Sleuth (1972)

A man who loves games and theater invites his wife's lover to meet him, setting up a battle of wits with potentially deadly results.

Director:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Writers:

Anthony Shaffer (play), Anthony Shaffer (screenplay)

Stars:

Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine, Alec Cawthorne

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Laurence Olivier	...	Andrew Wyke
Michael Caine	...	Milo Tindle
Alec Cawthorne	...	Inspector Doppler (credit only)
John Matthews	...	Detective Sergeant Tarrant (credit only)
Eve Channing	...	Marguerite Wyke (credit only)
Teddy Martin	...	Police Constable Higgs (credit only)

Storyline

Andrew Wyke is a famous and successful author of detective novels. Milo Tindle comes to him with a strange request, that Mr Wyke divorce his wife so that Tindle can marry her. Mr Wyke is not particularly perturbed by this, he and his wife have drifted apart, and he is having an affair with another woman anyway, but uses the meeting and Mr Tindle's request as a chance to play a game, a game with potentially deadly consequences.

---

Plot Keywords:

battle of wits | suspense | surprise ending | psychotronic film | huis clos | 

---

Taglines:

Who was the player? Who was the pawn? In this deadly game . . .

---

Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

---

Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

John Addison was nominated for an Oscar for his music score. However, he was not originally among the five nominees when the nominations were announced. He was added to the list after the score for The Godfather (1972) was deemed ineligible.

---

Goofs

It turns out that Joyce, who is called on the phone by Andrew, is in on Milo's plan. Milo even says so later. So Andrew should have known he could not get away with pretending to mistake Milo for a burglar a few minutes after this. It is strange for Milo to bring up an unknown policeman (Tarrant) instead of reminding Andrew of Joyce when he pulls out the gun.

---

Quotes

Andrew Wyke: Wit in the face of adversity! Good! You've learned something from the English.

---

Connections

Referenced in Pointless: Episode #3.7 (2010)

---

Soundtracks

Anything goes
Words and music by Cole Porter

User Reviews

Live-Action Chess Match.

Brilliant film about two men (Oscar nominees Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine) who meet at Olivier's house and go over an elaborate scheme to keep Olivier's fortune when his wife (about to divorce him to be with Caine) leaves him by staging a robbery performed by Caine. The strangeness does not stop there though as the two men each have personal motives and the twists and turns become dizzying as the movie progresses. Laurence Olivier is truly magnificent here, as he almost always was. Michael Caine, only 39 at the time, holds his own and that is far from an easy thing to do in a production like this. Joseph L. Mankiewicz's brilliant direction makes a film that could have been very dull into a stunning cinematic experience that stands tall against other films from the 1970s and all other decades for that matter. 5 stars out of 5.

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

11 December 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sleuth

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Box Office

Gross USA:

$4,081,254

Company Credits

Production Co:

Palomar Pictures International

Technical Specs

Runtime:

138 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1