TotalTelly.co.uk

Devoted to Popular, Cult and Retro TV

The Thomas Crown Affair [1968] (REGION 1) (NTSC)


Our Price: £5.86 (subject to change)

Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

Millionaire businessman Thomas Crown (Steve McQueen) is also a high-stakes thief; his latest caper is an elaborate heist at a Boston bank. Why does he do it? For the same reason he flies gliders, bets on golf strokes and races dune buggies: he needs the thrill to feel alive. Insurance investigator Vicky Anderson (Faye Dunaway) gets her own thrills by busting crooks, and she's got Crown in her cross hairs. Naturally, these two will get it on, because they have a lot in common: they're not people, they're walking clothes racks. (McQueen looks like he'd rather be in jeans than Crown's natty three-piece suits.) The Thomas Crown Affair is a catalogue of 60s conventions, from its clipped editing style to its photographic trickery (the inventive Haskell Wexler behind the camera) to its mod design. You can almost sense director Norman Jewison deciding to "tell his story visually," like those newfangled European films; this would explain the long passages of Michel Legrand's lounge jazz ladled over endless montages of the pretty Dunaway and McQueen at play. (The opening-credits song, "Windmills of Your Mind," won an Oscar.) It's like a "What Kind of Man Reads Playboy?" ad come to life, and much more interesting as a cultural snapshot than a piece of storytelling. --Robert Horton


The Best
Review date: 2008-04-11 Rating: 10 out of 10

A wonderful performance. I loved first watching it 20 years ago. McQueen's charisma is unbeatable. They should never have bothered with the Brosnan remake.

Similar Products

Reviews


Ice, just like ice!
Review date: 2005-09-28 Rating: 10 out of 10

All the kudos usually goes to Bullit, released the same year, yet with this movie, McQueen, the King of Cool, comes of age as an actor, at the height of his power as the No.1 Box office Hollywood star. Commonly regarded by critics as a triumph of style over substance, Jewison crafted a movie for the age and drew from McQueen the kind of performance of which few thought him capable. True, Dunaway's outfits (and Burke's hats) do cement the movie pretty firmly into its time period but anyone coming new to this movie who wasn't around at the time it was made has ample compensation in the luminosity of the stars, the fabulous jazz inspired Michel Legrand soundtrack, a gem of a performance from Jack Weston, as Erwin, and the famous chess game scene. Through the filter of McQueen's performance in the movie, picturing Brosnan as Crown in the recent remake is even more ludicrous than trying to picture Alec Baldwin as Doc McGraw: watch out for the scene in which Crown sets the 'ball rolling' by phoning up the members of the 'gang' he's hired to carry out the heist and then reflect on the observational skills of his detractors. His acting in this movie was matched only by that of his performances later in Papillon and the Getaway. Ultimately, the movie has stood the test of time and will continue to be watched long after DVDs of the Brosnan remake are gathering dust, deservedly, on the shelves of charity shops up and down the country.

A Classic
Review date: 2001-05-26 Rating: 10 out of 10

A change of direction for Steve McQueen in this film playing a millionaire businessman who likes to plan bank robberies in his spare time.Shot in a unique way for its time Norman Jewison(In The Heat Of The Night) has made a remarkable film.McQueen and Dunaway are both great!!!

EXCELLENT
Review date: 2001-02-20 Rating: 10 out of 10

This movie I seen on many occasion and rate it as excellent performance by Steve McQueen.

Steve McQueen at his peak!
Review date: 2000-03-08 Rating: 8 out of 10

Before the new version of Thomas Crown was released I thought I ought to see how it should have been, so I bought this. What a gem of a movie - did you know the original bank heist sceen was filmed with only five actors - everyone else there were members of the public who actually thought it was real ! This shows sixties cult filming at it's highest, well shot and excellent editing make this a film to own for all the right reasons.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Jack Weston
Faye Dunaway
Paul Burke
Steve McQueen
Biff McGuire

Creators:
Steve McQueen (Primary Contributor)
Faye Dunaway (Primary Contributor)
Haskell Wexler (Cinematographer)
Norman Jewison (Producer)
Byron 'Buzz' Brandt (Editor)
Hal Ashby (Editor)
Hal Ashby (Producer)
Ralph E. Winters (Editor)
Alan Trustman (Writer)

Director(s):

Recording label: MGM
Manufacturer: MGM
EAN: 0027616927828
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Closed-captioned, Colour, DVD-Video, Original recording remastered, Widescreen, NTSC,
Release date: 2005-05-17
Universal product code (UPC): 027616927828
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 1
Running time: 102 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1968-06-19
Language: English (Original Language)

Add to Cart

© 2006 Darren Hester, DesignsByDarren.com, Some Rights Reserved.
Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional