Surprise Package
Theatrical release poster
Directed byStanley Donen
Screenplay byHarry Kurnitz
Based onA Gift from the Boys
1958 novel
by Art Buchwald[1]
Produced byStanley Donen
Paul B. Radin
StarringYul Brynner
Mitzi Gaynor
Noël Coward
CinematographyChristopher Challis
Edited byJim Clark
Music byBenjamin Frankel
Production
company
Stanley Donen Productions
Distributed byColumbia Pictures Corporation
Release date
  • September 29, 1960 (1960-09-29) (US)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1,100,000 (US and Canada rentals)[2]

Surprise Package is a 1960 American comedy film directed by Stanley Donen and starring Yul Brynner, Mitzi Gaynor, and Noël Coward. The supporting cast features George Coulouris, Michael Balfour, Eric Pohlmann and Barry Foster.[3] The screenplay concerns an American gangster living on a Greek island who hatches a plan to steal the crown of a banished king.[4]

Plot

Nico March is being deported by the U.S. government. Not wanting his money confiscated he orders an accomplice to hide it while also keeping an eye on his longtime girlfriend, Gabby Rogers.

Exiled to a greek island Nico quickly meets corrupt cop Mirales and the banished king of Anatolia, Pavel II, who wants to sell Nico his old crown. Nico is double-crossed by his accomplice, who instead of sending him the money sends Gabby.

Nico figures out where the king's crown is hidden inside the villa where he lives and plans to steal it, using Gabby to distract him. Other criminals, including Dr. Panzer and strongman Igor, want to get to it first. They knock Nico unconscious and found the crown but Tibor, Nico's Hungarian spy friend, steals it back. In the ensuing chase Tibor gets shot and dies in Gabby's arms. Gabby gives the crown to Stavrin who will place it in a monastery for all the people to see. Dr. Panzer and Igor end up placed under arrest for the murder of Tibor.

Nico proposes and Gabby accepts. Nico and the king both need money, so they turn the latter's villa into a casino, where Gabby works as the hat & coat check girl.

Cast

See also

References

  1. ^ "Home".
  2. ^ "Rental Potentials of 1960". Variety. 4 January 1961. p. 47. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  3. ^ IMDb.com
  4. ^ BFI.org

External links


Films directed by Stanley Donen
Categories