How to Steal a Million is a heist film, the type you rarely see made any more these days- it’s a caper comedy! Nicole, played by Audrey Hepburn, is the daughter of a wealthy art “collector” and forger! Turns out, forging great art runs in the family because the jewel of his collection is a famous statuary supposedly sculpted by Cellini, but really by Nicole’s grandfather. Such forgeries would never stand up to the critical scrutiny of twentieth century technology, so selling the statue is out of the question. Instead, her father loans it to a museum only to learn too late that the insurance company requires it analyzed too! Luck comes unexpectedly in the night when Nicole gets the drop on what looks like a burglary in her own home. While Hepburn tries to convince Simon Dermont, played by Peter O’Toole, to set his eyes on bigger sites and rob the National Gallery, where the statue is being held, the man might just steal her heart instead.

William Wyler thirteen years earlier had directed Hepburn’s movie debut, Roman Holiday, and surely the chance to work with the iconic actress again factored into his choice to take on directing How to Steal a Million. But it is not the same Audrey Hepburn of Wyler’s earlier film that appears on screen this time. She is still effervescent and charming, but at 32 she couldn’t be the same as that wide-eyed princess traipsing about Rome. Nor should she have been, or needed to be. Instead, she is a grown woman sporting a chic sixties look. Her clothes are still Givenchy (with one very important exception where even the film’s characters quip that Ginvenchy can take the night off), but they are so very mod, and utterly perfect for her lithe shape. The role of Nicole is quirky- perhaps sometimes trying too hard to be so- but opposite Hepburn, Peter O’Toole is at his most charming. Indeed, he rather “steals” the show! As an added bonus, though the romance in the film takes a backseat to the humor, I felt these two had more chemistry than many other leading men opposite Hepburn provided.

There is no real danger or sense of tension in the film, but if what you want is some frothy concoction, something to make you smile, or something to pretty to catch your eye, this film is it. Though slightly long (over two hours), nearly the entire second hour is filled with the actual heist. Hepburn and O’Toole will be sure to delight you, when they learn How to Steal a Million.