AFI Catalog of Feature Films
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How to Steal a Million
Director: William Wyler (Dir)
Release Date:   1966
Premiere Information:   Los Angeles opening: 13 Jul 1966
Duration (in mins):   127
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Cast:   Audrey Hepburn (Nicole Bonnet)  
    Peter O'Toole (Simon Dermott)  
    Eli Wallach (David Leland)  
    Hugh Griffith (Charles Bonnet)  
    Charles Boyer (DeSolnay)  
    Fernand Gravey (Grammont)  
    Marcel Dalio (Señor Parvideo)  
    Jacques Marin (Chief guard)  
    Moustache (Guard)  
    Roger Treville (Auctioneer)  
    Eddie Malin (Insurance clerk)  
    Bert Bertram (Marcel)  

Summary: Charles Bonnet is an incorrigible third generation art forger in Paris who dupes connoisseurs into labeling his works authentic and then sells them at elevated prices. So great is his enthusiasm for his profession that he permits his grandfather's "Cellini Venus" to be exhibited at a Paris museum. His daughter, Nicole, knows that the hoax will be discovered when government officials appraise the statue, and to protect her father, she blackmails "society" burglar Simon Dermott into helping her steal the tiny statue from the museum. Actually, Simon is a detective who specializes in tracing stolen art objects, but, taken by Nicole's charms, he agrees to assist in the burglary. Using only a magnet, a boomerang, and their wits, Nicole and Simon remove the sculpture from its laser-protected pedestal. Simon then offers the Venus to Nicole's fiancé, American millionaire David Leland, who is so fanatic about art treasures that, in return for the statue, he agrees to give up Nicole. Futhermore, he promises Simon never to allow another person to see it. The affair settled, Simon whisks Nicole off for a honeymoon while Bonnet gleefully plans his next masterpiece. 

Production Company: World Wide Productions  
Production Text: A William Wyler Production
Distribution Company: Twentieth Century--Fox Film Corp.  
Director: William Wyler (Dir)
  Robert Swink (2nd unit dir)
  Paul Feyder (Asst dir)
Producer: Fred Kohlmar (Prod)
Writer: Harry Kurnitz (Scr)
Photography: Charles Lang (Dir of photog)
Art Direction: Alexander Trauner (Prod des)
Film Editor: Robert Swink (Film ed)
Costumes: Givenchy (Miss Hepburn's clothes)
Music: Johnny Williams (Mus)
  James Harbert (Orch)
Sound: Joseph de Bretagne (Sd)
  David Dockendorf (Sd)
Make Up: Alberto De Rossi (Makeup)
  Freddie Williamson (Makeup)
  Alexandre of Paris (Hairstyles)
Production Misc: William Kaplan (Unit prod mgr)
  Frawley Becker (Dial coach)
  François Moreuil (Prod asst)
  Robert Wyler (Prod asst)
  Grazia De Rossi (Hairdresser)
  Cinefx (Main title des)
  Phill Norman (Main title des)
Country: United States

Source Text: Based on the short story "Venus Rising" by George Bradshaw in Practise to Deceive (London, 1962).
Authors: George Bradshaw

Copyright Claimant Copyright Date Copyright Number
World Wide Productions 3/8/1966 dd/mm/yyyy LP32998

Physical Properties: col: De Luxe
  Sd: Westrex
  Widescreen/ratio: Panavision

 
Genre: Comedy
Sub-Genre: Crime
 
Subjects (Major): Americans in foreign countries
  Art--Collectors and collecting
  Artists
  Burglars
  Benvenuto Cellini
  Detectives
  Forgers and forgery
  Fraud
  French
  Millionaires
  Museums
  Paris (France)
  Impersonation and imposture
  Theft

Note: Filmed in Paris. The working title of this film is How To Steal a Million Dollars and Live Happily Ever After

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The American Film Institute is grateful to Sir Paul Getty KBE and the Sir Paul Getty KBE Estate for their dedication to the art of the moving image and their support for the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and without whose support AFI would not have been able to achieve this historical landmark in this epic scholarly endeavor.
 
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