Review of Gambit (1966) by Indira S — 28 Apr 2014

Directed by Ronald Neame (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969), Scrooge (1970) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972)), and adapted from a story by Sidney Carroll. This comedy caper is very funny and has some very good performances in it.

Nothing is what it seems here, and just when it seems like it's going to be a straight-forward heist film, it then pulls the rug out from under your feet, and turns everything on it's head. Cat burglar Harry Dean (Michael Caine) travels to Hong Kong with his partner in crime Emile (John Abbott) and approach showgirl Nicole Chang (Shirley MacLaine) to help them in one of their schemes, as she bears an uncanny resemblence to the late wife of Ahmad Shahbandar (Herbert Lom), the richest man in the world.

Harry has the plan to steal a priceless statuette from Shahbandar's apartment in the Arab republic of Damuz. However, Harry had the perfect crime all planned out in his head, what he didn't count on was how unpredictable Nicole would be, and that Shahbandar wouldn't be suspicious from the start.

Everything that can go wrong for Harry, does go wrong. It's a very silly little caper, but it has a very light and bubbly feel to it, and there are some good laughs to be had along the way. It was a good idea putting Caine and MacLaine together, as they make a good duo in this film, and it does have fun with the narrative structure, especially in the first 20-30 minutes.