In the film, Vicki Anderson (Dunaway) is hired to investigate the culprits of a multi-million dollar bank heist, orchestrated by Thomas Crown (McQueen).

When she sees Crown's profile on the list, she intuitively recognizes him as capable of orchestrating the robbery, and shortly thereafter guesses the cellular method that he used to organize the robbers.

While Vicki is clearly closing in on Crown, even using the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as leverage against his liquid assets, he forces her to realize the extent of her conflicted emotions.

When she seemingly persuades him to negotiate an end, Eddy Malone stubbornly refuses to make any deal, leaving her torn between the men, her convictions, and her heart.

Choosing her loyalty, Vicki and the police stake out the cemetery, where they watch one of the robbers make the drop, then lie in wait to ambush Crown.

The audience never learns whether there was actually money in the bags dropped at the cemetery or not, nor what becomes of Vicki following her blurred role of playing both ends against the middle—trying to entice a criminal to confess or entrap him—while simultaneously abetting him in concealing the original crime and perpetrating a new one successfully.

A pioneering split screen photography technique used to show simultaneous actions was inspired by the breakthrough Expo 67 films In the Labyrinth and A Place to Stand.

[7][8] McQueen performed his own stunts, which include playing polo and driving a dune buggy at high speed along the Massachusetts coastline.

[citation needed] Crown's two-door Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow carried the Massachusetts vanity license plate "TC 100" for the film.

[citation needed] The Thomas Crown Affair made its U.S. television premiere on NBC Saturday Night at the Movies in September 1972.

The film was released on DVD by MGM Home Entertainment in the United States in February 1999 with two special features, an audio commentary by director Norman Jewison and theatrical trailer.

Critics praised the chemistry between McQueen and Dunaway and Norman Jewison's stylish direction, but considered the plotting and writing rather thin.

The site's consensus states: "Steve McQueen settles into the role with ease and aplomb, in a film that whisks viewers into an exotic world with style and sex appeal.

The 1999 remake was released starring Pierce Brosnan as Crown, Rene Russo as the insurance investigator, and Denis Leary as the detective.

The initial script had been written by John Rogers from a story he had co-written with Harley Peyton, while additional material was provided by Nick Meyer, Michael Finch and Karl Gajdusek.