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The Thomas Crown Affair (1968 film)
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The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1968 movie by Norman Jewison starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. A remake was released in 1999 starring Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo.
The 1968 version was nominated for two Academy Awards for Original Music Score and Best Song. It won an Academy Award for Best Song with "Windmills of Your Mind" by Michel Legrand (music), Marilyn Bergman and Alan Bergman (lyrics).
as Crown, a young, handsome millionaire pulls off a perfect crime by having five men rob a bank and dump the money - approx.
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Encyclopedia
The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1968 movie by Norman Jewison starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. A remake was released in 1999 starring Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo.
The 1968 version was nominated for two Academy Awards for Original Music Score and Best Song. It won an Academy Award for Best Song with "Windmills of Your Mind" by Michel Legrand (music), Marilyn Bergman and Alan Bergman (lyrics).
Plot
Thomas Crown, a young, handsome millionaire pulls off a perfect crime by having five men rob a bank and dump the money - approx. $2.6 million - in a trash can, which Crown retrieves later and stores in a Geneva bank. Vicki Anderson, an independent insurance investigator, is contracted to investigate the heist. As she digs deeper into the case she begins to suspect Crown's involvement. In an attempt to get closer she begins seeing Crown socially, openly telling him she is investigating him. Their relationship evolves into an affair; this affair however is threatened by Vicki's moral obligation to bring Thomas Crown to justice.
Crown decides to organize another caper for the sheer sake of rebelling against the authority. He asks Vicki to join him in his flight afterwards, but she betrays him to her contractors. Moving in to make the arrest, she finds Crown sent a messenger in his place with a salutation. Crown is then shown flying away in a jet, a smile on his face.
Character
Set in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Thomas Crown is described in detail after a police comparison of bank customers who have taken multiple trips to Switzerland. Per the dossier he is 36, divorced, "she kept the children", has $4 million, graduated Dartmouth undergrad and Harvard Business. He is involved in currency arbitrage but we also see him involved in other investments such as securities and real estate - a "Tommy Crown property" is remarked by one buyer. We see among his hobbies are playing polo and gliding. Crown's residence is in the Beacon Hill section of Boston.
Production
The use of split screens to show simultaneous actions was inspired by the breakthrough film In the Labyrinth.
The film also features the now famous chess scene. McQueen and Dunaway play a game of chess, silently flirting with each other, caressing the chess pieces, using them as metaphorical sexual objects.
The film is a clever vehicle for two of the most stylish and beautiful stars of the period. Dunaway is perfectly dressed for each scene, in a different outfit. McQueen is super cool, playing on his own real-life image for the film. The chemistry between Dunaway and McQueen is infectious.
The photography is unique for a main-stream Hollywood film, using a split-screen mode in a very stylish way. McQueen does his own stunts (plays polo) and drives a dune buggy at high speed on the Massachusetts coastline. This is similar to his starring role in the movie Bullitt, released a few months afterward, in which he drives a Ford Mustang through San Francisco at more than 100 mph.
Trivia
Faye Dunaway, co-star of the original 1968 release, makes a cameo in the 1999 remake as Thomas Crown's (Pierce Brosnan) therapist.
In the 2004 remake of Alfie there is a scene where Alfie (Jude Law) returns to his flat and finds his girlfriend Nikki (Sienna Miller) asleep in front of the television which is showing the scene where Faye Dunaway and Steve McQueen first kiss.
The scene where Faye Dunaway and Steve McQueen play chess is spoofed in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me with Mike Myers and Kristen Johnston.
Cast
Sean Connery had been the original choice for the title role but declined—a decision he later regretted.
Crew
Reception
The film was only moderately successful at the box office, grossing $14,000,000 on a $6,000,000 budget. Reviews at the time were mixed. The chemistry between McQueen and Dunaway and Norman Jewison's stylish direction were praised, but the plotting and writing were considered rather thin. Roger Ebert gave it 2 1/2 stars out of four and called it "possibly the most under-plotted, underwritten, over-photographed film of the year. Which is not to say it isn't great to look at. It is." Despite its tepid reaction, however, it has since become a cult film and inspired a 1999 remake.
Academy Awards
External links
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