SLEUTH (1972)

Lawrence Olivier and Michael Caine

SLEUTH (1972). Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Screenplay by Anthony Shaffer from his play.

"Sex is the game; marriage the penalty." -- Andrew

"You are the complete clown." -- ditto

Mystery writer Andrew Wyke (Lawrence Olivier) receives a visitor at his country estate: Milo Tindle (Michael Caine), who owns his own hairdressing salon and happens to be the lover of Wyke's wife. Milo is hoping that Andrew will agree to give his wife a divorce, but Andrew has other plans. He wants Milo to steal some of his wife's jewelry -- Milo can sell the jewels and have enough money to keep his lover in style, and Andrew will get a huge insurance pay-out. But Andrew may have a more sinister scheme in mind than insurance fraud. It isn't too long before Inspector Doppler comes a calling ... 

Inspector Doppler deals with Andrew

Based on Anthony Shaffer's stage play, this is a twisty mystery-thriller that provides two good actors with some juicy roles and real opportunities for scene-stealing. While Caine is marvelous, Olivier is outstanding, putting on a thespian show of grand proportions. That's what makes the film entertaining even if you've seen it before and remember the plot twists (although it's a bit more fun when you're seeing it for the first time). The film is overlong at over two hours, and I confess this business at the very end with police showing up out of nowhere makes little sense, but the movie is certainly worth one look. The play is intelligently opened up by Shaffer, and Mankiewicz's direction is inobtrusive and keeps things moving. The picture is quite amusing until things get serious -- and even afterward. 

Verdict: Perhaps not nearly as wonderful as people remember -- even back then one of the twists seemed obvious -- but memorable in spite of it. ***. 

DEATH ON THE NILE

Bette Davis, David Niven, Peter Ustinov

DEATH ON THE NILE 

(1978). Director: John Guillermin.

"It's been my experience that men are least attracted to women who treat them well."

Following the success of the first screen adaptation of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, it was decided to do another big-scale, star-studded, somewhat overblown adaptation of a Christie novel with Peter Ustinov taking over the role of the great Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. This has an interesting hook: Having stolen away her friend Jacqueline's (Mia Farrow) boyfriend, Simon (Simon MacCorkindale of Jaws 3-D), Linnet Ridgeway (Lois Chiles) finds herself and her new spouse being followed everywhere by Jackie while on their Egyptian honeymoon. Poirot, also on the same tour, warns Jacqueline that she may be heading for disaster, and indeed there's foul play afoot and more than one murder. In her modest and entertaining novel, Christie was wise enough not to make virtually everyone on board the ship a suspect, but screenwriter Anthony Shaffer makes the mistake of giving almost everyone a motive, as unlikely as that sounds. Death on the Nile is way too long, but it is handsomely produced, well-photographed by Jack Cardiff, and has a very nice score by Nino Rota. Ustinov is not the perfect Poirot, but he is acceptable. Among the very large cast, the stand-outs are Maggie Smith [Clash of the Titans], as Bette Davis' put-upon nurse-servant, and Angela Lansbury as the soused authoress, Salome Otterbourne. Everyone else is competent enough, but unremarkable. Bette Davis doesn't so much give a performance, but play "Grand Lady," one suspects as much for the cast and crew as for the audience. One could argue that Mia Farrow seems to give better performances in Woody Allen movies than in ones she makes with other directors. Christie later used a certain similar plot device in Evil Under the Sun. NOTE: A remake of this film is scheduled for 2019.

Verdict: Quite entertaining mystery is good to look at with a few fun performances and humor. ***.  

THE WICKER MAN

Christopher Lee

THE WICKER MAN (1973). Director: Robin Hardy. Screenplay: Anthony Shaffer.

"You'll simply never understand the nature of sacrifice."

Sergeant Hardy (Edward Woodward) travels to a Scottish village on a remote island in answer to a letter claiming that a woman's young daughter has disappeared. The townspeople, including the woman who allegedly wrote the letter, claim that no one is missing and they never heard of the little girl in question. Seeing the free-spirited natures of the pagan villagers and their unashamed attitudes towards sexuality brings out the prig in the Catholic police officer, who is outraged by the licentiousness and confused by the weird rituals he sees all around him. On the other hand, Hardy is truly concerned with the welfare of the child he is searching for. Which makes his ultimate fate all the more troubling ... The Wicker Man, although conventional enough in its thinking at its core [substituting Paganists for Satanists], is an unusual horror suspense film. At times it plays like a weird musical with the villagers breaking out in song at the drop of a hat -- these sequences don't really work and were wisely cut in some versions -- and a scene with a naked Britt Ekland dancing and singing around her bedroom seems like nothing so much as a rock video [she even sings into the camera like a rock star!]. Ekland is the nubile daughter of the tavern keeper; Ingrid Pitt is a librarian; Diane Cilento is a teacher; and Christopher Lee is Lord Summerisle, leader of the Pagan cult. In general the cast is very good and Edward Woodward gives the performance of a lifetime. The version on the DVD is still not complete, as a documentary on the movie shows clips from scenes that are not included and were supposedly "lost." It's too bad that some fairly serious directorial missteps prevent this from being a true classic, although it certainly has many admirers, and once you get past the foolish moments it's actually quite good, with a chilling wind-up. Remade in 2006 with Nicolas Cage in the Woodward role.

Verdict: You just can't trust those Pagans -- and Edward Woodward's finest hour and a half. ***.