Deathtrap (1982)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

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 | Psychic | Writing | Murder | Hamptons

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:

The final scene in the film was shot on the actual set of the Broadway production of "Deathtrap" which was running at the time the movie was made.

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:

Spoofed in In the Can (1990)

Wickedly Witty, Super-Twisty

When DEATHTRAP was first released, the poster--reproduced on the cover of this DVD--offered a graphic akin to a Rubik's Cube. It is an appropriate image: originally written for the stage by Ira Levin, who authored such memorable works as ROSEMARY'S BABY and THE STEPFORD WIVES, the play was one of Broadway's most famous twisters, and under Sidney Lumet's direction it translates to the screen extremely well.

DEATHTRAP is one of those films that it is very difficult to discuss, for to do so in any detail gives away the very plot for which it is famous. But the opening premise is extremely clever: Sidney Bruhl (Michael Caine) is the famous author of mystery plays, but these days he seems to have lost his touch. After a particularly brutal opening night, an old student named Clifford Anderson (Christopher Reeve) sends him a script for a play he has written. It is called "Deathtrap," and Sidney recognizes it as a surefire hit. Just the sort of hit that would revive his career... indeed, a hit to die for. And when Clifford visits to discuss the play, events suddenly begin to twist in the most unexpected manner possible.

Like Anthony Shaffer's equally twisty SLEUTH, DEATHTRAP is really a story more at home on the stage than the screen--to reach full power it needs the immediacy that a live performance offers. Still, under the expert guidance of director Sidney Lumet, it makes a more-than-respectable showing on the screen. Much of this is due to the cast, which is remarkably fine. Michael Caine gives a truly brilliant performance, Dyan Cannon is funny and endearing as Sidney's relentlessly anxious wife, and Christopher Reeve gives what might be the single finest performance in his regrettably short acting career. If you can't see it in a first-rate theatrical production, this will more than do until one comes along.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer