Mirage (1965)

An accountant suddenly suffers from amnesia. This appears related to the suicide of his boss. Now some violent thugs are out to get him. They work for a shadowy figure known simply as The Major.

Director:

Edward Dmytryk

Writers:

Peter Stone (screenplay), Howard Fast (novel) (as Walter Ericson)

Stars:

Gregory Peck, Diane Baker, Walter Matthau

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gregory Peck	...	David Stillwell
Diane Baker	...	Shela
Walter Matthau	...	Ted Caselle
Kevin McCarthy	...	Sylvester Josephson
Jack Weston	...	Lester
Leif Erickson	...	Major Crawford Gilcuddy
Walter Abel	...	Charles Stewart Calvin
George Kennedy	...	Willard
Robert H. Harris	...	Dr. Augustus J. Broden
Anne Seymour	...	Mrs. Frances Calvin
House Jameson	...	Bo (as House B. Jameson)
Hari Rhodes	...	Lt. Franken
Syl Lamont	...	Benny
Eileen Baral	...	Irene
Neil Fitzgerald	...	Joe Turtle

Storyline

Walking down twenty-seven flights of stairs after the power goes out in the New York City office building he is in, David Stillwell emerges outside on the ground level to find that a man he didn't know either jumped or was pushed out a window to his death. That man was Charles Calvin, the head of Unidyne, a humanitarian organization that works toward world peace. David notices other unusual goings-on. What he considers his normal routine that others he knows should recognize, don't. People that he doesn't know seem to know him, such as the beautiful young woman with who he walked down the stairs but who ran off when they got to the bottom. And things that he thought he saw or thought he knew end up not being the case, such as the multiple sub-basement levels he thought were in that office building which don't seem to exist in the clear light of day. When he finally thinks about it, he believes he has some form of amnesia. As an example, he knows that he works as a cost accountant, but...

---

Plot Keywords:

amnesia | paranoia | hitchcockian | scientist | conspiracy | 

---

Taglines:

Is The Key In His Mind...Or In Her Arms?

---

Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

---

Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

The line spoken by Lester (Jack Weston), "you can't be alive in Barbados and dead in New York at the same time", is paraphrased from a line in the Pat Novak For Hire radio program titled "Rubin Callaway's Pictures", with Detroit in Pat Novak changed to Barbados in this movie.

---

Goofs

When David Stillwell is in the police office reporting that a man threatened him with a gun, when the officer is filling out the form, he asks for Stillwell's date-of-birth. For this procedure the police would not have asked the victim of a crime for his date-of-birth.

---

Quotes

Shela: Oh, David. Help me, please, help me.
David Stillwell: We'll help each other. That's really what it's all about, anyway.

---

Connections

Referenced in Sometimes a Great Notion (1971)

User Reviews

Not bad at all.

Almost a Hitchcock style too it; I started to watch this film from the beginning and I was unable to leave the couch until it's conclusion. It certainly stands the test of time and is full of suspense. Keeps you guessing and your nightmare is his nightmare throughout the film; You want to find the answers as much as the character does.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 September 1965 (UK)

Also Known As:

Mirage

Filming Locations:

Battery Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$3,270,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1