Gambit
Second Sight
R2 DVD
Gambit
is witty comedy with a wry sense of humour starring Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine. It was released in 1967 and was part of
Hollywood’s romantic crime comedy obsession. Films such as Charade (1963) and How
to Steal a Million (1966) worked a charm and Gambit was part of this rich
genre. Filled with exotic locations, strange characters and great dialogue it
is a form of comedy somewhat overlooked today.
Ahmad
Shahbandar (Herbert Lom) is
one of the richest men in the world and lives as a recluse,
he has supposedly never gotten over the death of his wife and is portrayed in
the newspapers as somewhat of a melancholic eccentric. The problem is that this
is all media hype generated by Shahbandar to protect his
privacy. He is actually a very shrewd businessman and knows all the tricks of
the trade; he hasn’t earned his wealth by being naive.
Harry
Dean (Michael Caine) is an over-confident cockney con-man who having read about
Shahbandar thinks he is an easy mark. His recruits
streetwise nightclub dancer Nicole Chang (Shirley MacLaine),
who bears a striking resemblance to Shahbandar's long
dead Eurasian wife as bait to gain access to Shahbandar’s
apartment. He has it all planned right down to the priceless statue he aims to
steal.
The
film opens as Dean and an accomplish recruit Chang and we see the whole plan
through Dean’s eye, Chang is refined and stylish and everything goes to plan,
he swings off the Balcony of Shahbandar's apartment
with the artefact in the bag. Of course,
this is all in Dean’s mind and as soon as he approaches Chang
things begin to go wrong. She is streetwise, speaks her mind and talks
incessantly; she is certainly not easily kept in check and is constantly
distracted by anything and everything.
But
his is just the beginning, when they arrive to undertake their carefully
planned criminal venture, there is no limousine at the airport, the motel is
not what they thought it would be and Shahbandar has
them watched as he is more than aware how vulnerable he may be to a trickster
using a lookalike for his dead wife to get through the door.
The
plot is complex and twists and turns into every which way, soon we realize that
Chang is not as stupid as she seems and may actually be the key to the success
of the plan. There is so much to like about this film. Michael Caine as the
truly arrogant Harry Dean who is convinced he can transform himself from a
cockney crook into a refined Englishman well enough to fool one of the world’s
richest men is marvellous. MacLaine as Chang is
superbly amusing and the chemistry between them creative a romantic element
which adds to the spice of the film. The script is tight and the dialogue is
filled with dry and witty humour.
It
is surprising to think this has not been available on DVD before and the
edition from Second Sight is excellent. It offers an extremely clear print in
2:35/16.9 anamorphic widescreen and the DD 2.0 track is as clear as a well.
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