How to Steal a Million (1966)

The daughter of an art forger teams up with a burglar to steal one of her father's forgeries and protect his secret.

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:

forger | museum | burglar | police | insurance | 

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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:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Peter O'Toole first sets off the museum alarm, he says "Ring out wild bells". This is the title of a poem by Tennyson published in 1850 which was part of his work entitled, In Memoriam. It was an elegy to his sisters fiancé, Arthur Henry Hallam who died at the age of 22.

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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

Charles Bonnet: American millionaires must be all quite mad. Perhaps it's something they put in the ink when they print the money.

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Connections

Referenced in Uncle Daddy: How to Steal an Idea (2013)

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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

AUDREY THE GREATEST!

Somehow Audrey Hepburn made fluffy romantic caper movies look

like high art. Take this adorable trifle directed by William Wyler

with Audrey looking glorious in her trademark Givenchy clothing.

Audrey could have phone in a performance, but she's totally

enchanting as always, making us overlook the seams in the script.

She's beautifully supported by Peter O'Toole, who never looked

handsomer or more Cary Grant-ish in his life as Simon, the art

expert who gets talked into stealing Audrey's father's statue of the

Cellini Venus back from the museum when it is learned the statue

has to be authenticated for insurance purposes.

Hugh Griffith, as Audrey's father, is a delightful rogue of an art

forger and Charles Boyer and Eli Wallach just add to the fun. The

actual theft of the statue is quite ingenious, if a little too drawn out.

Still, here's two hours of pure enchantment. That Ferrari still looks

good nearly forty years later, and if Audrey was walking down Fifth

Avenue, dressed in Givenchy's stunning creations today, she'd

cause a riot. Check out that lace cocktail dress with the matching

lace mask at the bar of the Ritz in Paris! It doesn't get any chicer

than this.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

19 August 1966 (UK)

Also Known As:

Comment voler un million de dollars

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