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 .. Read more
| Starring | Peter O'Toole, Audrey Hepburn, Charles Boyer, Eli Wallach |
|---|---|
| Director | William Wyler |
| Genres | Comedy |
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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 jewellery heists seen in Jules Dassin's RIFIFI and TOPKAPI--is as intricate and amusing as it is unlikely.
| Starring | Peter O'Toole, Audrey Hepburn, Charles Boyer, Eli Wallach, Hugh Griffith, Marcel Dalio |
|---|---|
| Director | William Wyler |
| Studio | 20TH CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 58 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Comedy |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 19 Jul 2004 Production year: 1966 |
| Format | DVD |
Audrey Hepburn hires Peter O'Toole to steal her father's fake Cellini Venus in this heist caper set in the Paris art world, which reunited Hepburn with her Roman Holiday director William Wyler for the third and final time. It's overlong and overwritten, and shows its age in the Swinging Sixties decor and the generally rather frantic mood: it's What's New, Pussycat? meets Rififi with more than a hint of Topkapi. But there are compensations in the supporting cast: Hugh Griffith — who won an Oscar for best supporting actor in Wyler's Ben-Hur — as Hepburn's father, and Charles Boyer, Marcel Dalio and Moustache evoking the sophistication of those 1930s comedies of Ernst Lubitsch. American vulgarity, meanwhile, is supplied by greedy art collector Eli Wallach, the replacement for George C Scott, whom Wyler fired after only one day of shooting.
High-class but rather boring romantic comedy; the credits promise much but interest wanes quickly owing to uncertain handling.
Audrey Hepburn is just so 'chic'. Every girl wants to be her and every boy wants to be with her. This jaunty lighthearted comedy pairs her with a somewhat handsome Peter O'toole and Charles Boyer plays her eccentric father who has a bad habit of forging works of art. It doesn't purport to be a classic, but this is very enjoyable viewing and only serves to confirm - I am in love with Audrey Hepburn.
Audrey Hepburn is just so 'chic'. Every girl wants to be her and every boy wants to be with her. This jaunty lighthearted comedy pairs her with a somewhat handsome Peter O'toole and Charles Boyer plays her eccentric father who has a bad habit of forging works of art. It doesn't purport to be a classic, but this is very enjoyable viewing and only serves to confirm - I am in love with Audrey Hepburn.