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Sunday, January 17, 2010

How To Steal A Million

I just watched the movie How To Steal A Million with Audry Hepburn and Peter O'Toole made in 1966 on Netflix a few minutes ago, and I LOVED it!


First of all. The House!!!

It's a wonderful mansion in Paris, it's decorated so lavishly, it almost makes you sick (but in a good way!)
Part of the plot is that the father, played by Hugh Griffith, is a third generation master forger, or something like that. And that's how the Bonnet family is so rich. So he had this amazing hidden studio that you get to by.... wait for it.... WARDROBE!!! I know! It's amazing!
So, here is how the dresser looks normally....

Then you can open the door, and after you close the wardrobe door behind you, you slide over the rack on the inside of the door (see Hepburn's hand on it?) to close it from the inside! Then you slide the back panel to go up the tower by spiral staircase...

Once you get to the top, you have a wonderful studio space to forge... I mean, uhm, create your own artwork..

Then!.. you can also kick out one of the false bottom drawers, to reveal a small step for climbing back out again!

It really is the perfect idea for a hidden studio space. And as a person who loves going through wardrobes, secret passages, spiral staircases, and studio spaces... I think this idea might be a must-have in my future.

On to the cars!!!
Hepburn's character, Nicole, drove this adorable classic convertible mini!!

And O'Toole's persona, Simon Dermott, drove what I think might be a classic jaguar convertable, but I'm no car expert...


Now, costumes and makeup!!
It's made in '66, so of course it has all the wonderful Euro-Mod fashions of that time. Hepburn looks simply amazing in every scene!


My favorite had to be her black outfit. The scene opened up with a shot of her shoes...

Then it panned up her legs to her head, where she was wearing this great veil type thing, that covered her eyes, and I think either tied around her head or was pinned straight into her hair.

But it was so cool how you could still see her brilliant silver eyeshadow sparkle through it when it hit the light just-so

Her makeup was so classic Mod and so stream-lined that I think I spent most of the movie pausing like crazy on close-ups snapping pics of different angles, so I can have it on hand in case I want to re-create the look myself.



And now it is late, and I have church in the morning, so I bid you all sweet dreams, and leave you with yet another picture of maybe the best character in the movie...

Mustache Man


Goodnight!
-Brenna Kathleen

1 comment:

kelseyosterman said...

I always knew that you would like this movie!! It's probably my favorite Audrey movie. :) Oh, and Audrey's car is an Autobianchi Eden Roc. And, yes, Peter O'Toole drives a Jaguar E-Type. Both cars are 1965 model years, I believe.

P.S. I thought your blog had loaded wrong when I saw the "voyage on!" things. Not very clear. "Read on" might be better. I know voyage on sounds cooler, but clarity trumps coolness. ;)