Audrey Hepburn and Peter O’Toole, How to Steal a Million
I love a great comedy – I mean, really, there’s nothing quite like sitting back and and losing yourself in fun and laughter. How to Steal a Million definitely qualifies as a great comedy. Peter O’Toole, Audrey Hepburn, and Eli Wallach embraced their roles and the laughs just come one after the other.
It’s what I call “smart comedy,” as opposed to “mindless comedy.” Mindless comedy, to me, is when a film is basically comprised of funny bits and funny moments – kind of like a patchwork quilt. Whether or not they lead to a cohesive picture isn’t their aim… lots of laughs is their only goal.
A “smart comedy,” on the other hand, is one where there are lots of laughs, but they’re woven into the story… part of the fabric that makes the bigger picture. How to Steal a Million has a wonderful plot, great dialogue, and something else “mindless comedies” usually don’t worry about…. interesting, multi-layered characters. When a film allows you to get to know the characters and actually care about what they like and dislike, you’re game to follow them wherever they want to take you.
Audrey Hepburn and Peter O’Toole make you want to follow them to the ends of the earth and back!
If you’ve never seen How to Steal a Million, I hope you’ll watch it really soon. I know that a lot of Old Hollywood fans have a certain date is their cut-off – kind of a film watching expiration date! In fact, I know many who simply don’t watch anything past 1950… and a few who use color as their cut off. If a movie is in color, they aren’t interested!
To each their own, of course, but the 50s and 60s sure have a lot of wonderful movies they’re missing out on and this is definitely one of them.
You can buy How to Steal a Million (link to the dvd on Amazon) or watch it on Prime. This is one of those delicious movies that’s even better than you’d dared to expect.
Audrey Hepburn and Peter O’Toole
