Deadfall (1968 film)
Encyclopedia
Deadfall is a 1968 film
directed by Bryan Forbes
and starring Michael Caine
, Eric Portman
, and Giovanna Ralli
, with music by John Barry
.
It is based on the 1965 thriller from author Desmond Cory
.
Theme Song My Love Has Two Faces was performed by Shirley Bassey
.
Henry is approached by Fe Moreau and her much older husband Richard to form an alliance. As a test run before the real robbery, they break into another stately home. After risking his life on a ledge, Henry 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.
Fe and Henry begin a romantic affair, which Richard, a homosexual with a young male lover, does not discourage. Fe buys a new Jaguar convertible for Henry and tells him the safe contained jewels worth at least a half-million dollars.
Before the time comes to rob Salinas's mansion, Fe travels to Tangiers without letting Henry know she was leaving. Richard then tells Henry a harrowing tale, of how he once betrayed a male lover to the Nazis and later impregnated the man's wife. Their baby turned out to be Fe, but rather than explain that she was his daughter, Richard married her instead.
A contemptuous Henry decides to break into Salinas' mansion on his own. Fe returns and is shocked when a suicidally depressed Richard reveals the truth about their relationship. She races to the Salinas mansion and inadvertently alerts a guard, who shoots Henry coming out a window. He falls from the ledge to his death.
With both her lover and husband/father dead, Fe attends a funeral. She is then led off by police, while Richard's gay lover drives off in Henry's car.
1968 in film
The year 1968 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 30 - The film The Lion in Winter, starring Katharine Hepburn, debuts.* November 1 - The MPAA's film rating system is introduced.-Top grossing films :- Awards :...
directed by Bryan Forbes
Bryan Forbes
Bryan Forbes, CBE is an English film director, actor and writer.-Career:Bryan Forbes was born John Theobald Clarke on 22 July 1926 in Queen Mary's Hospital, Stratford, West Ham, Essex , and grew up at 43 Cranmer Road, Forest Gate, West Ham, Essex .Forbes trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of...
and starring Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
, Eric Portman
Eric Portman
Eric Portman was a distinguished English stage and film actor...
, and Giovanna Ralli
Giovanna Ralli
Giovanna Ralli is an Italian actress. She was born in Rome, 2 January 1935.Ralli won a Nastro d'Argento for her supporting role in C'eravamo tanto amati.- Filmography :* I bambini ci guardano by Vittorio De Sica...
, with music by John Barry
John Barry (composer)
John Barry Prendergast, OBE was an English conductor and composer of film music. He is best known for composing the soundtracks for 12 of the James Bond films between 1962 and 1987...
.
It is based on the 1965 thriller from author Desmond Cory
Desmond Cory
Desmond Cory is a pseudonym used by British mystery/thriller writer Shaun Lloyd McCarthy...
.
Theme Song My Love Has Two Faces was performed by Shirley Bassey
Shirley Bassey
Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...
.
Summary
Cat burglar Henry Clarke checks himself into a sanitarium for alcoholics in Spain under a false pretense. His true motivation is to get closer to a wealthy clinic patient named Salinas and then rob his magnificent house.Henry is approached by Fe Moreau and her much older husband Richard to form an alliance. As a test run before the real robbery, they break into another stately home. After risking his life on a ledge, Henry 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.
Fe and Henry begin a romantic affair, which Richard, a homosexual with a young male lover, does not discourage. Fe buys a new Jaguar convertible for Henry and tells him the safe contained jewels worth at least a half-million dollars.
Before the time comes to rob Salinas's mansion, Fe travels to Tangiers without letting Henry know she was leaving. Richard then tells Henry a harrowing tale, of how he once betrayed a male lover to the Nazis and later impregnated the man's wife. Their baby turned out to be Fe, but rather than explain that she was his daughter, Richard married her instead.
A contemptuous Henry decides to break into Salinas' mansion on his own. Fe returns and is shocked when a suicidally depressed Richard reveals the truth about their relationship. She races to the Salinas mansion and inadvertently alerts a guard, who shoots Henry coming out a window. He falls from the ledge to his death.
With both her lover and husband/father dead, Fe attends a funeral. She is then led off by police, while Richard's gay lover drives off in Henry's car.
Cast
- Michael CaineMichael CaineSir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
as Henry Stuart Clarke - Giovanna RalliGiovanna RalliGiovanna Ralli is an Italian actress. She was born in Rome, 2 January 1935.Ralli won a Nastro d'Argento for her supporting role in C'eravamo tanto amati.- Filmography :* I bambini ci guardano by Vittorio De Sica...
as Fé Moreau - Eric PortmanEric PortmanEric Portman was a distinguished English stage and film actor...
as Richard Moreau - David BuckDavid BuckDavid Buck was an English actor. His most famous role was in the animated film The Lord of the Rings , for which he provided the voice of Gimli...
as Salinas - Leonard RossiterLeonard RossiterLeonard Rossiter was an English actor known for his roles as Rupert Rigsby, in the British comedy television series Rising Damp , and Reginald Iolanthe Perrin, in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin...
as Fillmore - Geraldine Sherman as Delgado's Receptionist
- Carlos Pierre as Antonio
- Vladek SheybalVladek SheybalVladek Sheybal , born Władysław Sheybal, was a Polish character actor, whose career lasted from the 1950s into the 1980s. He was probably best known for his portrayal of the chess grandmaster Kronsteen in the 1963 James Bond film From Russia with Love, a role for which he had been personally...
as Dr. Delgado - Renata Tarrago as Guitar Soloist
- Nanette NewmanNanette Newman-Early life:Newman was born in Northampton, England. She was educated at Sternhold College, the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts stage school and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.-Career:...
as Girl