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

Top 250 #209 | 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
John Matthews	...	Detective Sergeant Tarrant
Eve Channing	...	Marguerite Wyke
Teddy Martin	...	Police Constable Higgs

Storyline

Milo Tindle and Andrew Wyke have something in common, Andrew's wife. In an attempt to find a way out of this without costing Andrew a fortune in alimony, he suggests Milo pretend to rob his house and let him claim the insurance on the stolen jewelry. The problem is that they don't really like each other and each cannot avoid the zinger on the other. The plot has many shifts in which the advantage shifts between Milo and Andrew.

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Plot Keywords:

Jewelry | Lover | Insurance | Writer | Battle Of Wits | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

10 December 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

El detective

Filming Locations:

Athelhampton House, Athelhampton, Dorset, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Palomar Pictures (I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

138 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Andrew goes and answers the ring of the doorbell, you see him walk past two pictures of the former King Edward VIII, later the Duke of Windsor on a wall. The Duke of Windsor died during the making of the film and the production team added a historical touch to mark this event by including pictures of the late Duke.

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Goofs

When Wyke "shoots" Tindle in the head at contact range with what is supposed to be a blank cartridge, Tindle simply faints from fright. In fact, the hot gases, explosive particles, wadding and minuscule barrel debris from a blank-cartridge shot to the head at point-blank range would certainly have given Tindle quite a serious wound, possibly even a fatal one.

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Quotes

Milo Tindle: Why don't you ask yourself how your man Merridick would go about the search?
Andrew Wyke: Merridew! St. John Lord Merridew!

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Connections

Referenced in Tomorrow by Midnight (2001)

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Soundtracks

"You do something to me"
Words and music by Cole Porter

User Reviews

Deadly Games

In England, the Italian English hairdresser Milo Tindle (Michael Caine) is invited by the successful writer of detective stories Andrew Wyke (Laurence Olivier) to visit his isolated house. The lower class Milo is the lover of Andrew's wife, who is used to have a comfortable life, and he intends to marry her. Andrew proposes Milo to steal his jewelry simulating a burglary. Milo would make a fortune selling the jewels to an intermediary; and Andrew would be reimbursed by the insurance company and would not pay alimony. However, the whole situation was part of an evil game. When Milo vanishes, a detective visits Andrew to investigate what really happened that night, when deadly games are disclosed.

"Sleuth" proves that a great screenplay, an outstanding director, two top-notch actors and four scenarios suffice to make an excellent movie with four nominations to the Oscar. The intelligent and wit theatrical story has amazing lines and twists in a duel of cat and mouse between two icons, and has not aged. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Trama Diabólica" ("Diabolic Plot")