How to Steal a Million

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

Charles Bonnet (Griffith), is a wealthy art collector.  Many of the pieces in his collection have not been seen for years, including the Cellini Venus sculpture.  Bonnet agrees to loan the Cellini Venus to a museum in Paris.  However, Bonnet's Venus and his art collection are fakes; the Venus was sculpted by Bonnet's father.

Bonnet agrees to allow the museum to borrow the Venus, much to the chagrin of his daughter Nicole (Hepburn).  Nicole's fears are realized when the museum decides to test the sculpture.  To save her family reputation, she hires a "society burglar," Simon Dermott (O'Toole), to steal the sculpture before the tests.  Nicole met Simon when he broke into her home and she accidentally shot him.  Can they pull off the impossible and steal the priceless sculpture without getting caught?



A delightful romp of a heist film.  The story is funny and intriguing, with everything building to the heist.  Audrey Hepburn glides gracefully into the role of Nicole, delivering a solid performance.  Peter O'Toole channels Cary Grant's suave leading man persona as Simon.  They have decent chemistry and both work well.  The stars are flanked by Hugh Griffith and Eli Wallach.  Griffith looks like he's having a great time as Bonnet and gets the best lines.  Wallach has a smaller role as a wealthy art dealer... he is entertaining and a good actor, but not noteworthy in this case.

A must-see for Hepburn fans.

How to Steal a Million (1966) 123 minutes
Director: William Wyler
Starring: Audrey Hepburn as Nicole Bonnet
Peter O'Toole as Simon Dermott
Eli Wallach as Davis Leland
Hugh Griffith as Charles Bonnet