How to Steal a Million Reviews

This stylish crime-caper comedy is far too long, but filled with fun anyway. Griffith is an old reprobate, a third-generation forger whose family has made a nice living by faking fine artworks. Snobbish pseudo-experts appraise Griffith's fakes and pronounce them genuine, allowing him to sell them for huge sums of money. When Griffith pulls out a fake Cellini "Venus" actually sculpted by his grandfather, then passes it on to a Parisian museum for exhibition, Hepburn, his daughter, fears that the hoax will be discovered. To keep her father out of legal jeopardy, she enlists O'Toole to help her steal the bogus statue out of the museum, which has a supposedly impregnable security system. Hepburn, who is engaged to American art collector Wallach, thinks that O'Toole is a burglar; in fact, he is actually a detective whose specialty is recovering stolen objets d'art. But O'Toole is amused and entranced by Hepburn, so he agrees to help her steal the "Venus." In an elaborate sequence (of the sort that has become standard in caper films), they get into the museum, nab the "Venus," and then offer it to Wallach on the condition that he take the statue back to the US, tell no one about it, and forget about Hepburn. Wallach reckons there are plenty of pretty girls in the world but only one Cellini "Venus," so he takes the statue and leaves Hepburn happily in O'Toole's arms. Meanwhile, Griffith is already planning his next swindle. A charming script, lovely photography, and the Parisian setting make HOW TO STEAL A MILLION a superior piece of cinematic fluff. The French actors in the cast lend the principals admirable support.