The Thomas Crown Affair (1968 film)

The Thomas Crown Affair
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Norman Jewison
Written by Alan Trustman
Produced by Norman Jewison
Starring
Cinematography Haskell Wexler
Edited by Hal Ashby
Ralph E. Winters
Byron Brandt
Music by Michel Legrand
Production
companies
Distributed by United Artists
Release date
  • June 19, 1968
Running time
 102 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $4.3 million
Box office $14 million

The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1968 American heist film directed and produced by Norman Jewison and starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. It was nominated for two Academy Awards, winning Best Original Song for Michel Legrand's "The Windmills of Your Mind". A remake was released in 1999.

Plot

Millionaire businessman-sportsman Thomas Crown accomplishes a perfect crime by orchestrating four men to steal $2,660,525.62 from a Boston bank ($22,389,167 in 2022 dollars), along with a fifth man who drives the getaway car with the money and dumps it in a cemetery trash can. None of the men ever meet Crown face to face, nor do they know nor meet each other before the robbery. Crown retrieves the money from the trash can after secretly following the driver of the getaway car. He deposits the money into an anonymous Swiss bank account in Geneva, making several trips, never depositing the money all at once so as not to draw undue attention to his actions.

Independent insurance investigator Vicki Anderson is contracted to investigate the heist; she will receive 10% of the stolen money if she recovers it. When Thomas first comes to her attention as a possible suspect, she intuitively recognizes him as the mastermind behind the robbery, and shortly thereafter guesses that he organized the robbers so none of the men knew him nor met each other.

Thomas does not need the money, and in fact masterminded the robbery as a game. Vicki makes it clear to him that she knows he is the thief and that she intends to prove it. They start a game of cat and mouse, with the attraction between them evident. Their relationship soon evolves into an affair, complicated by Vicki's vow to find the money and help detective Eddy Malone bring the guilty party to justice.

A reward offer entices the wife of the bank robbery's getaway driver, Erwin Weaver, to "fink" on him for $25,000 ($210,383 in 2022 dollars). Vicki finds out that he was hired by a man he never saw but whose voice he heard (via a microphone). She tries putting Erwin in the same room as Thomas, but there is no hint of recognition on either's part.

However, while Vicki is clearly closing in on Thomas, using the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as leverage against his liquid assets, he forces her to realize that she is also becoming hemmed in by her emotions. When she seemingly persuades him to negotiate an end, his point is proven when Eddy stubbornly refuses to make any deal.

Thomas organizes another robbery exactly like the first with different accomplices and tells Vicki where the "drop" will be, because he has to know for sure that she is on his side. The robbery is successful, but there are gunshots and the viewer is left with the impression that people might have been killed, raising the stakes for Vicki's decision.

Vicki and the police stake out the cemetery, where they watch one of the robbers make the drop, and they wait for Thomas to arrive so they can arrest him. However, when his Rolls-Royce arrives, she sees that Thomas has sent a messenger in his place, with a telegram asking her to bring the money and join him – or, if not, "you keep the car". She tears the telegram to bits and throws the pieces to the wind, looking up at the sky with tears in her eyes. Crown flies away in a jet.

Cast

Production

The photography is unusual for a mainstream Hollywood film, using a split-screen mode. The use of split screens to show simultaneous actions was inspired by the breakthrough Expo 67 films In the Labyrinth and A Place to Stand, the latter pioneering the use of Christopher Chapman's "multi-dynamic image technique", images shifting on moving panes. Steve McQueen was on hand for an advance screening of A Place to Stand in Hollywood, and personally told Chapman he was highly impressed; the following year, Norman Jewison had incorporated the technique into the film, inserting the scenes into the already finished product.

The film also features a chess scene, with McQueen and Dunaway playing a game of chess, silently flirting with each other. The game depicted is based on a game played in Vienna in 1898 between Gustav Zeissl and Walter von Walthoffen.

McQueen performed his own stunts, which include playing polo and driving a dune buggy at high speed along the Massachusetts coastline.

Vicki Anderson's car, referred to as "one of those red Italian things" (the Alfa Romeo Spider was the marque frequently distinguished as such), is the first of only ten Ferrari 275 GTB/4S NART Spiders built. Today, this model is one of the most valuable Ferrari road cars of all time. McQueen liked the car very much, and eventually managed to acquire one for himself. The dune buggy was a Meyers Manx, built in California on a Volkswagen Beetle floor pan with a hopped-up Chevrolet Corvair engine. McQueen owned one, and the Manx, the original dune buggy, was often copied. Crown's two-door Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow carried the Massachusetts vanity license plate "TC 100" for the film.

Sean Connery had been the original choice for the title role, but turned it down — a decision he later regretted. Johnny Carson also turned down the role.

Filming locations

The movie was filmed primarily on location in Boston and surrounding areas in Massachusetts and New Hampshire:

Other locations included:

Release

The Thomas Crown Affair had its world premiere in Boston on June 19, 1968, with openings in Los Angeles and New York on June 26, 1968, and a nationwide release in August 1968.

This movie's release introduced United Artists' new logo that shows the iconic Transamerica "T" and the byline, "Entertainment from Transamerica Corporation".

The Thomas Crown Affair made its U.S. television premiere on NBC Saturday Night at the Movies in September 1972.

Home media

The film was released on DVD by MGM Home Entertainment in the United States in February 1999 with two special features, an audio commentary by director Norman Jewison and theatrical trailer. It was first released on Blu-ray Disc on February 1, 2011, with the same extra supplements. On February 13, 2018, Kino Lorber (under license from MGM) released a Blu-ray 50th anniversary edition with six extra features, including an original featurette with cast and crew interviews, audio commentary by film historians Lem Dobbs and Nick Redman, and an interview with the director.

Reception

Box office

The film was successful at the box office, grossing $14 million on a $4.3 million budget.

Critical response

Reviews at the time were mixed. Critics praised the chemistry between McQueen and Dunaway and Norman Jewison's stylish direction, but considered the plotting and writing rather thin. Roger Ebert gave it 2½ stars out of four, and called it "possibly the most under-plotted, underwritten, over-photographed film of the year. Which is not to say it isn't great to look at. It is." On the film aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 72% from 36 reviews. The site's consensus states: "Steve McQueen settles into the role with ease and aplomb, in a film that whisks viewers into an exotic world with style and sex appeal."

Awards and nominations

Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
Academy Awards Best Original Score for a Motion Picture (Not a Musical) Michel Legrand Nominated
Best Song – Original for the Picture "The Windmills of Your Mind"
Music by Michel Legrand;
Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman 		Won
British Academy Film Awards Anthony Asquith Award for Original Film Music Michel Legrand Nominated
Golden Globe Awards Best Original Score – Motion Picture Nominated
Best Original Song – Motion Picture "The Windmills of Your Mind"
Music by Michel Legrand;
Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman 		Won
Laurel Awards Top Action-Drama 5th Place
Top Male Dramatic Performance Steve McQueen 5th Place

Soundtrack

The Thomas Crown Affair
Soundtrack album by
Michel Legrand, Noel Harrison
Released 1968 (original)
June 10, 2014 (expansion)
Recorded 1968
Genre Soundtrack
Length 70:39 (expansion)
Label United Artists Records (original)
Quartet (expansion)

The music was composed and conducted by Michel Legrand, scoring his first major American film. Director Norman Jewison had hoped to hire Henry Mancini for the project, but he was unavailable and recommended Legrand; he wrote his music as long pieces rather than specifically to scene timings, with the film later edited to the music by Legrand, Jewison and editor Hal Ashby. In addition, Legrand also had to prepare an original song to replace "Strawberry Fields Forever", used as the temporary track for the glider scene. Taking Quincy Jones' advice, Legrand worked with the Bergmans to compose "The Windmills of Your Mind" and a second song, "His Eyes, Her Eyes"; Noel Harrison recorded "The Windmills of Your Mind" after Jewison failed to get his friend Andy Williams to do it, while Legrand performed "His Eyes, Her Eyes". Although the film's score was recorded in Hollywood, featuring Vincent DeRosa, Bud Shank, Carol Kaye, Emil Richards, Ray Brown and Shelly Manne, the album re-recording issued by United Artists Records on LP was done in France under the composer's baton; Jewison said it was the favorite score for any of his films.

The original album was later reissued by Rykodisc in 1998 on CD, with five dialogue excerpts and the inclusion of "Moments of Love" and "Doubting Thomas". Varèse Sarabande re-released the album in 2004 (without the dialogue excerpts). In 2014, Quartet Records issued a limited edition CD featuring the previously released album tracks (1–13 below) and the premiere release of the film version.

Expanded album track listing

  1. "The Windmills of Your Mind", performed by Noel Harrison – 2:24
  2. "Room Service" – 1:41
  3. "A Man's Castle" – 2:41
  4. "The Chess Game" – 5:58
  5. "Cash and Carry" – 2:35
  6. "His Eyes, Her Eyes", performed by Michel Legrand – 2:17
  7. "Playing the Field" – 5:48
  8. "Moments of Love" – 2:19
  9. "The Boston Wrangler" – 2:49
  10. "Doubting Thomas" – 3:48
  11. "The Crowning Touch" – 2:59
  12. "The Windmills of Your Mind" – 2:22
  13. "His Eyes, Her Eyes" – 2:15
  14. "The Windmills of Your Mind", performed by Noel Harrison – 2:25
  15. "Knock, Knock" – 0:50
  16. "The Gang" – 3:02
  17. "Getaway" – 0:52
  18. "Escapeline" – 1:28
  19. "Cemetery" – 1:20
  20. "More Cemetery" – 1:19
  21. "Enter Vicky" – 0:25
  22. "The Windmills of Your Mind", performed by Noel Harrison – 1:25
  23. "Polo" – 0:47
  24. "Brandy" – 1:33
  25. "Chess Anyone?" – 4:26
  26. "Let's Play Something Else" – 1:18
  27. "Togetherness" – 1:38
  28. "Don't Bug Me" – 1:15
  29. "Beach House" – 1:01
  30. "Love Montage" – 1:21
  31. "No Deals" – 1:01
  32. "All My Love, Tommy" – 3:07

In popular culture

The film's famous kissing scene, which is depicted on the film's poster, was used in Hal Ashby's satire film Being There (1979). Ashby was The Thomas Crown Affair's associate producer and editor. In 1998, pop star Madonna released a video for her single "The Power of Good-Bye", based on the chess scene from the movie.

Franchise

Remake

Main article: The Thomas Crown Affair (1999 film)

The 1999 remake was released starring Pierce Brosnan as Crown, Rene Russo as the insurance investigator, and Denis Leary as the detective. The original film's co-star Faye Dunaway also appears as Crown's therapist. This adaptation is different from the original in that it is set in New York rather than Boston, and the robbery is of a priceless painting, a Monet, instead of cash, among other story line differences, including the complete lack of violence in Thomas Crown's crimes.

Future

In January 2007, a sequel to the 1999 movie, loosely based on Topkapi (1964), was announced as being in development. By January 2009, Brosnan confirmed his involvement while announcing Paul Verhoeven as director. By April 2010, Verhoeven stepped down from his role as director, citing creative differences and scheduling conflicts. At various points in time, both Angelina Jolie and Charlize Theron were in dicussions for roles in the film, with Brosnan expressing interest in having Theron co-star. In April 2013, Brosnan acknowledged the project's status in development hell, while stating he is still interested in developing the film. In April 2014, John McTiernan revealed that he had written a treatment for the script, titled "Thomas Crown and the Missing Lioness". The initial script had been written by John Rogers from a story he had co-written with Harley Peyton, while additional material was provided by Nick Meyer, Michael Finch and Karl Gajdusek.

In 2016, Michael B. Jordan had approached Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to pitch a new adapatation of the story, with hopes of starring in the lead role. By April 2023, after having acquired MGM, Amazon announced plans to reboot the franchise, with a new feature film in development through the company's Amazon Studios.

See also