How to Steal a Million

In Paris, Nicole, daughter of a well-known art forger, learns that the fake Cellini her father lent to a museum is about to undergo scientific examination. There is one solution: steal it. For that she recruits Simon, whom she caught breaking into her house. William Wyler works with Audrey Hepburn again, with Peter O'Toole as Simon. Filming ran through late summer and autumn 1965. It was Hepburn's first film after a two-year gap following My Fair Lady. Givenchy designed her costumes and she was paid a million dollars. Reviews split and converged in the same place: the first hour is weak and the heist is excellent. The New York Times called the plot preposterous and enjoyed the robbery. LIFE called the first hour overdressed and underfunny while praising the museum sequence. The 6.4 million dollar budget needed 12 million in rentals to break even; it took 4.4 million domestically and 20th Century Fox recorded a loss. Who it is for: viewers who like elegant sixties comedy, Paris, and Hepburn with O'Toole. Who it is not for: anyone wanting suspense. The film never generates real risk and the first half genuinely drags.