Pretentious Pictures Presents:

You Need Money to Be Rich

stealing with style

Reg’d © Library of Congress

Nobody ever met cuter:

She's tough; he's refined.

She's practical; he's cultured.

She's brilliant; he's elegant.

She's serious; he's frivolous.

She's a lawyer; he's a crook.

She never loses; neither does he.

Romeo Balue is a handsome light-hearted charming thief, and he has his sights set on a wide selection of paintings originally stolen by the Nazis from his friend Ada’s family during the war, now in the hands of the Kremlin. But Ada, weary of the constant anxiety associated with high-profile theft, forbids him to steal them. Then again, she can’t afford £10 million to buy them back. The only option, then, for Romeo, is to steal the money to buy them. Right?

Daring British barrister Francesca Smithson, the darling of the press for her courtroom tactics, is appointed to defend American CFO Hugo Danch at hearings to extradite him to New York for absconding with a fortune from his crashing company Engone.

Due to a mix-up—well, is it a mix-up?—Francesca, when she comes to meet her new client for the first time, goes to Romeo’s room and the call-girl Romeo had asked for is sent to Hugo’s. 

And, what is it, her spirit of fun? She is in a rut—she plays along!

Soon she's leading a double life—by night Romeo's bird of paradise, by day the defender of a man with a briefcase full of bearer bonds.

Hugo Danch, an American embezzler, has fled to London with $100 million worth of bonds—and has the hotel room next to Romeo’s. Watching Hugo on TV, Romeo spots a pin number written on Hugo’s hand, which piques Romeo’s interest.

To avoid arrest Hugo turns the bonds over to her—and then Romeo disappears with them, and with a truckload of paintings. Who's been conning who?

At Ada’s house in Como he relaxes—until Francesca shows up with a pair of thugs after her, and the game heats up.

Set in London and Como

Pretentious pictures presents

You Need Money to Be Rich

Robert MacLean is an independent filmmaker. His recent The Light Touch is on Amazon Prime, Tubi and Scanbox, and his 7-minute comedy is an out-loud laugh. He is also a novelist, a playwright, a blogger, a YouTuber, a film reviewer, a literary critic, and a stand-up comic poet. Born Toronto, PhD McGill, taught at Canadian universities, too cold, live Greece, Irish citizen. No brains, but an intellectual snob.

"A serious man has few ideas. A man of many ideas cannot be serious."—Paul Valéry