Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4705 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-04-18
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 118 minutes

Synopsis
Director William Wyler went to Paris to shoot this frothy caper comedy. Nicole Bonnet (Audrey Hepburn) lives with her father, Charles (Hugh Griffith). He keeps them in luxury by selling an occasional painting--maybe a Renoir, maybe a van Gogh. A well-known art connoisseur, he has an endless supply of paintings; he paints them himself--like his father before him, he is an expert forger. Persuaded to loan a Cellini sculpture--actually created by his father--for an exhibition, Charles is horrified when the museum decides to insure the sculpture and sends for an expert to authenticate it. Afraid the Bonnets will be exposed, Nicole decides to help. After thwarting an apparent robbery, she becomes attracted to the intruder, Simon Dermott (Peter O'Toole). She contacts Simon again, with a proposition: She wants him to help her steal the Cellini--before it is inspected. Never for a moment taking itself seriously, this amusing concoction rests in the capable hands of its handsome and witty stars. They both deliver: Audrey is fetching and Peter is dashing. The robbery--an amusing take on the elaborate jewellry heists seen in Jules Dassin's RIFIFI and TOPKAPI--is as intricate and amusing as it is unlikely.

Customer Reviews

sweet, stylish romantic comedy
I first saw this film on sky recently and loved it! The only other Audrey Hepburn Film i'd seen was of course, Breakfast At Tiffanys, and i'd never seen Peter o'Toole in action as a young man, only as the old man i know him as today. Im a sucker for romantic comedys and this was right up my street. The storyline being, Audrey Hepburn is a heiress who lives in Paris with her father who is a master art forger, as was his father before him, and one night, home alone she hears a burglar downstairs. She investigates and finds a rather dapper Peter o'Toole attempting to steal one of her father's Van Gogh. After injuring him with her fathers pistol, she finds herself talking to him and discovering he's very charming! So charming in fact she ends up driving him home! Soon After, her father sells a "priceless" statue to a museum and its only after its taken both Audrey and father find that the museum are going to do test on the piece, which of course be discoved as a fake and the rest of his "collection" will be under suspicion. Audrey decides the best thing for them to do is to try and steal it back from the highly guarded museum and theres a certain gentleman she know's who's just right for the job....
Audrey Hepburn is cute and quirky as the heiress and Peter o'Toole is very handsome and very funny, clearly enjoying himself. There were a quite a few moments that had me laughing out loud. If your a fan of romantic comedy's, this ones for you.

Clever, Charming and Cheerful
To begin with, the casting is good in this Hepburn film, in the sense that Charles Boyer, O'Toole, and Hepburn all play very well, all the other characters play adequately, but the film is fundamentally about O'Toole and Hepburn's relationship. Ms. Jackson's review summarises the plot well, so I shan't go into detail about that, but, having seen a few Hepburn films, I would certainly say that this is one of my favourites.

The film is charming all round, and there are some scenes which are very cleverly done and impressive. Well directed by Wyler, a favourite director of Hepburn's, and one senses the light atmosphere on set radiates through the camera lens onto the screen. The relationship between O'Toole and Hepburn takes a somewhat sudden turn to amourousness, and it all happens rather fast, but this is characteristic of older films, and is part of the quality which makes films like this so light and romantic. If four and a half stars were possible, I would certainly grant them.

Also, if you are confused by the fact that this film has been tagged on Amazon with 'lesbianism', 'teachers', and 'gay interest', this is most likely a mistake by reviewers, of this film with another Hepburn filmThe Children's Hour [DVD] [1961] which is about lesbianism and features two female teachers (Hepburn playing one of them)... 'How to Steal a Million' is however, simply a romantic comedy set in Paris, with no teachers, and no references to lesbianism... Don't worry, you are looking at the film correspondent with this review!

a deliciously deft anglo-french heist
William wyler understands astutely that art is ultimately deception so he ingratiates a delightful and elegant heist where the daughter of a Parisian counterfeit specialist hires a burglar to steal a fake Cellini sculpture that has unwittingly ended in a museum exhibition and will expose her father and family to be con artists .
The dutiful daughter is Audrey Hepburn and the sleuth is Peter O'toole himself who are both delightfully consummate and naively charming to make this a deftly divine caprice with ultimate style and a truly ingenious but simple deceitful twist which is mesmerizing .
The french comic Moustache is the show stealer and Wyler has concocted a most eligible caprice that will keep you chuckling for days.
The charm of watching O'toole and Audrey romance and fall in love in a broom closet in the midst of a burglary is not easy to forfeit and neither is it easy to forget the stylish triumphant caper movie involving the counterfeit cellini itself .
The anglo-french charm of the lead couple is equally matched by the brilliant director who brings a rare panache to the genre memorably .
William Wyler and everyone deserves a warm round of applause for a suave and sophisticated comedy thriller which is both imaginative and impeccably crafted