Gambit Review

In this peculiarly mild but charming caper dug up from the heyday of Michael Caine’s stardom, the Cockney actor reworks Harry Palmer into a gentleman thief manipulating/romancing sweet Shirley MacLaine into distracting lascivious Arab-tycoon Herbert Lom because she’s a dead ringer for his dead wife. Meanwhile, Caine can filch his priceless Egyptian bust from its supposedly impregnable berth. Stalwart British director Ronald Neame (strong on mid-range thrillers like The Poseidon Adventure and Hopscotch) makes much of his swish locations — Hong Kong and Morocco — and pretty faces, but 
the long-winded script cramps the fun.