Penelope (1966)

Comedy about a flighty, bored, kleptomaniac wife of a banker who robs her husband's bank of sixty thousand dollars.

Director:

Arthur Hiller

Writers:

George Wells (screenplay), Howard Fast (novel) (as E.V. Cunningham)

Stars:

Natalie Wood, Ian Bannen, Dick Shawn

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Natalie Wood	...	Penelope
Ian Bannen	...	James B. Elcott
Dick Shawn	...	Dr. Gregory Mannix
Peter Falk	...	Lt. Bixbee
Jonathan Winters	...	Professor Klobb
Lila Kedrova	...	Sadaba
Lou Jacobi	...	Ducky
Norma Crane	...	Mildred
Arthur Malet	...	Major Higgins
Jerome Cowan	...	Bank Manager
Arlene Golonka	...	Honeysuckle Rose
Amzie Strickland	...	Miss Serena
Bill Gunn	...	Sgt. Rothschild
Carl Ballantine	...	Boom Boom
Iggie Wolfington	...	Store Owner

Storyline

When James met Penelope at a club, it took all of three weeks before they were married. But after the marriage, other women became attracted to James and he kept getting promoted, which took him away from Penelope. So Penelope puts on a disguise and robs her husband's bank. Her psychiatrist, Greg, believes that this condition is caused by James being over worked and under romantic with Penelope. She also tells Greg that she robs the business associates of James. But Greg is in love with Penelope - in fact everyone likes her. The problem is when she confesses to her crimes, no one believes her.

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Plot Keywords:

kleptomaniac | breaking eggs | psychiatrist | white bra and panties | white panties | 

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Taglines:

She's Public Entertainment No. 1

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

In one scene, about an hour in, Natalie Wood (Penelope) and Peter Falk (Lt. Bixbee) are talking when she asks if she could have some of his bubble gum where he hands her a pack of baseball cards to which, on opening it and looking for the stick of bubble gum, sees a baseball card and says, "Who is Ron Swoboda?" ... A few minutes later, as they depart, she says, "May I keep Ron Swoboda?", walking away with the pack of baseball cards.

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Goofs

When Penelope and her husband are riding in the back of the police van near the end of the movie, the view out the back door windows of the van is visible behind them. The process shot being used was filmed from a vehicle moving forward, which would mean that the police van was driving down the street backwards.

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Quotes

Sgt. Rothschild: [They've just reviewed the bank's security camera footage of the robbery] Well, that's it. Suspect: young, white female, 5 foot 3, red hair, yellow suit. Did I forget anything?
Lt. Bixbee: Yeah, when viewed from behind, she has a very attractive wiggle.

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits are animated. Black hands without a body steal the diamonds contained in the first letter in the first name of the actors and crew members.

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Connections

Featured in Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind (2020)

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Soundtracks

Penelope
Words by Leslie Bricusse
Music by John Williams (as Johnny Williams)

User Reviews

Natalie Wood was Beautiful

Enjoyed this slap-stick film which dealt with all kinds of crazy things that Natalie Wood,(Penelope Elcott) "Sex & The Single Girl",'64, managed to get involved with, in order to get the attention of her husband, a Bank Executive. There are lots of laughs in this film and Natalie Woods had just gotten a divorce from Robert Wagner when she made this film and still managed to give a great charming and sexy role, where she runs around in her bra and panties. Peter Falk,(Lt. Horatio Bixbee),"Columbo TV Series" plays a police officer and seems to be captivated by the wiggle of Penelope's body and takes exceptions to putting her in jail when she really commits a bad crime against her poor husband. It is rather sad to view this film and see a beautiful Natalie Wood and realize she had to die in such a horrible way in life.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 November 1966 (USA)

Also Known As:

Penelope

Filming Locations:

Museum of Modern Art, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Euterpe

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1