Get Carter

What happens when a professional killer violates the code? Get Carter!
Get Carter (1971)
Timing: 1:52 (112 min)
7/10
590
—
no scores
7/10
590
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Release date
Country
Genre
Budget
$1 814 462
Revenue
$0
Director
Producer
Michael Caine, Michael Klinger
Operator
Wolfgang Suschitzky
Composer
Roy Budd
Artist
Assheton Gorton
Audition
Editing
John Trumper
All team (14)

Short description

Get Carter follows Jack Carter, a London-based criminal who travels to his native Newcastle upon learning that his brother Frank has died. The police account describes a drunk driving accident, but Carter refuses to accept it and begins asking questions among his brother's friends and acquaintances. His inquiries meet resistance from the local underworld, which would prefer he returned to London or disappeared altogether. What begins as an attempt to establish the truth becomes a pursuit of those responsible.

The film was directed by Mike Hodges, who also wrote the screenplay with Ted Lewis, working from Lewis's novel. It was Hodges's second feature, following Rumour the previous year, and it precedes Flash Gordon, A Prayer for the Dying, Black Rainbow and Croupier in his filmography. Michael Caine, who also produced alongside Michael Klinger, plays Jack Carter, heading a cast of 35 credited performers that includes Ian Hendry, Britt Ekland, John Osborne, Tony Beckley and George Sewell. Made for a budget of 2 million USD, the film runs 112 minutes.

On IMDb, Get Carter holds a rating of 7 out of 10 from 590 votes. A film critics' rating of 7.5 out of 10 from 38 reviews places critical assessment somewhat above the audience score, though both indicate a broadly positive reception.

What's left behind the scenes

  • The poker scene turned out to be the most difficult. Throughout it, four important conversations take place, explaining some plot twists, and the scene also introduces two characters to the audience – Kinner and Glenda. There were also certain difficulties with the light coming through the windows, as well as with the sound. Director Mike Hodges later admitted that this scene should have been rehearsed more thoroughly.
  • During the filming of the scene in which Carter throws Bramby from the upper level of a multi-story parking garage, Mike Hodges used four cameras. One filmed the fight between the characters on the stairs up close, another from the bottom of the stairs, the third showed the fall of a mannequin, and the fourth – Bramby’s body on the roof of the car where he landed.
  • Kinner was played by playwright John Osborne (1929-1994). Before filming, Osborne had never held a deck of cards in his life, so he had to be coached for the scene at the poker table.
  • In the opening scenes, Michael Caine's character reads the novel "The Big Sleep" (1940) by American writer and detective author Raymond Chandler (1888-1959).
  • In South Africa, the scene of phone sex with Britt Ekland was cut by the censors, so the actress’s role, already small, became even tinier. However, her name was not removed from the posters. Many viewers in that country were surprised that the actress whose name they read on the poster barely appeared on screen.

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