John Brooks Good acting. Good story. Good villain. Well developed, there's an interesting first part (the plan as envisioned by Caine's character), middle part (the development) and very interesting ending. This is the sort of film you'd expect the ending to go a certain just about predictable way, and it absolutely doesn't at all, like, there are no clues of where the film is really taking the audience. And there's a good moral right at the death too (which is really where the whole movie is driving).Dialog is very good too, with some good wit and that avoid the tacky lines this sort of film will often throw at the viewer. Caine is good as always, Lom as the villain does his job just right, and Maclaine manages her role very well, and looks absolutely gorgeous here.There's just enough originality and volume to this film to break the usual monotonous storytelling its genre will often supply, and it's well balanced that it starts as intriguingly as it ends.Good stuff ! 8/10.

Prismark10 Gambit is a fun but dated caper film starring Michael Caine, Shirley MacLaine and Herbert Lom. The first half of the film is Caine describing the perfect heist. Caine is cool and resourceful, MacLaine is beautiful and silent, Lom who is the mark, is the shifty wealthy Arab. The second half of the film is the actual heist taking place as they try to steal a priceless sculpture and things do not go according to plan but the film still has a few twists up its sleeve.MacLaine is miscast as a Eurasian, Lom is less of a villain but a man who is urbane as well as suspicious and knows early on that something is afoot.It is an enjoyable romp with a lightness of touch.

MrOllie This is a very enjoyable and entertaining crime caper. Harry is a burglar(played by Michael Caine) who recruits Nicole (Shirley MacLaine)a dancer to help him rob tycoon Mr.Shahbandar. Apparently Harry has devised a foolproof scheme to rob the tycoon. The reason he employs Nicole is that she is a dead ringer for Mr.Shahbandar's late wife. The couple meet Mr. Shabandar and the robbery is then carried out to perfection. Or is it?? Watch it and see for yourself. I think you will really enjoy this charming entertaining movie which was one of Michael Caine's early films.The three main stars Caine, MacClaine and Lom are all perfect in their parts. Another trip back to the 1960's - oh how I wish that I had a time machine!!

gftbiloxi In the 1960s Hollywood combined the classic "caper" film with a healthy dose of romantic comedy. The result was a series of charming films such as CHARADE (1963) and HOW TO STEAL A MILLION (1966)--films that combined major stars, clever plots, witty scripts and which balanced suspense with comic and romantic complications.Made in 1966 and released in 1967, GAMBIT was among the last of these films, and like all others in the genre it had a complex plot. Ahmad Shahbandar (Herbert Lom) is quite possibly the richest man in the world and a recluse to boot, a man who has never gotten over the death of his beautiful Eurasian wife some twenty years ago. Harry Dean (Michael Caine) devises a clever plan to gain access to his luxury apartment and rob him blind: he will use honky-tonk dancer Nicole Chang (Shirley MacLaine), who bears a striking resemblance to Shahbandar's long dead wife, to breach Shahbandar's defenses.There's only one problem: it won't work. To tell exactly why it won't work is to betray the plot, which is extremely clever; suffice to say that Dean has made a number of incorrect assumptions about both the situation and the personalities involved. When the plot begins to twist, it does so in a truly unexpected way, taking both Dean and the audience completely by surprise.This is the sort of film that Hollywood used to do so well but which we seldom see today, a frothy, glamorous confection with first rate production values and expert performances from major stars. MacLaine gets top billing, and she is quite fine, but the weight of the film rests on Caine and Lom, who give memorably dry performances, and director Ronald Neame (who was responsible for a host of memorable films including THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE) keeps everything moving along at a smart pace with plenty of style.This may not be the best of the genre--I think both CHARADE and HOW TO STEAL A MILLION, to name but two, outpace it. But even so it is a perfectly charming film, the perfect antidote to a drab afternoon. Just add popcorn! GFT, Amazon Reviewer