The Happy Thieves (1961)

Director:

George Marshall

Writers:

Richard Condon (novel) and
John Gay

Release Date:

January 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Crime

Tagline:

Rita and Rex Steal The Picture!

Plot Keywords:

Original Artwork Replaced With Expert Duplicate | Caper Comedy | Caper | Art Theft | Independent Film

Cast

Rita Hayworth	...	Eve Lewis
Rex Harrison	...	Jimmy Bourne
Joseph Wiseman	...	Jean Marie Calbert
Alida Valli	...	Duchess Blanca
Grégoire Aslan	...	Dr. Victor Muñoz
Virgilio Teixeira	...	Cayetano the Bullfighter
Peter Illing	...	Mr. Pickett the Art Expert
Britt Ekland	...	Mrs. Pickett (as Britta Ekman)
George Rigaud	...	Spanish Police Inspector
Gérard Tichy	...	Antonio, Prado Museum Guard
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Barta Barri	...	Chern, Lawyer / Fence (uncredited)
Toni Fuentes	...	Prado Museum Guard (uncredited)
Yasmin Khan	...	Girl (uncredited)
Julio Peña	...	Señor Elek, Hotel Bourne Desk Clerk (uncredited)
Karl-Heinz Schwerdtfeger	...	Police Official (uncredited)
Lou Weber	...	Prado Museum Guard (uncredited)

Directed by
George Marshall

Writing credits
Richard Condon		(novel "The Oldest Confession")
John Gay

Produced by
Rita Hayworth	....	producer
James Hill	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Mario Nascimbene

Cinematography by
Paul Beeson

Film Editing by
Oswald Hafenrichter

Art Direction by
Ramiro Gómez

Costume Design by
Pierre Balmain
Pedro Rodríguez

Makeup Department
John O'Gorman	....	makeup artist
Joan St. Oegger	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Manolo Perez	....	unit manager
Edward Woehler	....	production manager

Sound Department
Sash Fisher	....	sound

Other crew
Angela Allen	....	continuity
John Livesley	....	coordinator
Jean-Étienne Siry	....	poster designer (french version) (as Siry)

Production Companies

• Hillworth Productions A.G.

Distributors

• United Artists (1962) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1965) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm print)
• United Artists (1962) (West Germany) (theatrical)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:16 (nf)

Filming Locations:

Madrid, Spain

Company:

Hillworth Productions A.G.

Trivia:

The painting, known as the "Rokeby Venus" is by Velazquez and is his only known nude. It moved to England in 1813 to hang in Rokeby Park, Yorkshire. The painting was purchased by National Art Collections Fund in 1906 for the National Gallery, London. The suffragette Mary Richardson attacked and badly damaged the painting in 1914 but it was restored and returned to display.

Quotes:

Jimmy Bourne:[as Eve grabs a drink from a tray and tosses it back] But Eve, that's a *martini*.
Eve Lewis:It *was* a martini.

Considering the cast, it's an amazingly lifeless picture

With Rex Harrison and Rita Hayworth, you might tend to think you'll see a pretty good film but unfortunately the film only barely manages to earn a 5 and most of this is due to these actors. Try as they might, the film is just an amazingly listless film. Plus throughout the film I kept expecting a payoff to make my time investment worth while. Sadly, when the film was over, my first thought was "is that all there is to it?!". No magic, no chemistry...just a rather bland caper about stolen masterpieces. If you are looking for a good crime film or some of the excitement of GILDA, keep looking. This film features second-rate writing and barely enough energy to keep your interest. It isn't that the film is bad, but it certainly wasn't good either.