How to Steal a Million
| How to Steal a Million | |
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| Directed by | William Wyler |
| Produced by | William Wyler Fred Kohlmar |
| Screenplay by | Harry Kurnitz |
| Based on |
Venus Rising 1962 story in Practise to Deceive by George Bradshaw |
| Starring |
Audrey Hepburn Peter O'Toole Eli Wallach Hugh Griffith Charles Boyer |
| Music by | John Williams |
| Cinematography | Charles Lang |
| Edited by | Robert Swink |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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Release date
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Running time
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123 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $6,480,000 |
| Box office | $4.4 million (rentals) |
How to Steal a Million is a 1966 heist comedy film, directed by William Wyler and starring Audrey Hepburn, Peter O'Toole, Eli Wallach and Hugh Griffith. The picture is set and was filmed in France, though the characters speak entirely in English. Audrey Hepburn's clothes were designed by Givenchy.
Charles Bonnet (Hugh Griffith) is a highly skilled art forger who pretends to be an art collector. His daughter Nicole (Audrey Hepburn) disapproves of his forgeries and is afraid that he may get caught. At the beginning of the film, he lends a renowned statue of Venus, ostensibly by Cellini, to the Kléber-Lafayette Museum in Paris as the centerpiece of an important exhibition. However, the statue was forged by Nicole's grandfather and would fail even a basic analysis as to its materials and age.
That night, while Charles is at the exhibition's opening event, Nicole hears a noise. She finds Simon Dermott (Peter O'Toole) holding a Van Gogh that her father made recently. Accusing him of burglary, she aims an antique gun at him and accidentally shoots him in the arm. To avoid an investigation around the fake masterpieces, she does not call the police, but instead cleans Simon's flesh wound and drives him to his hotel. He suddenly kisses her goodbye outside.
Soon after, Nicole has a dinner date with wealthy American tycoon, Davis Leland (Eli Wallach). She is suspicious of Davis, believing he knows her father is an art forger. He confesses to Nicole he is obsessed with owning the Cellini Venus, and arranged the dinner in order to convince her to sell it to him. Relieved that he doesn't suspect anything, she kisses him and tells him that the statue is not for sale.
The next day, an employee from the museum arrives at Charles's home and asks for Charles's signature on the million-dollar insurance policy for the sculpture. After Charles signs it, the man reveals that Charles just agreed that the Venus will undergo a technical examination the following Friday. Desperate to save her father from being caught and sent to prison, Nicole meets with Simon, believing him to be a burglar, and asks him to steal the Venus for her. They both examine the museum's security measures, with Simon initially indicating he does not believe it is possible to steal the Venus.
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Wikipedia