00:08Hello, Ben Mankiewicz with you on TCM where we're in the middle of another lineup of movies
00:13celebrating the arts of the con. Up next, a sleek cat and mouse caper film that showcases two smart,
00:20sophisticated professionals skilled in the art of manipulation going toe to toe. From United
00:25Artists in 1968, The Thomas Crown Affair. Steve McQueen plays Thomas Crown, a man who has it all.
00:33Good looks, money, an adventurous and luxurious life as a Boston banker. Naturally, he's bored.
00:42What do men do when they're bored? No, not that. Not in this case, anyway. Thomas Crown devises an
00:49elaborate, double-blind, five-man heist to steal millions from a Boston bank. His plan is the dream
00:56of so many movie thieves, the perfect crime. But his heist is bold enough, big enough to bring in
01:03McQueen's match, a determined insurance investigator. That is Faye Dunaway. As soon as she's on the case,
01:09the two lock horns in a battle of wits that turns the tables on who's chasing who. Who's chasing whom?
01:17Whom? Whom's chasing whom? Who's chasing who? I'm not sure. And you know what? Neither are you.
01:25Film is also laden with sexual tension. The Thomas Crown Affair premiered at the peak of success for its
01:32two stars and its director. McQueen had just earned his first Best Actor Oscar nomination for The Sand
01:38Pebbles from 1966. Dunaway, meanwhile, had earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her performance in
01:45Bonnie and Clyde, released in 1967. The director, Norman Jewison, was a nominee himself for a 1967
01:52drama, Best Director nod for In the Heat of the Night, which won the Best Picture Oscar.
01:58Jewison initially envisioned Sean Connery as the sophisticated Thomas Crown, which would have been
02:04an inspired bit of casting with Connery at the height of his powers playing James Bond.
02:09Jewison was surprised when he got a call from Steve McQueen lobbying to play Thomas Crown.
02:15Jewison and McQueen had worked together before on an important film for Jewison, the 1965 poker drama
02:21The Cincinnati Kid, where McQueen played more to his type, a card player moving from town to town
02:28looking for the next game. Jewison reconsidered his thoughts on Thomas Crown and went with McQueen in the
02:34process, allowing the star to play a different type of character. McQueen loved it and thrived. The film
02:41became a favorite of McQueen's. From 1968, also with Jack Weston, Paul Burke, and Yafet Kodo.
02:48The Thomas Crown Affair.
