Gambit 1966

Aspiring Cockney cat burglar Harry Tristan Dean and his sculptor friend Emile Fournier stumble upon a spectacular Eurasian showgirl in a crowded Hong Kong nightclub: Nicole Chang. Nicole bears an uncanny resemblance to Ahmad Shahbandar, the world’s richest man, as well as to a priceless Li Su statue owned by the tycoon in tribute to his late wife. The two men hatch a plan to seize the Li Su, replacing it with a convincing replica created by Emile, while Harry explains the caper to Emile as if it will be flawless — a flawless performance that Nicole quietly observes, her skepticism tempered by a tempting offer of an authentic British passport.

The trio travels to the Middle Eastern city of Dammuz, adopting the identities of Sir Harold Dean and Lady Nicole Dean. They check into Shahbandar’s hotel, where the magnate resides in a luxurious penthouse. Nicole, while wary, questions the seemingly easy job and the promise of a passport, yet she is drawn in by the possibility of a better life — and by the dangerous allure of Harry. Shahbandar appears to play along, ostensibly to see what they are really plotting, while also testing Harry’s nerve and resolve.

During a lunch that Shahbandar arranges, Nicole asks to glimpse Shahbandar’s private quarters, and the invitation becomes a crucial moment for Harry to study the security around the statue. Nicole’s growing doubt about the venture clashes with her burgeoning feelings for Harry, but she moves forward because she’s drawn to him and to the possibilities the plan promises. The private tour reveals a sophisticated electronic device guarding the Li Su, a detail that leaves Nicole horrified yet still compelled to keep going.

Shahbandar hosts dinner, and although Harry initially refuses, he convinces Nicole to accept so she can occupy Shahbandar while he makes his move. At a nightclub later that evening, Nicole diverts Shahbandar’s suspicions by slipping away to warn Harry under the ruse of keeping him waiting. The two lovers manage to extract the statue without triggering the alarm, but Nicole’s exuberant heartbreak-thanks-to-love triggers the electronic beam, unintentionally sounding the alarm.

As planned, Nicole heads to the airport to flee to Hong Kong while Harry follows a separate route. Shahbandar’s guards discover the missing statue and inspect a secret compartment in the wall, where the real Li Su is hidden; the statue in Harry’s hands is only a carefully crafted decoy. When Shahbandar rechecks the secret compartment, he finds the fake in place of the original and has Nicole arrested at the airport. The next morning Shahbandar informs her that his agents have located Harry in Hong Kong and presents a dossier proving Harry’s criminal history is clean, a twist that reveals the tycoon’s ambivalent interest in sparing their futures.

Harry admits that his softer side for Nicole led him to play along, underestimating how thoroughly Shahbandar could read the situation — and how much he might still offer for a chance at a quieter life. Shahbandar hints at a possible break, offering Nicole a choice: return the Li Su and risk Harry’s arrest, or face the consequences and walk away. Back in Hong Kong, Emile’s workshop becomes the stage for the ultimate reveal: the authentic Li Su is stashed inside a hollow compartment within a Buddha statue that Emile had previously sent to Shahbandar, and the entire scheme was always meant to appear as a theft so the truth would surface in a staged “draw.”

Emile had also prepared three exact replicas of the Li Su, creating the prospect of selling the genuine statue to interested buyers after a believable “theft.” Harry sends Shahbandar a telegram declaring the location of the real Li Su and signaling that the game, after all, is a draw. When Nicole voices her condemnation of Harry’s dishonesty, he responds with a dramatic gesture, smashing one of the replicas to show that she—above all—matters more than his criminal ambitions. The lovers depart Emile’s workshop, seemingly heartbroken, while Emile receives a call from a buyer and retrieves another one of the secret replicas from a closet, signaling that the Li Su saga has not ended but will continue in new hands.