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...

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Plot Keywords:

amnesia | paranoia | hitchcockian | scientist | conspiracy | 

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Taglines:

RUN...Right Into Her Arms...Perhaps She'll Lead You to Your Lost Secret...Or Into the Arms of Peril!

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

The television set at David's (Gregory Peck's) apartment was the Zenith with mechanical wireless remote control. The spring-loaded remote produces commands via the ultrasonic clicks which are picked up and processed by the television. You can clearly hear the specific loud click when David turns it off with the remote.

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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.

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Quotes

[Talking about the Major]
David Stillwell: Those people aren't even ants to him! They're articles of commerce! And I'm the cost accountant, trying to cut down his overhead with what you and he call "progress"!

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Connections

Referenced in Sometimes a Great Notion (1971)

User Reviews

Ahead-Of-Its-Time Thriller- One Of The Best

I've always had great affection for this film, ever since seeing it in a theatre as a teenager.

First, a major innovation in thrillers - flashbacks done as direct jump-cuts into the actual flow of the film (no wavy lines or warped visuals to announce to the audience that they're seeing a flashback) This movie demanded that you keep up with what was unfolding and trusted you to figure out what was past and present.

Peter Stone's script - sharp, thrilling and funny, very much like Ernest Lehman's work on "North By Northwest" and Stone's own work on "Charade" and "Arabesque".

The villains...priceless...the grumpy, elderly hit-man who accosts Peck in Central Park...brilliant idea. Jack Weston's wisecracking hit-man..(a seemingly jolly joker, who lets his mask drop briefly in a pivotal scene with Peck) And of course, George Kennedy as Willard, a rampaging psycho who nurses grudges against victims who dare to defend themselves. I almost forgot Kevin McCarthy as the quintessential sniveling corporate toady.

A true classic....and a total crime and injustice that it's not on DVD yet.

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