![]() ![]() ![]() He is serving time in San Jobel prison when the U.S. It Takes a Thief, which was created by television writer Roland Kibbee, featured the adventures of cat burglar, pickpocket, and thief Alexander Mundy, who steals to finance his life as a polished playboy and sophisticate. According to Wagner's autobiography, Pieces of My Heart (2008) Wagner consulted with Cary Grant, who starred in To Catch a Thief, on how to play Alexander Mundy. It Takes a Thief was inspired by, though not based upon, the 1955 motion picture To Catch a Thief, directed by Alfred Hitchcock both of their titles stem from the English proverb "Set a thief to catch a thief" (or as it is more often phrased, "It takes a thief to catch a thief"). It was among the last of the series in the 1960s spy television genre, although Mission: Impossible continued for several more years. For most of the series, Malachi Throne played Noah Bain, Mundy's boss. government in return for his release from prison. It stars Robert Wagner in his television debut as sophisticated thief Alexander Mundy, who works for the U.S. He confessed in 1969, telling the police he had done it to draw attention to his father’s campaign against pensioners having to pay the licence fee.Īt the time of the heist, Lord Robbins, chairman of trustees of the National Gallery, described the thief as “a man without fear” and “probably a commando or something like that”, while the authorities feared that the portrait – worth almost £3m in today’s money – was stolen to order and lost for ever.īunton’s exploits were even referenced in Dr No, as Sean Connery’s James Bond enters his antagonist’s lair, spots the portrait of the duke on an easel and says: “Oh, there it is.It Takes a Thief is an American action-adventure television series that aired on ABC for three seasons between 19. The story took another turn in 2012 when a confidential file was released at the National Archives which identified the “thief” as Bunton’s 20-year-old son, John. The return of the rolled-up and frameless Goya portrait eventually led to Bunton’s confession, although he was cleared of stealing the portrait and imprisoned for three months for the offence of larceny of the picture frame. The BBC is an organisation that will increasingly need defending,” he said. “I can see the government’s point of view, but I think it’s a political act by the government. Michell said the recent decision to reverse that concession was another moment in the “ongoing battle” between the Conservative government and the BBC. “He’s really irresponsible in terms of family life, but he has got this caring side and is very kind and he wants to help the unemployed who have no power,” he said.Īt the end of the film there is a reference to the fact the licence fee had been waived for the over-75s, an issue that Bunton was prepared to go to jail twice over. His witty retorts to the prosecution barrister reportedly made the jury members stifle laughter, and at an industry screening at Venice, Broadbent’s performance as the no-nonsense Geordie elicited laughs, despite the language barrier.īroadbent said Bunton was a complex man. It was suggested that the crime had been motivated by the low-earning Bunton’s campaign against the BBC licence fee – which he saw as a “tax” – when the government had just spent £140,000 acquiring the Goya for the nation. He said the festival felt “almost normal”, but added that he thought it might be difficult for older actors to work because of issues over insurance.īunton, who is described as a “fantasist” in the film but also presented as a principled, socially minded citizen, took to the stand at the Old Bailey wearing NHS standard Bakelite glasses. Photograph: Keystone/Getty Imagesĭuring a year with few major films premiering on the Lido, Roger Michell’s film – shot in Bradford and Leeds – has taken a central role, with the story of Bunton and the “borrowed” Goya portrait of the Duke of Wellington providing laughs at a more subdued, Covid-19-affected festival.īroadbent, 71, said he had been apprehensive about travelling to Venice because of the risks caused by the Covid-19 crisis. Socially minded: the real Kempton Bunton outside a London court in 1965. ![]()
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