.

The Kid knocks off the safe dial and gives it to Jerry.

Jerry looks at the safe dial and says "Terrific!." Duke and the Kid leave and Jerry goes to a cabinet and turns on an amateur "ham" radio and starts contacting radio friends in various parts of the country asking them to call the police. Haskins, Socks, and Duke visit the apartment of Mr. Longene and Mrs. Longene and order them to open their safe. Duke smashes a violin and a vase to threaten Mr. Longene but then has the Kid open the safe. Haskins finds a cloth bag in the safe.

Haskins pulls two coins out of the bag and says to the Kid "Oh my God! Double eagles!."

The Kid asks "What's a double eagle?"

Haskins replies "You, Oh really.." Apparently the Kid is too young to know that a double eagle is a US gold $20 coin, minted from 1849 to 1933, and worth at least $50 in 1971. The police surround the building and a police squad enters the building from the roof. A gunfight ensues between the robbers and the police and Duke is shot during the battle.

The government and private surveillance companies decide not to be caught doing illegal wiretapping and filming and order their employees to erase and destroy their tapes and films.

Sean Connery as Duke Anderson
Dyan Cannon as Ingrid
Martin Balsam as Haskins
Ralph Meeker as Delaney
Alan King as Pat Angelo
Dick Anthony Williams as Spencer
Val Avery as "Socks" Parelli
Garrett Morris as Officer Everson
Stan Gottlieb as Pop
Christopher Walken as The Kid
Conrad Bain as Dr. Rubicoff
Margaret Hamilton as Miss Kaler
Judith Lowry as Mrs. Hathaway
Janet Ward as Mrs. Bingham
Anthony Holland as Psychologist
Scott Jacoby as Jerry Bingham
Meg Miles as Mrs. Longene
Richard Shull as Werner
Norman Rose as Longene
Max Showalter as Bingham
Paul Benjamin as Jimmy
Director: Sidney Lumet
Writers: Frank Pierson
Based on the 1970 novel The Anderson Tapes by Lawrence Sanders