A discredited expatriate American professor, Theo Wilkins, has called on a young protégé and sophisticated thief, Paul Mason, to come over from the US to the south of France and help him pull off one final heist.

He has masterminded a caper to steal $4,000,000 in French francs from the underground vault of the casino of Monte Carlo, Monaco.

Wilkins has recruited a team of thieves – including Melanie, an exotic dancer – but he needs someone he can trust, Mason, to keep them all in line during the crime.

Melanie's protector, the saxophone player Pancho, and Wilkins enter the casino in the guises of (respectively) "Baron von Roelitz," an aristocrat with a disability who uses a wheelchair, and his physician, "Dr.

They cut through a barred gate in front of the vault and drill through the lock, secure the cash and make their way back to the director's elevator.

Immediately re-entering the director's office, Louis and Mason stash the money in the hollow seat of the baron's wheelchair.

Just as Pancho is regaining consciousness in the back of the ambulance, Wilkins, smiling in the excitement of his success, peacefully and unexpectedly dies.

Mason examines the money and discovers that it is brand new currency and that all the serial numbers are on file with the Bank of France, which will make it next to impossible to spend.