Funny, suspenseful, charming and clever, 1966's HOW TO STEAL A MILLION is the definition of a classic comedy.
Audrey Hepburn is stunning as Nicole, daughter of wealthy Paris socialite Bonnet, played to the hilt by the quirky, hilarious Hugh Griffith (Ben Hur, Oliver!).
Bonnet also happens to be an expert forger. When one of his knockoff sculptures is chosen to be displayed in a Paris museum, madness ensues.
Peter O'Toole (Lawrence of Arabia, The Stunt Man) shows his comic talents as Simon Dermott, who Nicole meets in the middle of the night when he breaks into their house with an eye for a Monet.
Eli Wallach (The Good, The Bad and The Ugly) is a wealthy American with eyes for the statue and for Nicole.
Director William Wyler (Funny Girl, Ben Hur) has a blast dropping all of these characters into a theft caper with real style, wrapping it all in wealth, hidden identities and the excellent chemistry between Hepburn and O'Toole.
Hepburn is terrific, and funny, and beautiful.
French Actor/Comedian Moustache (Chocolat) damn near steals the movie as a Museum guard with a taste for wine on his breaks and Jacque Marin (Charade, Marathon Man) does steal every scene he's in as the lead guard.
No one is quite who they seem and the entire theft sequence in the museum is a lot of fun. No one's ever huddled in a janitor's closet with quite the wit and style of Hepburn & O'Toole.
Listen for a fun, all-over-the-map musical score from John Williams, so early in his career that he was still "Johnny" Williams!
At over 50 years old, HOW TO STEAL A MILLION is still a lot of fun. And while some of those mid-60's outfits don't hold up, Hepburn and O'Toole do.....perfectly.
It effortlessly steals an A.
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