Sleuth
Short description
Andrew Wyke is a wealthy English crime novelist who lives in a large country house filled with games, mechanical toys and tricks of illusion. He invites Milo Tindle, a London hairdresser and the lover of his wife Marguerite, to the house. Wyke knows about the affair and claims he is willing to let his wife go, but he sets a condition: Milo is to stage a burglary of valuable jewellery from the house so that Wyke can claim the insurance money and Milo can sell the pieces and support Marguerite in the style to which she is accustomed. Milo agrees, and the two men begin a contest of cunning and role-play in which each tries to outwit the other.
The film is Joseph L. Mankiewicz's fourteenth feature as director, following There Was a Crooked Man... in 1970, and was written by Anthony Shaffer from his own play. Laurence Olivier plays Wyke and Michael Caine plays Tindle, with Alec Cawthorne, John Matthews, Eve Channing and Teddy Martin in supporting roles. It was produced by Morton Gottlieb for Palomar Pictures International on a budget of about four million dollars, and took roughly six million dollars worldwide.
On IMDb it holds 7.9 from around 53,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.7 from about 749 votes, while the critics' rating stands at 8.7 from 29 reviews, noticeably higher than the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Margaret Wyke in Andrew’s painting was painted from the actress Joanne Woodward.
- Alan Bates declined the role of Milo Tindle, considering it unsuitable for an actor of his stature. Albert Finney was deemed somewhat full-bodied. The role went to Michael Caine.
- The laughter of the statue of Jolly Jack Tar is the laughter of Laurence Olivier himself.
- Anthony Shaffer's play premiered on Broadway on November 12, 1970. Andrew was played by Anthony Quayle, and Milo by Kate Baxter. The play ran for 1222 performances.
- Filming period: April – July 1972.
- Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s final film.
- The name of the fictional actress Eva Channing, who supposedly plays Andrew's wife Margaret, was created by Mankiewicz from the names of Eve Harrington and Margo Channing – the heroines of his famous film “All About Eve” (1950).
- The Edgar Allan Poe statuette on Andrew Wyke's shelf is a genuine Edgar A. Poe Award, initially received by Anthony Shaffer for a play and later for the screenplay. Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz also has his own “Edgar” – for the film “Five Fingers” (1952).
- There are only two actors in the film – Olivier and Kane. All other names appearing in the opening credits belong to non-existent actors. Alec Coutorne, who supposedly appears in the film as Inspector Doppler, does not exist either. Nor do any of the others, who do not appear in the film at all. All this was done to mislead the audience, who should be prepared for the appearance of new characters in the film.
- Since there are no other actors in the film, it can be said that this is the first film where the entire cast was nominated for an Oscar. The second such film will be Steve Binder and Peter Hunt’s “Send Me No Flowers” (1975), where James Whitmore, who played the only role, will also receive an Oscar nomination.
- Caine was delighted to work with Laurence Olivier, but he couldn't figure out how to address the great actor. Reaching a dead end, he even asked him about it. Olivier replied: “Alright, I’ll be Lord Olivier, and you Mr. Michael Caine. But we’ll only be able to address each other like that once. After that, I’ll be Larry, and you Mike.”
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
