Shirley MacLaine is Eurasian?!?

Gambit (1966) isn't quite a movie that you won't believe I haven't seen yet. Even though it's a 60s comic heist starring Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine (just my cup of tea), I've never even heard of it. I bet I could say the same for you.

It starts in Shanghai. Michael Caine and John Abbott (in a natty mustache and goatee) are watching chorus girl Shirley MacLaine's act. He brings her to the table, and offers her a large sum for a mysterious mission. Although she is silent and aloof, we next see her in the mythical city of Dammuz. They are going to pretend to be a wealthy husband and wife, and attempt to get close to the richest man in the world, Herbert Lom. 

You see, MacLaine resembles his dead wife, who looked like a priceless and ancient bust of a princess. As Caine gains Lom's trust, and Lom falls for MacLaine's beauty, Caine will steal the bust. Throughout this all, MacLaine remains silent, haughty, graceful and elegant. The plan, with many clever ruses, works perfectly.

SPOILER - It turns out that what we have been watching for 20 minutes was just a dramatization of Caine's plan. Psych! He now proceeds to actually invite MacLaine over, and she turns out to be suspicious and chatty, rather than cold and haughty. But she does take him up on it, and they are soon in Dammuz.

Things don't go quite as planned - in particular, Lom isn't a pushover. In fact, we find out that Lom figures Caine is up to no good pretty quickly, but decides to play along. Meanwhile, MacLaine is far from the mysterious temptress of the first 20 minutes, but proves to be pretty good at this seduction game. While Caine, the gentleman burglar master thief of his exposition, turns out to be pretty amateurish.

There are a few twists and turns, but a lot of this is the Caine/MacLaine dynamic. I am not a big fan of MacLaine, but she does have a lovely little scene towards the end. She uses her lithe and flexible dancer's body to squeeze into a security cage around the bust. It's almost a special effect. 

However, I can't say this was great. The heist plot, both the original plan and the as-executed, didn't totally make sense. I guess the plan was supposed to be a little dumb. It was full of elaborate tricks that don't really amount to much. The actual heist was pretty clumsy as well, but had a few decent twists, so I can't really complain. 

I must say, I enjoyed Caine's fantasy of MacLaine as cold, imperious ice princess (I think I've repeated a few of these adjectives) more than her usual more down-to-earth Fran Kubilek. Too bad it was all a dream.