So in
In How To Steal A Million, Hepburn is a wealthy young woman named Nicole who lives in a grand Parisian mansion with her father (Hugh Griffith), a reclusive and esteemed "art collector." However, we learn that, like his father before him, he is actually an expert art forger! While she enjoys flitting around the city in her zippy little red car, he spends most of his days holed up in their attic, replicating, with meticulous detail, the works of the great masters.
"This is not ordinary dirt! It is van Gogh dirt! Dirt from his own
One night, while in bed reading, she hears a noise and cautiously goes downstairs to investigate.
(The Book that Audrey is reading is Le Revue
She arms herself with an old pistol and descends the stairs to find Simon (Peter O'Toole) hovering over her father's recently finished Van Gogh. As an investigator
How many burglars come dressed in a tuxedo?
Oh dismay!
Instantly smitten, Simon uses their time together in the car to sweet-talk the distraught Nicole, who is now
What a deliciously bright magenta overcoat. Oversized cocoon styled coats are quite popular these days too.
Shiny black patent leather
She comes home and tells her father of the incident...
What happened? And then you did what?!
When her father lends his prized Cellini Venus to a prestigious art museum, he didn't foresee that such a gesture would incur a thorough inspection of the sculpture by the museum's insurers. Knowing that it would inevitably be exposed as a forgery if it undergoes such a rigorous examination, Nicole conceives a plan to have the figurine stolen. But by whom? Why, by the burglar she helped a few nights ago, of course!
Thinking that the theft would be of mutual benefit, Nicole then contacts Simon and tells him of her predicament. She "hires" him to steal the Cellini Venus and he, being completely in love with her by this point, can't bring himself to tell her that he is actually an art forgery investigator. Of course he complies, and then the pair
Here they are planning the heist at the restaurant in his hotel. Audrey wears a black lace Givenchy dress with black lace stockings, a black lace eye veil and glittering silver eye shadow. Understandably, Peter O’Toole’s character does a double take when he sees her. That dress later sold at auction for £600,000.
That is Nicole to the far right, in
Simon gazes upon the Cellini Venus with rather conspicuous magnifying glasses...
He tells her the face looks rather familiar...
After they finish
The reference made me chuckle because the collaboration between Hubert de Givenchy and Audrey Hepburn was a particularly special one. Audrey served as the muse for many of his iconic designs and became "the face" of Givenchy during that time. Perhaps my
ANYWAY, back to the film.
Although I'm not entirely certain, her silk scarf looks to be Hermès. I'm a big fan of Hermès' silk
Who would've thought that lime, slightly neon, green could look so stunning? If you look closer, you can see that the fabric is actually of a jacquard texture
Below is a similarly
I find it interesting and even a bit daring, to wear a scarf in the same
Another simple, nondescript beige dress made
I do love the wide mock turtleneck though. Or is there another more accurate term for that type of neckline?
Lovely checked coat. The image doesn't quite capture the subtle
Now, the LOCATIONS:
The Bonnet's mansion was situated on 38 Rue Parmentier, in the wealthy neighborhood of Neuilly-sur-Seine. Sadly, the original house has been demolished and replaced by an apartment block. The original gate, however, still remains, but it has been relocated farther down the street.
View of the street from the
Of course, the interiors were filmed on a studio set.
This is a wardrobe
Here is a glimpse of the parlor.
Here is a list of the some of the other memorable locations that we saw throughout the film.
Quai
Avenue des Champs-Élysées
Below is a small park called Carré Marigny, between Avenues Gabriel and Marigny. It is right off the busy Champs-Élysées and is a great little hidden gem if you're looking to escape from the hordes of frenzied shoppers and the endless procession of cars on the former. This is also the location of the Marché
The Ritz Hotel, 15 Place Vendôme, 75001, Paris.
Simon, out on the balcony of Nicole's hotel room, throwing a boomerang.
The exterior shots of the fictional museum featured in the movie were filmed at the Musée Carnavalet (16 Rue des Francs Bourgeois), which is
The set designer, Alexander Trauner, who lived in Paris, contacted several Paris-based painters to recreate the “masterpieces” that line its walls. For $100,000 he amassed a collection of fake Renoirs, El Grecos, Goyas, Rembrandts, Rubenses, Van Goghs, Monets, Cézannes, Tintorettos, and Picassos. For another $50,000, he bought authentic antique frames. The fake artwork was so attractive that real thieves helped themselves to several objects during the filming!
The restaurant at which Nicole dines with her wealthy American suitor is a real restaurant called Maxim's, located at 3 Rue Royale. The film doesn't do justice to its gorgeous Art Nouveau interior. I have actually eaten at this
And lastly, The CARS:
Normally, I wouldn't pay much attention to cars featured in
Nicole drives a zippy red 1965 Autobianchi Bianchina Trasformabile. These little roadsters were only produced for a short period of time (1957-70) and if you're thinking that it looks an awful lot like the Fiat 500, then you're right! It was indeed based on the Fiat 500 and came equipped with a Fiat engine.
What could be more glamorous than driving up to your private jet in a Jaguar convertible?
I forget which character drove this 1960s Rolls Royce Silver Cloud. Might've been Nicole's American suitor.
So there you have, How to Steal a Million in no less than a million screencaps!