| Gambit | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Ronald Neame |
| Screenplay by |
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| Story by | Sidney Carroll |
| Produced by | Leo L. Fuchs |
| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Clifford Stine |
| Edited by | Alma Macrorie |
| Music by | Maurice Jarre |
Production | |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 109 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2.5 million (US and Canada rentals)[1] |
Gambit is a 1966 American heist comedy film directed by Ronald Neame from a screenplay by Jack Davies and Alvin Sargent from the original story of Sidney Carroll. It stars Shirley MacLaine and Michael Caine, with Herbert Lom, Roger C. Carmel, and Arnold Moss. The film follows a thief (Caine) who enlists a chorus girl (MacLaine) in an elaborate plot to steal a priceless antique bust owned by multi-millionaire Mr. Shahbandar (Lom). It was nominated for three Academy Awards.
Aremake was released in 2012, with a script by Joel and Ethan Coen.
Cockney cat burglar Harry Tristan Dean and his sculptor friend Emile Fournier discover exotic Eurasian showgirl Nicole Chang in a crowded Hong Kong nightclub. She bears an uncanny resemblance both to the late wife of the world's richest man, an Arab named Ahmad Shahbandar, as well as to a priceless ancient Chinese statuette that he owns; Harry and Emile want to use her in a scheme to rob Shahbandar of it. Harry's mere explanation to Emile of the caper—in which Nicole meekly obeys instructions without even a single expression—is flawless.
Harry, Nicole (who initially resisted the offer), and Emile arrive in the Middle Eastern city of Dammuz; the former two assume the identities of Sir Harold Dean and Lady Nicole Dean and check into Shahbandar's hotel, where Shahbandar himself lives in the penthouse. Harry's plot does not at all follow his imagined scenario; Shahbandar himself discovers Harry's deceitfulness, and only plays along with Harry and Nicole to see what they are plotting. She is aghast when she learns what Harry wants to steal, but goes along because she is falling in love with him.
Shahbandar invites them to dinner; Harry refuses but persuades Nicole to accept, so she will occupy Shahbandar while he will steal the statuette. Nicole, however, realizes that Shahbandar suspects them, and slips away to warn Harry. Working together, they steal the statuette without triggering the alarm, but a misplaced impulse afterwards causes Nicole to accidentally trigger the alarm anyway. At Harry's insistence, Nicole flees to the airport to return separately to Hong Kong, while he hides from the guards; he watches as they also check a secret compartment in the wall of the room, where the real statuette is hidden: the one in Harry's hands is a copy.
Shahbandar then rechecks the secret compartment, finds the fake, and has Nicole arrested at the airport. At breakfast, he tells her that his agents have found Harry in Hong Kong; he too will be arrested unless the real statuette is returned. She is free to go with a dossier of Harry if she takes that message to him.
At Emile's workshop in Hong Kong, Harry reveals that he actually hid the statuette inside a Buddha statue Emile had sold Shahbandar, and left the hotel a telegraph of this while she was traveling. In the least, Harry only wanted to give the appearance that it had been stolen, as no one yet knows when Shahbandar will reverse that credibility. Emile, in fact, made an exact replica of the statuette as well as the decoy that Shahbandar had on display; with three prospective buyers already waiting, Harry and Emile must now sell the replica as the real thing.
Nicole proves unhappy at Harry's criminal lifestyle, so Harry smashes the replica to prove she is more important to him than his life of crime. She and Harry leave Emile supposedly disconsolate—until he receives a telephone call afterwards, happily starts making arrangements with a buyer, and takes one of several more replicas of the statuette.
| Award | Year | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
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| Academy Awards | 1967 | Best Art Direction (Color) | Art Direction: Alexander Golitzen and George C. Webb Set Decoration: John McCarthy Jr. and John P. Austin |
Nominated | |
| Best Costume Design (Color) | Jean Louis | Nominated | |||
| Best Sound | Waldon O. Watson | Nominated | |||
| Golden Globe Awards | Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy | Gambit | Nominated | ||
| Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy | Michael Caine | Nominated | |||
| Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy | Shirley MacLaine | Nominated | |||
| Laurel Awards | Female Comedy Performance | Nominated |
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 7 critics' reviews are positive.[4] Contemporary critical response to Gambit was moderately positive. Variety called it a "firstrate suspense comedy, cleverly scripted, expertly directed".[5] Writing for The Village Voice, Andrew Sarris called the film "another Crime Can Be Fun movie for the whole family," noting that Caine is "performing the divine function of a star in redeeming bad movies from deserved oblivion".[6]
Aremake of Gambit was released in 2012, starring Colin Firth and Cameron Diaz in the leads, with Diaz's character now a Texas rodeo performer who is coaxed by Firth into coming to England and attempting to con a billionaire played by Alan Rickman. The script for this adaptation was written by Joel and Ethan Coen.
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Films directed by Ronald Neame
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