Product: SLEUTH - (Russian Import - PAL DVD) (1972)
Rating: 4.0
Delicious.
Sleuth (Joseph Mankiewicz, 1973)Anthony Shaffer is a guy who knows how to think things through. He creates labyrinthine plots, and then throws interesting characters into them. While I'd argue with anyone who contests that the finest adaptation of a Shaffer work to the screen is Robin Hardy's immortal The Wicker Man, Sleuth is certainly not far behind.Andrew Wyke (Sir Laurence Olivier) is a man who is, perhaps, overly fond of games. He invites Milo Tindle (Michael Caine) to his estate one evening for a bit of game-playing. You see, Wyke is fully aware that Tindle is the lover of his wife Marguerite (Eve Channing, who bears a striking resemblance to Joanne Woodward). He sets forth a rather interesting proposition: he wants Marguerite off his hands, and Milo's in need of a bit of cash, so why not have Milo rob the house? After all, Wyke can claim the theft on insurance. It's a win-win situation. Milo, however, becomes increasingly aware as time goes on that not all is what it seems...The movie was nominated for four Oscars (Best Actor for both Caine and Olivier, Best Score, and Best Director) and four BAFTAs (Best Actor for Olivier, Screenplay, Art Direction, and Cinematography for Oswal Morris, who'd won the Oscar the year previous for A Fiddler on the Roof). It managed to get through both awards presentations with a complete snubbing, but that's in no small part because it ran into a roomful of chainsaws that year (The Godfather, Truffaut's Day for Night, La Charme Discret de la Bourgeoisie, and Cabaret, all entries on many, many 100-best lists over the years, were some of the films that snatched awards away from Sleuth). That it managed to snatch such defeat from the jaws of victory is more than anything a measure of how strong the film community was at the time; when was the last time you saw Oscars and BAFTAs with that kind of a roster competing for awards? Sleuth may have managed to finish second, but Sham finished second to Secretariat, too. Sham still ran the second-fastest Kentucky Derby ever recorded.Sleuth is a wonderful movie. It's wickedly funny, sports incredible performances from its two top dogs, and (even if you see through the rather obvious bat-and-switch halfway through the movie immediately) will keep you guessing right up till the end. A cracking mystery, wot? ****