Sleuth

Even when you have two then and now considered greats of the acting world it still takes a miracle to adapt what really is a two person play to the big screen and even then you need a director with some serious chops to pull it off. SLEUTH is such a combination bringing Laurence Olivier head to head with Michael Caine what would sadly be Joseph L. Mankiewicz's last stint in the director's chair. The writing is tight, the pacing may be a bit slow for this A.D. laden generation but there is no dispute the acting is pure schooling and this is required viewing for anybody wanting to be involved in any aspect of film. Caine would later play in another film version of SLEUTH, as well as the remake of an earlier Mankiewicz picture THE QUIET AMERICAN, but the 1972 version is by far the one to see, especially for the brief but brilliant thespian talents of Alec Cawthorne in his only big screen role.