How to Steal a Million (1966)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

William Wyler

Writers:

George Bradshaw (story)
Harry Kurnitz (screenplay)

Release Date:

19 August 1966 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Romance

Tagline:

S-S-S-H-H-H-H-H - Meet a couple of smart operators who give a lesson in love and larceny

Plot:

Romantic comedy about a woman who must steal a statue from a Paris museum to help conceal her father's art forgeries, and the man who helps her.

Plot Keywords:

Statue | Paris | Burglar | Forgery | Insurance

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Audrey Hepburn	...	Nicole
Peter O'Toole	...	Simon Dermott
Eli Wallach	...	Davis Leland
Hugh Griffith	...	Bonnet
Charles Boyer	...	DeSolnay
Fernand Gravey	...	Grammont
Marcel Dalio	...	Senor Paravideo
Jacques Marin	...	Chief Guard
Moustache	...	Guard
Roger Tréville	...	Auctioneer (as Roger Treville)
Edward Malin	...	Insurance Clerk (as Eddie Malin)
Bert Bertram	...	Marcel

Also Known As:

How to Steal a Million Dollars and Live Happily Ever After
William Wyler's How to Steal a Million (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Hong Kong:I | USA:Approved (certificate #21174) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Australia:G | Finland:S | Singapore:PG | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

World Wide Productions

Trivia:

William Wyler first considered making this film as a follow up to Roman Holiday (1953); as in that film, Gregory Peck would have played the male lead opposite Audrey Hepburn. At that time he had a darker mood in mind and approached Stanley Kubrick, who had recently made The Killing (1956), to contribute.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the Cellini Venus is on display at the museum, its pedestal is on two tiers from the main floor, and roped off. In the scene where the guards discover it's missing, there are no tiers and the pedestal is flat to the floor. In later scenes, the tiers and ropes re-appear.

Quotes:

Simon Dermott: [regarding the Venus] It's a fake, isn't it?
Nicole Bonnet: I...
Simon Dermott: No long drawn out stories at this time of night. Just simply nod your head yes or no.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Star Wars: Music by John Williams (1980) (TV)

Soundtrack:

La Marseillaise

slight story of art stealers

This movie could have been more fun that it is, but I still liked it - Audrey Hepburn, swathed in the height of chic as usual, tries to save her art forger father (the incomparable Hugh Griffith) from exposure as a fake, by stealing a statue of Venus carved by her grandfather for an art exhibition. To help her in this she enlists the help of a society burglar (the young and impossibly blue-eyed Peter O'Toole) and in the course of all this, they fall in love.

It's predictable but enjoyable to watch (and it helps that the two stars are extremely easy on the eye), but with few surprises and some slow moments, it isn't up to William Wyler's better efforts. Really just a one-dimensional story of the 1960s beautiful people, like so many other movies of its time.