Gambit (1966)

A total classic from the swingin' sixties, Gambit stars two absolutely adorable people: Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine. In 2012, there was a pretty funny remake, so if you liked that one, you'll probably want to watch the original, too.It's a little embarrassing, but I actually found the plot a little confusing. But if you like spy movies or heist movies, you probably won't get lost and will find it even more entertaining! For me, I liked it because I liked the two stars.It's a perfect representation of the decade, so if you liked the Austen Powers movies, you'll get a big kick out this one—yes, the 60s really were like that! And if you like movies where likable crooks and con-men create foolproof plans that go awry, you'll definitely like this one.

The first 20 or so minutes of "Gambit" are among the strangest and most unusual I can recall having seen. Harry (Michael Caine) discovers a dancer, Nicole (Shirley MacLaine) in a cheap cabaret. You then see him offer her a job and they then go off on a caper to rob the richest man in the world, Shahbandar (Herbert Lom). The plan goes off like clockwork and the theft has worked perfectly. It is only then that you realize that most of what you see happening is what Harry is describing to his partner, Emile (John Abbott). Then, and only then, does Harry's plan actually unfold. However, in this real caper, so many of the details do NOT work out as Harry has planned--and his 'wife' (Nicole--posing as the Missus) is nothing like she is in the plan. In the plan, she's silent and mysterious--but in reality she's chatty but actually a whole lot smarter than Harry! What's next? See the film for yourself to find out--but be aware that there are lots and lots of twists and turns! "Gambit" is a very good film--I won't deny that. And, it's nice that it is a more humorous and lighthearted sort of caper film. However, and here is a problem, it's in a genre that is absolutely glutted with exceptional films. So, while "Gambit" is very good, films like "Rififi", "Grand Slam", "Big Deal on Madonna Street", "Bob le Flambeur" and many others make it seem to be second-tier. Good but not among the many better films like it. My biggest complaints was the bizarre casting of MacLaine as a Eurasian(why not have her play an American?!) as well as perhaps too many twists near the end for its own good. However, Shirley MacLaine and Herbert Lom are particularly good in the film. Worth your time but not a must-see.

Gambit (1966)I love both Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine, and yet I went into the movie with low expectations. Maybe this was partly the dull poster art (which is all I had to go on), or just the fact I had never heard of the movie (and I see a lot of movies from this era).And it was really good! Yes, a fun, snappy, somewhat contrived but still engaging piece of very 1960s entertainment. It begins with a narrative trick, which I can't reveal, but the first twenty minutes is a kind of set-up or reference point for the next hour. Once you see it happen, it's a big laugh, and they actors play it out well, though with a slight bit of camp. Caine plays a thief and con man, and MacLaine is just a willing and slightly naive participant. At first.We are supposed to believe, as well, that these two young charming people are not made for each other (they act disinterested), but the love story becomes a small part of the situation. The third main actor is Herbert Lom, who plays an Arab connected to oil (this is several years before the oil embargo, and more than a decade before the first big Islamic uprising, the one in Iran in 1979). He happens to be the richest man in the world. And a target for this British man looking for easy success.Easy it is, if only things were what they seemed at first. Brightly lit, photographed with verve and acted with a kind of wink to the camera, the movie is just good fun. This isn't a drama, it's a comedy, and it will brighten your day even if you have to ignore the forced twists in the plot. Michael Caine had just finished filming the astonishing "Alfie" which is both funny and truly dramatic, and he was proving to be a complex and yet still caddishly likable leading man, very British. Shirley MacLaine (an American) had been making charming funny movies for some time, playing the cute and vulnerable "girl" over and over (as in "The Apartment" best of all, but see "Irma la Douce" too, where she is a prostitute). Together here they are really well matched and hold up the movie start to finish. Remember to make it through the "set-up" part of the movie, which will at first seem a little stiff. It makes sense later!

I just watched this again, after a period of many years; I think that I must have seen it in its original release, and it would have seemed wildly glamorous and exotic at the time. Its always been a favorite of mine; I love it when MacLaine finally opens her mouth and starts talking, and the entire story tilts and veers off in an amusingly different direction.So very many things could have gone wrong with this production, and MacLaine could have completely overwhelmed it. Miraculously, everything stays in harness and no scenery gets chewed (as opposed to, say, "Topkapi", which although fun goes completely over the top, and where Mercouri lustily devours everything in sight). Caine and MacLaine were both in their early 30's at the time, and MacLaine gets away with photographing much younger. Its one of the earliest of her films where she got top billing; she had been making a series of Hollywood big-budget bombs, and I suspect that this somewhat modest entry kind of redeemed her. Its great straight entertainment.