Deathtrap

Sidney Bruhl is a Broadway playwright whose successful years are behind him. When a former student, Clifford Anderson, sends him a manuscript for a play, Sidney sees a way out of his professional and financial troubles: he invites the young man to his country house with the intention of killing him and passing the work off as his own. Sidney's wife, Myra, is drawn into the scheme, and the arrival of others at the house complicates a plan that seemed carefully worked out. Ira Levin's play provides the basis, and the story unfolds as a mix of comedy, crime and mystery, with reversals along the way.

Sidney Lumet directed the film, the sixteenth of the twenty-six features he made, arriving between The Verdict and Power. Jay Presson Allen wrote the screenplay from Levin's work, Burtt Harris produced, and the credited crew numbered fifty-seven. Michael Caine plays Sidney, Christopher Reeve plays Clifford, and Dyan Cannon plays Myra, with Irene Worth, Henry Jones and Joe Silver in supporting roles.

Released in March 1982, the film runs 116 minutes. Made for a budget of about 10 million dollars, it took roughly 19 million dollars worldwide, a modest return. On IMDb it holds a 6.8 rating from nineteen reviews, while on TMDB it stands at 6.7 from 323 votes, so critics and audiences are closely aligned on it.