Deathtrap (1982)

Director:

Sidney Lumet

Writers:

Ira Levin (play)
Jay Presson Allen (screenplay)

Release Date:

19 March 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Join us for an evening of lively fun...and deadly games. [UK Theatrical]

Plot:

A Broadway playwright puts murder in his plan to take credit for a student's script.

Plot Keywords:

Playwright | Writing | Psychic | Murder | Marriage

Awards:

6 nominations

Cast

Michael Caine	...	Sidney Bruhl
Christopher Reeve	...	Clifford Anderson
Dyan Cannon	...	Myra Bruhl
Irene Worth	...	Helga ten Dorp
Henry Jones	...	Porter Milgrim
Joe Silver	...	Seymour Starger
Tony DiBenedetto	...	Burt - the Bartender
Al LeBreton	...	Handsome Actor
Francis B. Creamer Jr.	...	The Minister (as Rev. Francis B Creamer Jr.)
Stewart Klein	...	Himself
Jeffrey Lyons	...	Himself
Joel Siegel	...	Himself
Jenny Lumet	...	Stage Newsboy
Jayne Heller	...	Stage Actress
George Peck	...	Stage Actor

Also Known As:

Ira Levin's Deathtrap (UK) (complete title) (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | UK:PG | Australia:M | Canada:18A | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1982) | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Victor Garber was nominated for the 1978 Tony Award (New York City) for Supporting or Features Actor in a Drama for "Deathtrap" as Clifford Anderson.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[the actor on stage delivers an unintelligible line]
First Audience Member: It's the worst play I've ever seen.
Second Audience Member: I can't believe Sidney Bruhl wrote it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Hellcats (#3.9)" (1990)

Twist upon twist makes an absorbing mystery even better...

Nothing's more enjoyable for me than a who-dun-it or suspense tale that keeps you guessing throughout as to how the whole thing will end. And that's precisely what happens in DEATHTRAP, based on a chilling play by Ira Levin ("Rosemary's Baby").

And in it, MICHAEL CAINE and CHRISTOPHER REEVE get to do the kind of stunt that Caine and Laurence Olivier pulled off in SLEUTH--with just about as much skill and as many puzzles as ever existed in that extraordinarily clever play.

But because it's meant to scare you, surprise you, and keep you guessing as to the outcome, it's difficult to write a review about the plot. Let's just say that what we know in the beginning is all you have to know about the film for the present. MICHAEL CAINE is an insanely jealous playwright whose latest play has failed miserably. When a young aspiring writer CHRISTOPHER REEVE sends him the manuscript of his play, Caine realizes that passing it off as his own would solve all his problems and get his reputation back.

From that point on, it's a matter of fun and games for the audience as Ira Levin's story unwinds, managing to trump Agatha Christie for the number of twists.

Caine and Reeve play off each other brilliantly, each bringing a certain dynamic tension to the tale as well as some humorous touches that come from a script that laces drama with humor.

Summing up: Well worth seeing--but not everyone is pleased with the ending.