Synopsis
If It Was Murder, Where's the Body?
A mystery novelist devises an insurance scam with his wife’s lover – but things aren’t exactly as they seem.
Sleuth
1972 Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
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Alternative Titles
La huella, 侦察, Le Limier, Mord mit kleinen Fehlern, 발자국, Gli insospettabili
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You know what film is really hard to track down these days? Sleuth.
Seriously, it's like $40 online. It's SO worth it though. God I love this film. So much.
I'd only seen it once, years before. On just that one viewing I knew I was in love with it. Since then, the fight for finding it was expensive but it was fueled by knowing the reward at the end. So now I get to watch it again, soon after I finally find a copy. I grab a friend who hasn't seen it yet (Which to be honest, A LOT of people haven't seen it) and start it up.
Despite the possibility of it being somewhat alienating with all the…
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An endless and fiery battle between two unstoppable yet entirely distinct forces that never ceases to shock or entertain. Mankiewicz’s lost film Sleuth has deteriorated itself from most film conversations and is difficult to find - it took myself months to find a quality version - but was absolutely worth the wait. Is this film theatrical and unrealistic at times? yes. Do I care? nope. It demonstrates the firm capability that a story can be solely based off of characters’ actions and traits rather than worldwide or grand events that circumvent countless themes and people.
Michael Caine visualizes the perfect combination of slick, handsome and charming confidence and eerily unaware sensibilities. His delight is never showcased without his side…
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Sleuth is a brilliant film on the page. It is based on a play of which I know nothing about, so when I first watched it a few years ago, I found the dialogue stunning with wit and playfulness. As written, the story is flawlessly macabre and blacker than black in its humor. The script could be handed off to any filmmaker and they'd be given immediate advantage. In fact, it was handed off to Kenneth Branagh as a remake, of which I have also not seen.
What puts this version over the top is dropping two of cinema's most celebrated and versatile legends into the sandbox together to square off over who can command the camera with more ease.…
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The last film completed by director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, “Sleuth” turns a cozy manor murder mystery into a savage slaying of classism.
After a steady descent into the quagmire of gaudy style over substance, it’s only right that Mankiewicz returned, in the end, to the power of the written word.
Having made his bones in the studio system - turning in a career’s worth of scripts before finally getting his turn at the camera - Mankiewicz knew a surefire hit screenplay when he spotted one. And he did - in a 1970 play.
“Sleuth” - the film, and show, concern a crime fiction author whose wife has left him for her hairdresser. The author, played by Laurence Olivier, invites his…
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Sleuth. 1972. Directed Joseph L. Mankiewicz.
Mankiewicz’s Sleuth is a film concerned about the details of how a murder is committed instead of who-dun-it. Sir Laurence Olivier kept my attention and dispelled my disbelief immediately as he portrayed Andrew Wyke. In fact Sleuth was nominated for four Oscars with Olivier and Caine nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role. In turn, Anthony Shaffer’s play was honored by the best. Mankiewicz’s direction was subtle as he had the best of talent. Sleuth is a brilliant film in the vein of Knives Out and it is all about the ending. However, the detecting is put on full display. Pinewood Studios made a great set for the interior shots allowed the talent to unravel a thriller as Cole Porter songs played. Oswald Morris’s cinematography was just right for Sleuth’s true theater origins.
Purchased Blu-Ray.
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When crime fiction writer Andrew Wyke (Laurence Olivier) invites hairdresser Milo Tindle (Michael Caine) to his mansion, a deadly game of deception begins, in this mystery thriller directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz from Anthony Shaffer’s adaptation of his play.
The leads are both excellent, playing off of each other really well and managing to bring their characters to life. Olivier, in particular, seems to be having a blast, giving an energetic performance that suits the tone, going just the right side of over-the-top. Caine is a great match, and also gives a lot to his character, both men nominated for Oscars for their turns.
The film is entertaining, and Mankiewicz shoots it well, but its stage origins are very apparent,…
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my favorite bit of trivia about this movie is that there’s a painting of joanne woodward hanging in andrew’s study that’s meant to be a portrait of his (never onscreen) wife, and a little tidbit about joanne woodward is that laurence olivier is her favorite actor. when she was nine she and her mom went to the atlanta premiere of gone with the wind, which olivier attended in support of his fiancée vivien leigh. joanne broke away from her mom and the next time her mom saw her she was in the car with laurence and vivien, sitting on laurence’s lap, being driven around and waving to the crowd. proof that, when it comes to the movies, however tangentially, everything is connected.
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Tailored from playwright Anthony Shaffer's Tony Award-winning play, by Shaffer himself, Sleuth proved to be Joseph L. Mankiewicz's final offering as a director, after five successful decades in the film business, and it provides some enthralling entertainment. It observes prosperous crime fiction author Andrew Wyke, a man who adores games as well as the theatre extending an invite to his wife's lover, Milo Tindle, to join him at his country manor house to talk over the predicament amicably.
Mankiewicz investigates the dense sets with some tremendous vigilance to both detail and atmosphere, and the emerging two hours plus runtime comes to be a real tour de force for its two, and only, stars Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine. Shaffer's intricate…
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I know this is based on a play, but OH MY GOD!
2 actors
1 location
A great screenplayThat’s all you need!
Super fun, and in a weird way super inspiring. -
A twisty little mystery thriller, Sleuth is a film adapted from a play and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. As with every play-to-film adaptation, it never stops feeling like a play, which is both to the film's detriment and betterment. Featuring Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine as two men squaring off in a battle of the minds with the two putting one over on one another throughout the film. What is truth and what is fiction befuddles both the characters and the audience, with very moments going as anticipated. When will these boys cry wolf and actually see a wolf? Will they ever see a wolf? This all plays out in Sleuth, which is…
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Top 100 Directors Challenge: 99. Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Brother of screenwriter Herman J., or as we now affectionately know him, "Mank", Joseph Mankiewicz was a prolific Director, Producer and sometime actor best known for the glorious All About Eve.
In Sleuth, he directed a well-paced, fun-time whodunit crime caper penned by writer Anthony Shaffer and supported by two fantastic performances from long time stage luvvy Laurence Olivier and film favourite Michael Caine. The setup works really well, and the staging feels naturally theatrical amid the country house and gardens of a well-off author.
As I sit here finishing off the first Margarita of the day, I'm happy to say this is a great companion for a day in the sunshine…
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