Light, entertaining heist caper with Michael Caine's Harry Dean recruiting dancer Shirley MacLaine's Nicole Chang to steal billionaire Herbert Lom's Shahbander character's prize possession, a B.C. bust of a beautiful woman's face. Shahbander has many beautiful expensive things but this is the one closest to his heart, given its resemblance to his adored, recently deceased young wife, to whom Nicole bears a striking resemblance. With his artisan partner Emile, cannily played by John Abbotalso in tow, the con is on as Dean uses Nicole as his supposed wife to at first help him gain the trust of the debonair Shahbander and then distract him while he seeks to use his cat burglar skills to outwit the high-tech security system in place to protect the statuette.
Set in the Far East, giving the look of the film a degree of exoticism, accompanied by a playful, jaunty soundtrack setting the appropriate tone and with Caine and MacLaine coasting through their parts, this isn't a film to take seriously. The best part is the unusual lengthy flash-forward as opposed to flashback sequence where Dean attempts to show Nicole just how easy the job is going to be, but of course that proves not to be the case as subsequent events play out.
In the end, nobody loses and everybody wins which only serves to further reduce the dramatic tension but directed with some verve by Ronald Neame and with confident and assured playing by Caine, adopting his broadest London accent throughout, MacLaine as the not-so-dumb accomplice and Lom as the one-step-ahead urbane mark, this is enjoyable if lightweight 60's entertainment, which, rather like the little statue at its centre, is perhaps best not examined too closely.
Set in the Far East, giving the look of the film a degree of exoticism, accompanied by a playful, jaunty soundtrack setting the appropriate tone and with Caine and MacLaine coasting through their parts, this isn't a film to take seriously. The best part is the unusual lengthy flash-forward as opposed to flashback sequence where Dean attempts to show Nicole just how easy the job is going to be, but of course that proves not to be the case as subsequent events play out.
In the end, nobody loses and everybody wins which only serves to further reduce the dramatic tension but directed with some verve by Ronald Neame and with confident and assured playing by Caine, adopting his broadest London accent throughout, MacLaine as the not-so-dumb accomplice and Lom as the one-step-ahead urbane mark, this is enjoyable if lightweight 60's entertainment, which, rather like the little statue at its centre, is perhaps best not examined too closely.