Baby you can drive my car

Is there a dinkier car in movies? Nice to chill out in front of Wyler's 1966 comedy HOW TO STEAL A MILLION again, as not seen it for a very long time. Seeing this in the cinema originally at the time it seemed so laid-back it was almost horizontal, compared to the frenetic ARABESQUE that year with its non-stop action, editing where Greg Peck and Sophia Loren were another ideal team, she with a new Balmain outfit for every scene. Here, Peter O'Toole and Audrey Hepburn are of course another perfect pair (as he would go on to be with Kate Hepburn, and she with Albert Finney). Its all a good addition to Paris in the movies (Paris label).

Now though MILLION is the mid-60s in a nutshell, as Audrey in those Givenchy outfits drives her little car; Peter's yellow sports car looks dull by comparison. Hugh Griffith (having a lot of fun again as he did in BEN-HUR and TOM JONES) is her art forger father and somehow Audrey must get back that Cellini Venus statue lent to a gallery before it can be authenticated .... enter Peter's burglar, but whose side is he really on? This is more of CHARADE then but on a bigger canvas. The heist itself is amusing done if almost in real time, our couple seem to spend about an hour confined in that store cupboard ... as we get to spend time with them up close and personal. Eli Wallach does a droll turn too, like he did in THE MOON-SPINNERS. The gloss piles on with scenes at The Ritz where Audrey looks amazing in that lace mask, and the restaurant is probably Maxim's. 

Audrey of course always looks at home when back in Paris (where she spends most of her movies it seems) and Peter (I had seen him in the stage play RIDE A COCK HORSE the year before) was at his pinnacle (I also loved LORD JIM) and also seems to have fun back in Paris after WHAT'S NEW PUSSYCAT, with that posse including Romy, Capucine, Paula and Ursula, also 1965. It was Audrey's third with Wyler. O'Toole's next hit would be THE LION IN WINTER while Audrey had TWO FOR THE ROAD with Albert, back with Donen again.


Right: TWO FOR THE ROAD.



The red car was an Autobianchi Cabriolet.
As The Beatles said: Beep beep'n beep beep yeah.