Jewel thief Henry Clarke (Michael Caine) is hired by a husband and wife - Richard (Eric Portman) and Fé Moreau (Giovanna Ralli) - to do a job for them. Clarke proves himself on a test robbery, but soon finds himself falling for the lovely Fé before the big job. The "Unseen Michael Caine Train" charges on with this Bryan Forbes adaptation of Desmond Cory's 1965 novel. It is a bit of a mixed bag as there is an excellent 15 minute sequence sandwiched in between some pretty ripe drama. The sequence in question is a burglary pulled off by Henry and Richard that cuts back and forth with a concert the victim is at. John Barry leads the orchestra with accompaniment by guitarist Renata Tarragó and the whole sequence is brilliantly done as the slow and bombastic sections mirror the suspenseful bits during the robbery. In fact, Barry's score is right up there with his best Bond work from the era (and Shirley Bassey even sings the opening theme). Unfortunately, the onscreen drama isn't as good as this section. Also, I can never fully get behind a film where women think Caine is this drop dead gorgeous stud. I will give the film points for its downbeat ending and there is a twist at the end that makes me wonder if the makers of a certain more popular film released six years later grabbed it. In the end, it is revealed that Fé is actually Richard's daughter. This came out a whole two years before Chinatown (1974) was written. Robert Towne, you got some explainin' to do!
Deadfall
(1968)
Twisty jewel heist thriller with a swerve that predates a famous film
26 September 2023
Warning: Spoilers