The Thomas Crown Affair

The millionaire Thomas Crown has banks robbed because he is bored; he never goes near the scene himself. Vicki Anderson, the investigator sent by the insurance company, works out quickly that it is him, and the question stops being evidence and becomes who gives in first. Norman Jewison directed. Steve McQueen plays Crown and Faye Dunaway plays Vicki. Its visual signature is the split screen. Jewison took it from films shown at Expo 67, using Christopher Chapman's multi-dynamic image technique, and it was McQueen who recommended it to him. Two scenes became famous apart from the film. The chess sequence is based on a real game played in Vienna in 1898. The long kiss went onto the posters and was referenced in later films. Michel Legrand wrote the score, which drew two Oscar nominations; the song with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman won Best Original Song. On a 4.3 million dollar budget it grossed 14 million. Roger Ebert gave it two and a half stars out of four and called it the most under-plotted, underwritten, over-photographed film of the year, while allowing its visual appeal. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 70 percent. It was remade in 1999 with Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo. Who it is for: viewers who like stylish sixties crime films and formal experiment. Who it is not for: anyone wanting suspense. The film is not interested in how the robbery works but in two people taking each other's measure.