Netflix's original new French crime series Lupin is on pace to be viewed by more than 70 million households, breaking the record previously held by such mega-popular shows as Bridgerton and The Queen's Gambit. Based on the Maurice Leblanc character of Arsene Lupin created in 1905, the sophisticated gentleman thief makes a habit of stealing priceless objects for the thrill of it rather than the monetary need.
Arsene Diop (Omar Sy) is not the first of his kind, though. He actually joins a long lineage of classy gentleman thieves portrayed on the big screen throughout cinema history.
10 Edward Pierce - The Great Train Robbery (1978)
With due deference to Sean Connery's suave and sophisticated Mac in the 1999 movie Entrapment, his role as gentleman thief Edward Pierce in The Great Train Robbery is the proper place to start.
Written and directed by Michael Crichton, Pierce is an opulent and charming safe-crack who spends a year plotting to rob a monthly train shipment of 12,000 pounds of pure gold in 1854 London. When he isn't stealing loot with his pal Robert Agar (Donald Sutherland), Pierce hobnobs with the upper-crust of Victorian England.
9 Captain Feeney - Barry Lyndon (1975)
Speaking of Victorian England, Captain Feeney is Stanley Kubrick's ravishing period-piece Barry Lyndon (Arthur O'Sullivan) is one of the most garish and highfalutin thieves of all time.
After Irish Rogue Barry Lyndon (Ryan O'Neal) shoots and kills Quin (Leonard Rossiter) in a duel over his cousin Nora (Gay Hamilton), he flees into the woods for Dublin. As he does so, Barry is robbed blind by Captain Feeney, a well-off highwayman who steals from Barry to teach him a lesson rather than to enrich himself.
8 John Robie - To Catch A Thief (1955)
As far as Golden-Age actors are concerned, few are more elegant and refined than Cary Grant. In Alfred Hitchcock's To Catch a Thief, Grant plays the suave former cat-burglar John "The Cat" Robie, a gentleman thief who comes out of retirement to help the police catch another robber working along the French Riviera.
Robie accepts the mission to prove his own innocence, using his wily skills to identify the new thief and catch him in the act of stealing expensive jewelry from the affluent guests.
7 The Phantom - The Pink Panther (1963)
Rakish British actor David Niven classed-up every film he appeared in, and his role as the sophisticated gentleman thief Sir Charles Lytton in The Pink Panther is no exception.
Also known as The Phantom, Lytton is a dashing playboy who moonlights as a clandestine jewel thief. His biggest mark is the Pink Panther diamond, the largest and most priceless gemstone in the world. As The Phantom prepares to pilfer the pink panther, he meets his match in bumbling French inspector Jacques Clouseau (Peter Sellers).
6 Frank Abagnale Jr. - Catch Me If You Can (2002)
Based on an incredible true story, Catch Me If You Can chronicles the precocious thievery of Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio), a career conman who stole identities, forged millions in cash, and pretended to be a lawyer, doctor, and an airline pilot by age 19.
Abagnale uses his boyish good looks and natural charisma to con people, posing as sophisticated professionals and joining exclusive circles while pilfering millions of dollars. When Abagnale was finally arrested for check fraud, he became an FBI consultant to help catch other forgers.
5 Tom Ripley - The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Although he's also a conman and a psychopathic serial killer, Patricia Highsmith's character of Tom Ripley is one of the most devious and debonair thieves in literary history. In The Talented Mr. Ripley, Matt Damon brings the elegant mastermind to life.
Longing for a life of leisure and luxury, Tom Ripley jumps at the chance to travel to Italy to bring the rich Dickie Greenleaf back to Boston to work for his family business. However, after a taste of the sweet life, Ripley murders Dickie, steals his identity and bank funds, and lives a lavish lifestyle.
4 Danny Ocean - Ocean's Eleven (2001)
With an honorable mention for his cousin, Debbie (Sandra Bullock) in Ocean's Eight, Danny Ocean (George Clooney) radiates an aura of high-class and culture in the three casino-robbing heist films.
In addition to his dashing demeanor and opulent lifestyle, Ocean also registers as a gentleman thief as he does not need the money he steals, but still plots a heist as a form of payback to the casino owner, Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia).
3 Simon Templar - The Saint (1997)
Created by Leslie Charteris in 1928, Simon Templar aka The Saint is a top-flight thief and master of disguise who uses technology to pull off a string of daring robberies. In the 1997 big-screen adaption directed by Philip Noyce, Val Kilmer brings the character to life with a confident magnetism.
Tasked with stealing a top-secret cold-fusion formula, Templar uses every sneaky trick in the book to woo the chief scientist who created the formula, Dr. Emma Russell (Elisabeth Shue), to complete his mission.
2 Thomas Crown - The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
Thomas Crown is one of the most worldly and acculturated thieves in cinematic history. The gentleman thief is hard to suspect because he is already a wealthy bank executive who steals large sums of money to finance his profligate lifestyle.
Whether played by Steve McQueen in the original or Pierce Brosnan in the remake, Crown's fun-filled life of excess and elegant environs make him one of the most attractive bachelors and burglars ever filmed.
1 Robin Of Locksley - Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves (1991)
It doesn't get much more sophisticated than a prince. In the case of Robin of Locksley (Kevin Costner), aka The Prince of Thieves, the character has been described as coming from nobility in certain writings.
Of course, Robin Hood is most famous for robbing the rich to give to the poor, making him one of the most kindhearted and right-headed of all cinematic thieves. He may not live as lavish a lifestyle as the others but his intentions are enlightened, moral, and noble in ways even the most sophisticated long to be.
January 24, 2021 at 02:30AM
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Netflix's Lupin: The 10 Most Sophisticated Thieves In Movie History, Ranked - Screen Rant
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