The Thomas Crown Affair

Visible crew/equipment: When Crown nearly walks into the lorry at the beginning you can see cables of sort in the left hand mirror from the shot inside the lorry. (00:02:50)

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Visible crew/equipment: When Thomas Crown exits the museum after having stolen the Monet, we see a couple of strange characters, probably crew members, standing on the ledge of the building just behind the cab he gets into. The man with the mask is the most interesting. (00:20:15)

Other mistake: When Catherine breaks into Crown's house, her assistants immediately get to work on the security panel. When the first assistant touches the panel, it falls off the wall and he has to quickly push it back into place.

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Detective Michael McCann: I love this neighborhood. Some of these broads are wearing my salary.

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Trivia: After Thomas has stolen the first painting and is coming out of the museum main gates, you can see a balcony in the background with a man in a bowler hat and suit standing on it. A clue to viewers who notice it maybe?

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Question: How does he fold the Monet in half to fit into the briefcase? Originally I thought he'd separated it from the wooden frame (ie. just a canvas), but when he takes it out back at his house he holds it up, and the wooden frame's still in one piece. Also, surely folding it in half would crack the paint, but despite the painting being twice the width of the briefcase (it fits snugly when the case is open), he then shuts the case down to a "normal" size. Any ideas?

Answer: I believe that the Monet that Crown hides in his study is not the one that was stolen, it is a copy that he already had prepared. He can enjoy the copy knowing that the original (with the broken spreader bars) is also in his possession. The stolen original then goes to the forger who repairs the broken spreader bars, and then paints another painting (using water soluble paint) over the Monet, so he can "return" it to the museum 3 days later. It gets more complicated when he discovers that Russo is on to him so he has a second forgery made (even the edges forged to match) over the top of "Dogs Playing Poker." He doesn't know if it will be necessary, but given his research into his new adversary, he concocts this contingency. It is likely that he has many contingencies in place, but the "Monet with a ghost underneath" is the only one we get to see. Of course for my theory to hold water, there must be (or have been) that earlier forgery - unless it has been destroyed.

Answer: The only explanation I can come up with is that the inner part of the frame is precut. With the frame cut that way it would allow the picture to fold, but when unfolded it would be fairly rigid with the exception of bending it forward at that point. When he pulls the painting out, it still holds the square shape of the frame. Best I can come up with.

Answer: He doesn't fold it. The frame is solid. It's just movie editing to make the viewer think he put it in her briefcase. You can't fold a Monet.

He absolutely folds it. We see him put it in the case and him then shut the case, folding it in half.

Jon Sandys

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