Como Possuir Lissu

In the first 20 minutes of 'Gambit' we witness a perfect heist. A charming crook named Harry (Michael Caine) recruits dancer Nicole (Shirley MacLaine) from a Hong Kong cabaret to lure the rich Shahbandar (Herbert Lom) in order to steal an invaluable statue of an ancient Chinese empress. The face in the statue is strikingly similar to that of Nicole, but also of the magnate's deceased wife. Everything is going perfectly, but something seems to be wrong. Nicole IS SILENT. That is, a heroine played by the assertive Shirley MacLaine not to utter a word? We will quickly understand that this is just about planning a robbery. The real action begins again, in 20 minutes, and this time Nicole not only will speak, but will play the central role in fulfilling Harry's robbery plans.

The 1966 'Gambit' is directed by Ronald Neame, an excellent movie industry professional, who not only was the author of several successful films, but signed the image of many other films, wrote screenplays, was a producer. An encyclopedic film maker we could say. Under his directing, the film has rhythm and humor, combining the genres of films about robberies and scams with an inevitable romantic intrigue. I haven't seen the 2012 remake signed by the Coen brothers, but if we are to trust the rates given by viewers on IMDB, Neame's version is much more successful. The story takes us to the Hong Kong of the '60s, which in the perspective of the past years and of the political changes is a real nostalgic journey, and in an imaginary Asian Muslim country, both presented in a picturesque and authentic way. It is obvious that Ronald Neame knew his job well.

The film belongs to that category of entertainment that was very popular in the 60's, when the world was just opening up to travel. It is true that the images of the international airports where you could drive or wait for passengers at the stairs of the plane seem to be from another world. These films were largely based on an action scenario, relaxed and with humor (there is one!), on exotic landscapes (they are plenty!) and on the charm of the stars in the main roles. The charisma of Shirley MacLaine in the role of the exotic dancer who gives classes from the point of view of culture and good manners to the crook disguised as an English lord played by Michael Caine dominates the film. For her, but not only for her, 'Gambit' deserves to be watched today.

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.

Although perhaps not in the same top-flight league as "Rififi" and "Topkapi," "Gambit" is nevertheless an extremely entertaining heist movie that features consistently fine performances, an amusing and twisty script, and good production values. In this one, Caine hires MacLaine, who is working as a dancehall girl in Hong Kong, to assist him in the purloining of a priceless piece of sculpture, owned by Herbert Lom. This is not your typical heist film, however, and there is a twist right around the first half-hour mark that really had me chuckling out loud...and I'm not an easy person to make laugh out loud at movies, either. MacLaine plays one of her patented loveable kooks in this film, and is ever so appealing. Caine, in his first American production, plays it alternately cool and exasperated. Lom is surprisingly good as Shabhandar, one of the world's wealthiest men; his performance is both urbane and beautifully modulated. Good in smaller parts are two faces that classic "Star Trek" fans will recognize: John Abbott (an Organian) as the French art connoisseur, and Roger "Harry Mudd" Carmel as a hotel clerk. The heist itself is fairly suspenseful and, I suppose, high-tech for its day. Both Caine and MacLaine display surprising derring-do and quick thinking, and toward the finale of the film, the viewer is treated to at least three unexpected twists of plot. "Gambit," thus, offers good suspense, real wit, some romance, colorful locales, and fine acting. It is a real winner. If you're a fan of the heist movie, this one will not disappoint. It's good, light, well-done fun, and infinitely more entertaining than recent, "serious" caper films such as "The Score" and "Heist." Check it out!

Minor fun featuring Shirley MacLaine as a cabaret dancer who gets a chance to become a key player in a major heist masterminded by thief extraordinaire-wannabe Michael Caine. It has lots of twists and surprises, and it's fun, but the sleek, more serious opening moments prepare you for a totally different picture then the one you eventually get. It seems as though this is going to be classy stuff at first, but it's just a daffy live-action cartoon. Energetic though, and the leads work well together. *** from ****

In the 1960s Hollywood combined the classic "caper" film with a healthy dose of romantic comedy. The result was a series of charming films such as CHARADE (1963) and HOW TO STEAL A MILLION (1966)--films that combined major stars, clever plots, witty scripts and which balanced suspense with comic and romantic complications.

Made in 1966 and released in 1967, GAMBIT was among the last of these films, and like all others in the genre it had a complex plot. Ahmad Shahbandar (Herbert Lom) is quite possibly the richest man in the world and a recluse to boot, a man who has never gotten over the death of his beautiful Eurasian wife some twenty years ago. Harry Dean (Michael Caine) devises a clever plan to gain access to his luxury apartment and rob him blind: he will use honky-tonk dancer Nicole Chang (Shirley MacLaine), who bears a striking resemblance to Shahbandar's long dead wife, to breach Shahbandar's defenses.

There's only one problem: it won't work. To tell exactly why it won't work is to betray the plot, which is extremely clever; suffice to say that Dean has made a number of incorrect assumptions about both the situation and the personalities involved. When the plot begins to twist, it does so in a truly unexpected way, taking both Dean and the audience completely by surprise.

This is the sort of film that Hollywood used to do so well but which we seldom see today, a frothy, glamorous confection with first rate production values and expert performances from major stars. MacLaine gets top billing, and she is quite fine, but the weight of the film rests on Caine and Lom, who give memorably dry performances, and director Ronald Neame (who was responsible for a host of memorable films including THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE) keeps everything moving along at a smart pace with plenty of style.

This may not be the best of the genre--I think both CHARADE and HOW TO STEAL A MILLION, to name but two, outpace it. But even so it is a perfectly charming film, the perfect antidote to a drab afternoon. Just add popcorn! GFT, Amazon Reviewer