WILLIAM WYLER
Bil’s rating (out of 5): BBBB.5.
USA, 1966. World Wide Productions. Screenplay by Harry Kurnitz, based on a story by George Bradshaw. Cinematography by Charles Lang. Produced by Fred Kohlmar. Music by John Williams. Production Design by Alexandre Trauner. Film Editing by Robert Swink.
Audrey Hepburn plays the daughter to a notorious forger (Hugh Griffith) who almost has one of his copies lifted one night by a burglar (Peter O’Toole). When she finds out that the fake copy of a Cellini statue that her father donated to the Paris museum is going to be looked at by professional examiners for insurance purposes, Hepburn has a meltdown and decides to steal it before it can be found out as a forgery. Enlisting O’Toole’s help, they come up with a foolproof plan to steal their own statue and save her father from going to jail forever. Like all great heist movies, this delightful film goes through the rigorous preparations and maps out its plans before breathlessly playing out the actual scheme. Well into his directorial career, William Wyler shows he’s still got what it takes to make a great film, and his marvelous stars (who have marvelous chemistry between them, but then who didn’t with Audrey Hepburn?) back him up all the way.
