How to Steal a Million
| How to Steal a Million | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | William Wyler |
| Written by | George Bradshaw (story) Harry Kurnitz |
| Produced by | William Wyler Fred Kohlmar |
| Starring | Audrey Hepburn Peter O'Toole Eli Wallach Hugh Griffith Charles Boyer |
| Cinematography | Charles Lang |
| Edited by | Robert Swink |
| Music by | John Williams |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date | July 13, 1966 |
Running time | 123 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $6,000,000 (estimated) |
How to Steal a Million is a 1966 heist comedy film, directed by William Wyler and starring Peter O'Toole, Audrey Hepburn, and Hugh Griffith. It is set and filmed in France, though the characters speak entirely in English. Audrey Hepburn's clothes were designed by Givenchy.
Synopsis
O'Toole appears as Simon Dermott, caught by Audrey Hepburn sneaking through her house clutching a forged painting. Hepburn plays Nicole Bonnet, the daughter of genius art fraud Charles Bonnet (Griffith). The central theme of the movie is the recovery from a Parisian museum of a fake Cellini committed by Bonnet's grandfather, before it is discovered and exposed as such, and is enlivened by the romantic angle between the characters played by O'Toole and Hepburn.
Cast
- Audrey Hepburn - Nicole Bonnet
- Peter O'Toole - Simon Dermott
- Hugh Griffith - Charles Bonnet
- Eli Wallach - Davis Leland
- Charles Boyer - DeSolnay
- Fernand Gravey - Grammont
- Marcel Dalio - Paravideo
- Jacques Marin - Head of Security
- Roger Tréville - Auctioneer
- Edward Malin - Insurance Clerk (as Eddie Malin)
Plot
Charles Bonnet is a professional art forger, and has just loaned a forged Cellini sculpture to a museum. One night, his daughter Nicole finds Dermott carrying one of the many paintings in their house (which happens to be forged). He says he is a high society burglar, and she accidentally shoots him in the arm with a pistol so old it does almost no harm. Knowing that if she reports him there will be an investigation and the family's secret destroyed, she offers to drive the man home.
Later, she and her father learn that his sculpture is going to have a mandatory authenticity test, which leaves them both devastated. In order to save her father, Nicole enlists Dermott's help to steal the sculpture. He accepts after some hesitation. They spend the evening in a storage closet in the museum, during which Dermott discloses that he knew about the Cellini forgery and explains his motivation for concealing his knowledge, conveying with a kiss; he and Nicole express their love for each other. Dermott twice uses a boomerang to set off the high-tech "electric eye" alarm, thus confusing the guards into thinking it is defective. After the second time, the guards deactivate the alarm. The two take the sculpture (replacing it with a brandy bottle for the guards to notice) and walk out amidst all the confusion about the disappearance.
With the family saved, Dermott reveals he is actually a private detective who specializes in art fraud and will not take her father in, provided he forsakes his art forgery. Nicole and the "thief" follow through with their love and get married.
Popular culture
A verbal exchange between Nicole and her father during the film ("Papa!" "Nicole") was borrowed and adapted in a successful series of commercials for the Renault Clio. The robbery scenes in the film were later copied for the Hindi film Loafer.[1]
References
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2010) |
- ^ "Review of Loafer". Shankar's Weekly. 25 (2). 1972.
