Gambit

GAMBIT (U)

D: Ronald Neame

Universal (Leo F. Fuchs)

US 🇺🇸 1966

109 mins

Crime/Comedy

W: Jack Davies & Alvin Sargent

DP: Clifford Stine

Ed: Alma Macrorie

Mus: Maurice Jarre

PD: Alexander Golitzen & George C. Webb

Cos: Jean Louis

Shirley MacLaine (Nicole), Michael Caine (Harry), Herbert Lom (Shahbandar), Roger C. Carmel (Ram), Arnold Moss (Abdul)

Shirley MacLaine & Michael Caine make for a fun double act in this crime caper from 1966.

Caine plays Cockney cat burglar, Harry, who enlists the help of Eurasian dancer Nicole (MacLaine) for the perfect heist, which doesn’t quite go as he originally envisions & she turns out to be far more of a chatterbox than the silent partner he had hoped for, but there’s plenty of plot twists as the plan ultimately develops towards its grand finale.

Very much a product of its time, and certainly finding some inspiration from the James Bond series that started earlier in the decade in respects to exotic locations, production design and costumes, as well as a British leading man.  A remake followed in 2012, but I really don’t understand why. This is the sort of movie that only really worked in the 1960’s.

7/10