The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)

A debonair, adventuresome bank executive believes he has pulled off the perfect multi-million dollar heist, only to match wits with a sexy insurance investigator who will do anything to get her man.

Director:

Norman Jewison

Writer:

Alan Trustman

Stars:

Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, Paul Burke

Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steve McQueen	...	Thomas Crown
Faye Dunaway	...	Vicki Anderson
Paul Burke	...	Eddy Malone
Jack Weston	...	Erwin
Biff McGuire	...	Sandy
Addison Powell	...	Abe
Astrid Heeren	...	Gwen
Gordon Pinsent	...	Jamie
Yaphet Kotto	...	Carl
Sidney Armus	...	Arnie
Richard Bull	...	Booth Guard
Peg Shirley	...	Honey
Patrick Horgan	...	Danny
Carol Corbett	...	Miss Sullivan
Tom Rosqui	...	Pvt. Detective

Storyline

Four men pull off a daring daytime robbery at a bank, dump the money in a trash can and go their separate ways. Thomas Crown, a successful, wealthy businessman pulls up in his Rolls and collects it. Vickie Anderson, an independent insurance investigator is called in to recover the huge haul. She begins to examine the people who knew enough about the bank to have pulled the robbery and discovers Crown. She begins a tight watch on his every move and begins seeing him socially. How does the planner of the perfect crime react to pressure?

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Plot Keywords:

bank | insurance investigator | heist | police | bank heist | 

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Taglines:

He was young, handsome, a millionaire - and he'd just pulled off the perfect crime! She was young, beautiful, a super sleuth - sent to investigate it!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 June 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Crown Caper

Filming Locations:

85 Mt. Vernon Street, Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,300,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mirisch Corporation, The, Simkoe, Solar Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the movie, the Ferrari driven by Faye Dunaway and being referred to as "one of those red Italian things" is actually the first of only ten Ferrari 275 GTS Spyder NART, serial number 09437. This particular car came second in its class in the 1968 12 hour of Sebring before being repainted and used for the movie. Steve McQueen liked the car so much, he wanted one for himself. He eventually ended up with serial number 10453. That car is today with collector Anthony Wang in NY, USA.

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Goofs

During the robbery several revolvers have silencers. A Silencer will not work on a revolver.

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Quotes

Thomas Crown: What a funny, dirty little mind!
Vicki Anderson: It's a funny, dirty little job! So shoot me in the leg!

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Connections

Referenced in The Flamingo Rising (2001)

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Soundtracks

"The Windmills Of Your Mind"
Sung by Noel Harrison
Lyrics by Alan Bergman & Marilyn Bergman
Music by Michel Legrand

User Reviews

Strains credulity...but entertaining nonetheless

This seems to be one of those flics that garners both fervent adherents and choruses of raspberries. It certainly has its faults, but I thought it was still quite a good movie (7/10) overall.

The plot unfortunately is pretty far removed from reality. No amount of money could persuade five men to lay their lives on the line for someone they couldn't even pick out of a lineup. Nor can we really begin to believe that Vicki can so quickly put her finger on Thomas Crown as the man behind it all.

There would have been better choices for the Thomas Crown role...most obviously Cary Grant, except I think he had just retired. But McQueen acquits (ahem) himself well.

The chess sequence alone is worth the price of admission (hard to believe anyone could miss the erotic tension in that scene...though it is tame enough today), the issues of trust and betrayal are explored in an interesting way, and the ending is clever.