How to Steal a Million (1966)

A woman who must steal a statue from a Paris museum to help conceal her father's art forgeries is assisted by a man.

Director:

William Wyler

Writers:

George Bradshaw (based on a story by), Harry Kurnitz (screenplay)

Stars:

Audrey Hepburn, Peter O'Toole, Eli Wallach

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Audrey Hepburn	...	Nicole Bonnet
Peter O'Toole	...	Simon Dermott
Eli Wallach	...	Davis Leland
Hugh Griffith	...	Charles 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

Storyline

In Paris, wealthy Charles Bonnet is well known in the art world as a collector of rare pieces, mostly of the impressionist masters. He will on occasion sell paintings from his collection at auction. In reality, he is an art forger, he only reproducing those pieces known to have gone missing. His daughter, Nicole Bonnet, wants him to stop this business fearing that some day soon he will get caught. She is most concerned about he loaning out his Cellini Venus statue to the Kléber-Lafayette Museum, as she knows that technology can now test for things such as material age which would prove that the statue and by association he is a fraud. He ends up causing a problem for himself when he signs a $1 million insurance policy for the statue for the museum, which unwittingly allows them to test the piece for its authenticity. To save her father from jail, Nicole feels the only thing she can do is try to steal the statue from the gallery which may not be the easiest thing to do especially as ...

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Plot Keywords:

museum | burglar | police | insurance | forgery | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

19 August 1966 (UK)

Also Known As:

William Wyler's How to Steal a Million

Filming Locations:

Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

World Wide Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Color by Deluxe)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The insurance clerk tells Mr. Bonnet that his statue would be insured once he has his signature on the documents. Later, however, the museum director tells the Bonnets the statue was not insured because it had not undergone a technical examination.

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Goofs

The Venus statue and its silver stand sit on a green marble plinth throughout the film. After the statue is stolen and the guard points at the replacement bottle, the zoomed-in shot has the bottle on a white marble plinth.

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Quotes

Simon Dermott: There's the bathroom, take off your clothes.
Nicole Bonnet: Are we planning the same sort of crime?

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Connections

Featured in Madness: My Girl 2 (2012)

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Soundtracks

La Marseillaise
(1792) (uncredited)
Written by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle
In the score when the statue is transported to the museum

User Reviews

Bright, Sophisticated, Funny!

This Movie was one of the best Audrey made - not an easy statement to make since she made so many great ones. "How to steal a million" is not as well known as her early works (Roman Holiday for example) or as well regarded as Breakfast at Tiffany's (Considered her Signature role), but it is far and away her best comedic work.The casting for the movie was very good. from the principals down to the supporting cast. Notice especially the casting of Hugh Griffith as Charles Bonnet in the role of Audrey's (Nicole's) errant but very endearing Papa, The interplay of those two Characters together with her scenes with Peter O'Toole as Simon Dermott (Society Burglar / Private Investigator / Love Interest) secured, to my mind at any rate, the movie's success. In addition, notice also the performances of Jacques Marin and Moustache as the museum security guards. Both of these turned in terrific work in supporting roles as did Charles Boyer in his (all too brief) appearance as the art Dealer DeSolnay. The sole weak point was I believe the casting of Eli Walach for the character of Davis Leland. Though his performance was adequate, he was not the best choice for this character (a role that was originally intended for George C. Scott). In Summary: The casting was wonderful, The characters were believable, Principals were excellent together and the dialog was bright,sophisticated and (did I mention?) FUNNY! Conclusion: This is one my favorite movies. I have watched it repeatedly over the years and it never fails to makes me laugh. So, If you like to laugh and especially if you're a fan of either Audrey or Peter then this movie is a "must-have". I rate it 10 out of 10.