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The Thomas Crown Affair
Self-made millionaire businessman Thomas Crown is a handsome, dashing, cultured adrenaline junkie. Out of boredom, he masterminds a five-man heist of $2.66 million from a Boston bank, with the getaway driver dumping the money in a quiet cemetery trash can. None of the men ever meet Crown face to face, nor know or meet each other before the robbery. Crown retrieves the money after secretly trailing the drop. He deposits it into a numbered bank account in Geneva over several trips to avoid drawing undue attention to his actions.
Independent investigator Vicki Anderson is contracted by the bank's insurance company to investigate the heist; she will receive 10% of the stolen money if she recovers it. Speculating that whoever planned the robbery was familiar with the bank's routines because he had an account there, and that the stolen money has been spirited to Switzerland, Vicki and the police draw up a list of bank customers who have made several recent trips to Geneva. When she sees Crown's profile on the list, she intuitively recognizes him as capable of orchestrating the robbery, and shortly thereafter guesses the cellular method that he used to organize the robbers.
Growing closer to her quarry, Vicki makes it clear to Crown that she knows he is the thief and that she intends to prove it. A game of cat and mouse ensues, which spurs both a physical and emotional attraction that soon evolves into an affair. This complicates Vicki's vow to find the money and help detective friend Eddy Malone bring the perpetrator to justice.
A reward offer entices the wife of the getaway driver, Erwin Weaver, to inform on him for $25,000. Vicki finds out that he was hired by a man he never saw but whose voice he heard (via a microphone). She tries placing Erwin in the same room as Crown, but there is no hint of recognition on either's part.
While Vicki is clearly closing in on Crown, even using the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as leverage against his liquid assets, he forces her to realize the extent of her conflicted emotions. When she seemingly persuades him to negotiate an end, Malone stubbornly refuses to make any deal, leaving her torn between the men, her convictions, and her heart.
Crown organizes another robbery exactly like the first with different accomplices and tells Vicki where the "drop" will be, because he has to know for sure that she is on his side. The robbery goes off like clockwork.
Choosing her loyalty, Vicki and the police stake out the cemetery, where they watch one of the robbers make the drop, then lie in wait to ambush Crown. However, when his Rolls-Royce arrives, he has sent a messenger in his place, with a telegram inviting her to either bring the money and join him or to keep the car as a consolation prize. Reflexively smiling at his eluding her trap, she soon realizes she had revealed her hand yet gained nothing in return. Tearing the telegram to bits, she strews the pieces to the wind, tearfully staring at the sky while Crown escapes unruffled overhead.