The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)

I have put off seeing this on the small screen because I seemed to remember there being more of the multiple spilt screen editing than there actually is and that it wouldn't work on the domestic TV. Actually it is fine. I believe Hal Ashby was responsible for the innovative technique which is used sparingly but most effectively to pep up the credits and heist sequences. The film is enjoyable with decent performances from Steve McQueen (much improved since The Blob, which I saw recently and in which he seemed rather awkward) and Faye Dunaway, looking particularly lovely at this time. Otherwise, although the film is enjoyable, it is not particularly striking and the Windmills of your Mind song has not worn so well. There is perhaps too much racing about in the beach buggy and the ending seems a bit rushed, although we are just about ready.

A bank executive Thomas Crown (Steve McQueen) pulls off a multi-million dollar heist and craftily shifts his ill-gotten gains to a safe-haven in Geneva. However, insurance investigator Vicki Anderson (Faye Dunaway)and her partner Eddy Malone (Paul Burke) are hot on his heels and are determined to capture Crown, but complications ensue when the criminal and investigator seemingly fall for one another.I can imagine back in the late 60's that a film like The Thomas Crown Affair would sell itself; Steve McQueen (the epitome of cool) and a plot involving a heist job (essentially an Oceans 11 or Italian Job type film). Whilst it may have won audiences over back in the day, viewing it from a modern perspective the whole thing looks incredibly dated and badly put together...OK I'm prepared to accept that the first 10-15 minutes of this film are good and lay out the foundations for a fairly promising heist film, but pretty much as quickly as it starts this film stops dead and slowly ambles towards dullsville.So OK the heist happens and then what?? Nothing, expect scene after scene of dull chatter and next to no plot development. Faye Dunaway and Paul Burke arrive as private investigators and despite an early lively and spirited performance from Dunaway the film never really lifts off the ground. There is just no excitement, intensity or fun in this film - anyone expecting an Italian Job or Oceans 11 type film is going to be mightily disappointed.The film is also filled with lots of elongated and pointless sequences; Dunaway and McQueen spending 10 minutes cruising round the beach in a beach-buggy and them both having a game of chess which seemed to span for about 5 minutes or so. You may think I'm being cynical, but to me that is 15 minutes of screen time that I felt could have been better utilised on character or plot development.Having witnessed such mind-numbing boredom and being in the face of such dull characters I did hope that there may be light at the end of the tunnel, but no the film offers no real surprises and happily coasts its way towards Dullsville.Be warned folks, just because a film stars Steve McQueen and is a heist film it doesn't automatically make it a good film. This is crap and I think that the only reason that it has a reasonable rating is because it is a Steve McQueen film. Yes he is the King Of Cool and yes he is quite a good screen presence which may have gone along way back in the late 60's, but let's not pretend that this rubbish is any good simply because Steve McQueen stars in it. The truth is that it is dull and rather forgettable.

Faye Dunaway is beautiful and well cast in this film where she plays a seductive, intelligent high-end insurance claim investigator out to find a bank robber, played by Steve McQueen. The chemistry between them seemed sizzling and genuine, and I liked how their relationship develops. I liked the film, had seen the modern version first, and am glad the original could stand up still to the latter one. This one's story was less sophisticated, and as such slightly less likely, and the main flaw for me was the HUGE initial leaps of assumption that Vicky (Dunaway) makes in her investigation given absolutely NO clues as to who the perpetrator of the robbery was. However, from that point, her investigation of Thomas Crown was exciting. The chess scene was excellently done, and must classier than the comparable black and white ball dance scene in the modern version which was a bit cheesy. Sexier too.The trouble with the 1968 version is that it's not aged well, and looks very dated. It is well filmed but has amateurish sound/soundtrack and the split screen boxes don't really add a whole lot for the most part but perhaps they were cutting edge at the time. In a few scenes they do add to the action but only a few. I like that the ending leaves the viewer hanging, whereas in the 1999 version the end is more finished and played through and that does add something, I think. The film is a little improbable but enjoyable to watch and worth the time especially given the lead characters, although they weren't so well developed or rounded but given I'd seen the modern one, I could make comparisons and fill in some of the story. Whereas I prefer the actors in the early film, the latter one is a better film for the most part, and one I've seen a number of times. My advice with this film is to see both of them and enjoy the similarities and differences and this film has a lot to offer in the comparison.

Recently a movie was made called the Thomas Crown Affair. Obviously that movie was a remake of this movie. Remakes can be good at times, but in numerous cases the original film can be far superior. As I have not seen the remake, I cannot comment, but according to my sister (which I really don't hold that high when coming to movies), the remake has Rene Russo and Pierce Brosnan walking around naked for most of the time.This movie is focused around a billionaire named Thomas Crown. At the beginning of the movie is stages an excellently executed bank robbery and gets away with it. The people are contacted in rooms where they do not know who they are talking to, and then the rest of the time by phone. Nobody knows who is who, except for Crown, and all are paid from a Swiss Bank Account. The question is why does Crown, with all that money, want to rob a bank? It is easy – it is the adrenalin rush. Throughout the movie he is doing things, such as gliding, riding a dune buggy, and other such things. He doesn't need the money, and even if he doesn't get the money, he still has more than enough to hold up his end of the bargain.The police are stumped and the insurance agency is reluctant to hand over the money to the bank, so they call in one of their more controversial investigators to find out who did it, and she points out Thomas Crown. What this movie becomes is a psychological war between the investigator and Thomas Crown to force him to speak. She knows, and he knows that she knows, but he is very strong and is able to restrain from saying anything.The chess game they play emphasises the nature of the game that they are playing. She is using all of her sexuality to entrance him and force him to slip, but she has no concrete evidence and he is not revealing anything. Even though her seduction skills are good, and he falls to them, he is strong enough not to say anything.What makes this movie good is the psychological games that Crown and the investigator play. Somebody who doesn't understand the intense psychological battle of wills that occurs in this movie is going to be disappointed and find it boring. It is far from that because of the subtly of what goes on.