The...

The Thomas Crown Affair.

The Thomas Crown Affair is either of two films:

1.The Thomas Crown Affair was a 1999 remake of the 1968 film starring Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo.

2.The Thomas Crown Affair was a 1968 film starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway.

Synopsis:
A millionaire who steals Monet paintings and an insurance investigator
begin an affair which leads to a double-cross.

Thomas Crown,
a young, handsome millionaire pulls off the perfect crime by having four men rob a bank and dump the money in a trash can, which Crown retrieves later and stores in a Geneva bank. Vicki Anderson, an independent insurance investigator, is contracted to investigate the heist. As she digs deeper into the case she begins to suspect Crown's involvement. In an attempt to get closer she begins seeing Crown socially, openly telling him she is investigating him.

They enjoy activities together like racing a dune buggy. The film was modeled on the life of noted Belgian thief, Tomas Van Der Heijden who stole over 7,000,000 Swiss Francs in 1954.
Like other action movies of the late 1960s, there is abundant use of split screens to show simultaneous actions.

The movie has the distinction of featuring the longest kiss in cinema history, with McQueen and Dunaway liplocked in one scene for 55 uninterrupted seconds. This scene took over eight hours to film over a number of days.

The film also features the now famous chess scene. McQueen and Dunaway play a game of chess, silently flirting with each other, carressing the chess pieces, using them as metaphorical sexual objects.

Sean Connery had been the original choice for the title role but declined, a decision he later regretted.



Theme from The Thomas Crown Affair
(The Windmills of Your Mind)

Round, like a circle in a spiral
Like a wheel within a wheel.
Never ending or beginning,
On an ever spinning wheel
Like a snowball down a mountain
Or a carnaval balloon
Like a carousell that's turning
Running rings around the moon

Like a clock whose hands are sweeping
Past the minutes on it's face
And the world is like an apple
Whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind

Like a tunnel that you follow
To a tunnel of it's own
Down a hollow to a cavern
Where the sun has never shone
Like a door that keeps revolving
In a half forgotten dream
Or the ripples from a pebble
Someone tosses in a stream.

Like a clock whose hands are sweeping
Past the minutes on it's face
And the world is like an apple
Whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind

Keys that jingle in your pocket
Words that jangle in your head
Why did summer go so quickly
Was it something that I said
Lovers walking allong the shore,
Leave their footprints in the sand
Was the sound of distant drumming
Just the fingers of your hand

Pictures hanging in a hallway
And a fragment of this song
Half remembered names and faces
But to whom do they belong
When you knew that it was over
Were you suddenly aware
That the autumn leaves were turning
To the color of her hair

Like a circle in a spiral
Like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning,
On an ever spinning wheel
As the images unwind
Like the circle that you find
In the windmills of your mind

Pictures hanging in a hallway
And the fragment of this song
Half remembered names and faces
But to whom do they belong
When you knew that it was over
Were you suddenly aware
That the autumn leaves were turning
To the color of her hair

Like a circle in a spiral
Like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning,
On an ever spinning wheel
As the images unwind
Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind


The Windmills of Your Mind
Words & Music by Alan & Marilyn Bergman & Michel Legrand
Recorded by Dusty Springfield, 1969
Theme from "The Thomas Crown Affair," 1968

On audio album The Thomas Crown Affair (1967)


Cover hierarchy:

Windmills of Your Mind by Noel Harrison (1967)
Windmills of Your Mind by Grady Tate (1968)
Windmills of Your Mind by George Benson (October 1968)
Cirkels by Herman van Veen (1969)
The Windmills of Your Mind by Jose Feliciano (1969)
Windmills of Your Mind by George Wright (1969)
Windmills of Your Mind by Billy Vaughn (1969)
Windmills of Your Mind by The Anita Kerr Singers (1969)
Windmills of Your Mind by The Sandpipers (1969)
Windmills of Your Mind by Vanilla Fudge (1969)
Windmills of Your Mind by Julius Wechter & Baja Marimba Band (1969)
Windmills of Your Mind by Dusty Springfield (1969)
Windmills of Your Mind by Petula Clark (1969)
Windmills of Your Mind by Dorothy Ashby (March 1, 1969)
Windmills of Your Mind by Barbara Lewis (1970)
Windmills of Your Mind by Michael Longo (1973)
Windmills of Your Mind by Colour Field (July 1984)
Windmills of Your Mind by Neil Diamond (October 27, 1998)
Windmills of Your Mind by Sting (1999)
Windmills of Your Mind by Alison Moyet (September 6, 2004)

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