The Thief Who Came to Dinner

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The Thief Who Came to Dinner

film poster
Directed by Bud Yorkin
Produced by Norman Lear
Bud Yorkin
Written by Terrence Lore Smith(novel)
Walter Hill
Starring Ryan O'Neal
Jacqueline Bisset
Warren Oates
Jill Clayburgh
Music by Henry Mancini
Cinematography Philip H. Lathrop
Editing by John Horger
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date(s) March 1, 1973
Running time 104 min.
IMDb profile

The Thief Who Came to Dinner is a 1973 comedy film directed by Bud Yorkin and based on the novel by Terrence Lore Smith.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Webster McGee (Ryan O'Neal) is a computer programmer who abruptly quits his job and adopts a life of crime as a jewel thief in Houston, Texas. He meets Laura (Jacqueline Bisset) at a society function who falls in love with him and then helps him to burglarize several high society members in Houston. Insurance investigator Dave Riley's (Warren Oates) primary focus in the film is to identify Webster as the jewel thief.


Actual filming took place in Houston, Texas. Director Bud Yorkin is known for his association with Norman Lear who together collaborated on All In The Family and Maude for broadcast television.


  • Webster is not a computer programmer in the novel.
  • In the novel, Webster meets his love in Chicagoland, where all the thefts and almost all of the story take place.


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