Faye Dunaway plays insurance investigator Vicki Anderson in The Thomas Crown Affair (1968).
Vicki is hired to investigate a carefully organized bank robbery connected to wealthy businessman Thomas Crown, played by Steve McQueen. Her professional pursuit becomes complicated when she suspects Crown may be responsible and develops a romantic relationship with him. The film’s tension comes from the conflict between her investigation and her attraction.
The film was directed by Norman Jewison and written by Alan R. Trustman. Its visual style includes split-screen compositions, which show several simultaneous viewpoints and give the robbery a highly designed, puzzle-like quality. Michel Legrand composed the score, including the song “The Windmills of Your Mind,” which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
The 1968 film is separate from the 1999 remake, in which the investigator is named Catherine Banning and is played by Rene Russo. That difference is a frequent source of confusion when the two versions are discussed.