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Deadfall (1968 film)

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Deadfall
Original theatrical poster
Directed byBryan Forbes
Written byBryan Forbes
Based on"Deadfall"
by Desmond Cory
Produced byPaul Monash
StarringMichael Caine
Giovanna Ralli
Eric Portman
Nanette Newman
David Buck
Carlos Pierre
CinematographyGerry Turpin
Edited byJohn Jympson
Music byJohn Barry
Production
company
Salamander Film Productions
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release dates
  • 11 September 1968 (1968-09-11) (USA)
  • October 1968 (1968-10) (UK)
Running time
120 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Deadfall is a 1968 British neo noir crime film written and directed by Bryan Forbes and starring Michael Caine, Eric Portman, Giovanna Ralli and Forbes's wife Nanette Newman, with music by John Barry in his final collaboration with Forbes.[1] Barry also plays a musical conductor in the film. It is based on Desmond Cory's 1965 thriller and shot in and around Majorca, Spain. The film's theme song, "My Love Has Two Faces", was performed by Shirley Bassey.

Plot

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Cat burglar Henry Clarke checks himself into a Spanish sanatorium for alcoholics under a false pretence. His true motivation is to get closer to a wealthy patient named Salinas and then rob his magnificent house.

Clarke is approached by Fé Moreau and her much older husband, Richard, to form a criminal alliance. As a test run before the real robbery, they break into another stately home. After risking his life on a ledge, Clarke becomes so angered by Richard's failure to crack the safe that, with great effort, he drags the entire safe and its contents out of the house.

Fé and Clarke begin a romantic affair, which Richard, who has a young male lover, does not discourage. Fé buys a new E-Type Jaguar (known as XK-E in the USA) convertible for Clarke and tells him the safe contained jewels worth at least $500,000.

Before the time comes to rob Salinas's mansion, Fé travels to Tangier without letting Clarke know she was leaving. Richard then tells Clarke a harrowing tale of how he once betrayed his male lover to the Nazis and later impregnated the man's wife. Their baby was Fé, but, choosing not to tell her that she was his daughter, Richard married her.

A contemptuous Clarke decides to break into Salinas's mansion on his own. Fé returns and is shocked when a suicidal and depressed Richard reveals the truth about their relationship. She races to the Salinas mansion and inadvertently alerts a guard, who shoots Clarke coming out a window. He falls to his death.

Fé attends a funeral. Afterwards, she is led off by police while Richard's homosexual lover drives off in Clarke's car.

Cast

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Reception

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The movie received a positive review in the New York Times.[2][3]

Box office

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According to Fox records the film required $5,350,000 in rentals to break even and by 11 December 1970 had made $2,575,000 so made a loss to the studio.[4]

Soundtrack

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References

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  1. ^ "Deadfall". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
  2. ^ Canby, Vincent (September 12, 1968). "The Screen: 'Deadfall' Joins the Cat Burglar Vogue:New Drama Presents Caine and Portman Other Films Arrive at Neighborhood Houses". The New York Times. Retrieved June 1, 2012.
  3. ^ "Deadfall". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved June 1, 2012.
  4. ^ Silverman, Stephen M (1988). The Fox that got away : the last days of the Zanuck dynasty at Twentieth Century-Fox. L. Stuart. p. 327.
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