Get Carter (1971)

When his brother dies under mysterious circumstances in a car accident, London gangster Jack Carter travels to Newcastle to investigate.

Director:

Mike Hodges

Writers:

Mike Hodges (screenplay), Ted Lewis (novel)

Stars:

Michael Caine, Ian Hendry, Britt Ekland

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Caine	...	Jack Carter
Ian Hendry	...	Eric Paice
Britt Ekland	...	Anna
John Osborne	...	Cyril Kinnear
Tony Beckley	...	Peter the Dutchman
George Sewell	...	Con McCarty
Geraldine Moffat	...	Glenda (as Geraldine Moffatt)
Dorothy White	...	Margaret
Rosemarie Dunham	...	Edna
Petra Markham	...	Doreen Carter
Alun Armstrong	...	Keith
Bryan Mosley	...	Cliff Brumby
Glynn Edwards	...	Albert Swift
Bernard Hepton	...	Thorpe
Terence Rigby	...	Gerald Fletcher

Storyline

A vicious London gangster, Jack Carter, travels to Newcastle for his brother's funeral. He begins to suspect that his brother's death was not an accident and sets out to follow a complex trail of lies, deceit, cover-ups and backhanders through Newcastle's underworld, leading, he hopes, to the man who ordered his brother killed. Because of his ruthlessness, Carter exhibits all the unstopability of the cyborg in The Terminator (1984), or Walker in Point Blank (1967), and he and the other characters in this movie are prone to sudden, brutal acts of violence.

---

Plot Keywords:

gangster | newcastle upon tyne | death of brother | hitman | revenge | 

---

Taglines:

The original gangster is back.

---

Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

---

Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Fletcher Brothers were modelled on the Kray twins.

---

Goofs

Carter's rented Cortina is actually 2 cars, which have different registrations YBB 371H and YBB 372H at various points during the film. 371H acquires a dent above the front grille at one stage, while 372H never shows this dent, but does lose its front bumper.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Gerald Fletcher: Bollock naked with his socks still on?
Sid Fletcher: Yeah, they do it like that - up North.
Gerald Fletcher: What for? For protective purposes?

---

Alternate Versions

According to director Mike Hodges on the R2 commentary, when ITV first showed the film, the phone sex scene had been shortened.

---

Connections

Featured in Bad Movie Beatdown: Get Carter (2010)

---

Soundtracks

Hallucinations
Music by Roy Budd
Lyrics by Jack Fishman

User Reviews

Cold, Hard, and Glistening

The movie's an ice-cold exercise in revenge, with a no-nonsense script and a first-rate turn by Caine as the heck-bent avenger. Someone killed his brother and, by golly, they're going to pay along with anyone else who gets in his way. The idea's not new; what's different is that Carter (Caine) has almost no redeeming qualities. He's about as cold blooded as the worst of the gangsters he confronts. Rooting for him is like rooting for a stomach pain over a headache.

Then too, Caine's ice-blue eyes are put to good use in sizing up his targets. And catch that gear shifting in the fast car timed to coincide with Carter's fast action on the bed. At last the subtext of all those sleek auto advertisements is revealed, this time in high octane. I just wish we saw more of Ms. Ekland, both literally and especially figuratively. And if that's not enough, catch that great ending. It's a marvel of imaginative staging and a perfect cap to what's gone before. Anyway, the movie reminds me of a polished piece of glass-- just about as cold and shiny and needing no depth. I couldn't stop looking at it.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 March 1971 (USA)

Also Known As:

Get Carter

Filming Locations:

Blackhall Beach, County Durham, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

GBP750,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min 103 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1