The Spanish Prisoner
Encyclopedia
The Spanish Prisoner is a 1997 American
suspense film, written and directed by David Mamet
and starring Campbell Scott
, Steve Martin
, Rebecca Pidgeon
, Ben Gazzara
and Ricky Jay
. The film tells the story of an elaborate confidence game
, known as the Spanish Prisoner
.
In 1999 the film was nominated by the Mystery Writers of America
for the Edgar Award
for Best Motion Picture Screenplay
but lost out to Steven Soderbergh
's Out of Sight
.
) is a corporate engineer who has recently invented a very lucrative industrial process
that has not yet been patented. While on a corporate retreat at an island resort, Joe befriends a wealthy stranger, Jimmy Dell (Steve Martin
), and one of the company's new secretaries, Susan Ricci (Rebecca Pidgeon
).
Jimmy wants to introduce Joe socially to his sister. Back home in America, he suggests that Joe's company and his boss, Mr. Klein (Ben Gazzara
), might not give him fair compensation for his work. A flirtatious Susan also makes vague suggestions that Joe should trust no one.
Jimmy convinces Joe to use his legal counsel and bring the only copy of the process to their meeting. Joe learns that the sister is a ruse and that Jimmy is actually a confidence man
, attempting to steal his valuable work. Joe contacts an FBI agent named Pat McCune he met on the island and is enlisted in a sting operation. To his horror, Joe learns that McCune is actually part of Jimmy's con game. His process is stolen and he has been thoroughly swindled.
Joe attempts to explain what happened to his employer and the police, but his story sounds far-fetched. The con has made it appear that he has sold his process to the Japanese. He is also framed for the murder of his co-developer of the process, George Lang (Ricky Jay
).
On the run from the law, Joe reconnects with Susan, who believes his story and continues to express a romantic interest in him. Joe remembers that the hotel where the island retreat took place maintains a video surveillance, which could prove that Jimmy Dell was there. Susan loyally accompanies Joe in his quest, but she, too, turns out to be involved in this elaborate con.
Jimmy comes to kill Joe on a ferry, seemingly alone except for Susan and a couple of Japanese tourists. The final step of this con is going to be Joe's death, made to appear as a suicide. Jimmy suddenly is hit with a tranquilizer dart shot by one of the "tourists." They are, in fact, US Marshals
who have been monitoring Jimmy's con since the beginning. Jimmy and Susan are taken off to jail.
recorded an 89% fresh rating for the film as of February 5, 2008 while, as of the same date, another aggregate review website, Metacritic
, recorded a score of 70%, classified as Generally favorable reviews by the website's rating system. Film critic Roger Ebert
awarded the film 3½ stars out of 4 calling it "delightful" and comparing it to works of Alfred Hitchcock
. James Berardinelli
of Reelviews.net, who gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, also compared Mamet's script to Hitchcock's works claiming that it "supplies us with a seemingly-endless series of twists and turns, only a fraction of which are predictable" as well as praising the actors by saying that "nearly every major performance is impeccable".
Reviewer Paul Tatara, on the other hand, criticized the film for using well-worn plot mechanisms, "stiff characterizations and ridiculous line readings".
by Arthur Train
, also entitled "The Spanish Prisoner," was published by The Cosmopolitan Magazine
in March 1910.
The title of the film is a direct reference to the confidence trick of the same name
, and in fact, the trick serves as the plot of the film.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
suspense film, written and directed by David Mamet
David Mamet
David Alan Mamet is an American playwright, essayist, screenwriter and film director.Best known as a playwright, Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize and received a Tony nomination for Glengarry Glen Ross . He also received a Tony nomination for Speed-the-Plow . As a screenwriter, he received Oscar...
and starring Campbell Scott
Campbell Scott
Campbell Scott is an American actor, director, producer, and voice artist.-Life and career:Scott was born in New York City, the son of George C. Scott, an actor, director, and producer, and Colleen Dewhurst, a Canadian-born actress. He graduated from Lawrence University in 1983. His brother is...
, Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
, Rebecca Pidgeon
Rebecca Pidgeon
Rebecca Pidgeon is a British actress and singer-songwriter. She has maintained a recording career while also acting on stage and in feature films. She is married to the American writer and director David Mamet.-Early life:...
, Ben Gazzara
Ben Gazzara
-Early life:Gazzara was born Biagio Anthony Gazzara in New York City, the son of Italian immigrants Angelina and Antonio Gazzara, who was a laborer and carpenter. Gazzara grew up on New York's tough Lower East Side. He actually lived on E. 29th Street and participated in the drama program at...
and Ricky Jay
Ricky Jay
Richard Jay Potash , better known by the stage name Ricky Jay, is an American stage magician, actor, and writer. He is a sleight-of-hand expert and is notable for his card tricks, card throwing, memory feats, and stage patter.-Life and career:...
. The film tells the story of an elaborate confidence game
Confidence trick
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility,...
, known as the Spanish Prisoner
Spanish Prisoner
The Spanish Prisoner is a confidence trick originating in the late 19th century. In its original form, the con-man tells his victim that he is in correspondence with a wealthy person of high estate who has been imprisoned in Spain under a false identity...
.
In 1999 the film was nominated by the Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America is an organization for mystery writers, based in New York.The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday....
for the Edgar Award
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
for Best Motion Picture Screenplay
Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay
The following is a list of Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Motion Picture, one of the Edgar Awards awarded to authors and others by the Mystery Writers of America...
but lost out to Steven Soderbergh
Steven Soderbergh
Steven Andrew Soderbergh is an American film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, and an Academy Award-winning film director. He is best known for directing commercial Hollywood films like Erin Brockovich, Traffic, and the remake of Ocean's Eleven, but he has also directed smaller less...
's Out of Sight
Out of Sight
Out of Sight is a 1998 American crime film. The film was directed by Steven Soderbergh and based on the novel of the same name by Elmore Leonard. It was the first of several collaborations between Soderbergh and star George Clooney. The film was released on June 26, 1998. It was nominated for two...
.
Plot
Joe Ross (Campbell ScottCampbell Scott
Campbell Scott is an American actor, director, producer, and voice artist.-Life and career:Scott was born in New York City, the son of George C. Scott, an actor, director, and producer, and Colleen Dewhurst, a Canadian-born actress. He graduated from Lawrence University in 1983. His brother is...
) is a corporate engineer who has recently invented a very lucrative industrial process
Industrial process
Industrial processes are procedures involving chemical or mechanical steps to aid in the manufacture of an item or items, usually carried out on a very large scale. Industrial processes are the key components of heavy industry....
that has not yet been patented. While on a corporate retreat at an island resort, Joe befriends a wealthy stranger, Jimmy Dell (Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
), and one of the company's new secretaries, Susan Ricci (Rebecca Pidgeon
Rebecca Pidgeon
Rebecca Pidgeon is a British actress and singer-songwriter. She has maintained a recording career while also acting on stage and in feature films. She is married to the American writer and director David Mamet.-Early life:...
).
Jimmy wants to introduce Joe socially to his sister. Back home in America, he suggests that Joe's company and his boss, Mr. Klein (Ben Gazzara
Ben Gazzara
-Early life:Gazzara was born Biagio Anthony Gazzara in New York City, the son of Italian immigrants Angelina and Antonio Gazzara, who was a laborer and carpenter. Gazzara grew up on New York's tough Lower East Side. He actually lived on E. 29th Street and participated in the drama program at...
), might not give him fair compensation for his work. A flirtatious Susan also makes vague suggestions that Joe should trust no one.
Jimmy convinces Joe to use his legal counsel and bring the only copy of the process to their meeting. Joe learns that the sister is a ruse and that Jimmy is actually a confidence man
Confidence trick
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility,...
, attempting to steal his valuable work. Joe contacts an FBI agent named Pat McCune he met on the island and is enlisted in a sting operation. To his horror, Joe learns that McCune is actually part of Jimmy's con game. His process is stolen and he has been thoroughly swindled.
Joe attempts to explain what happened to his employer and the police, but his story sounds far-fetched. The con has made it appear that he has sold his process to the Japanese. He is also framed for the murder of his co-developer of the process, George Lang (Ricky Jay
Ricky Jay
Richard Jay Potash , better known by the stage name Ricky Jay, is an American stage magician, actor, and writer. He is a sleight-of-hand expert and is notable for his card tricks, card throwing, memory feats, and stage patter.-Life and career:...
).
On the run from the law, Joe reconnects with Susan, who believes his story and continues to express a romantic interest in him. Joe remembers that the hotel where the island retreat took place maintains a video surveillance, which could prove that Jimmy Dell was there. Susan loyally accompanies Joe in his quest, but she, too, turns out to be involved in this elaborate con.
Jimmy comes to kill Joe on a ferry, seemingly alone except for Susan and a couple of Japanese tourists. The final step of this con is going to be Joe's death, made to appear as a suicide. Jimmy suddenly is hit with a tranquilizer dart shot by one of the "tourists." They are, in fact, US Marshals
United States Marshals Service
The United States Marshals Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice . The office of U.S. Marshal is the oldest federal law enforcement office in the United States; it was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789...
who have been monitoring Jimmy's con since the beginning. Jimmy and Susan are taken off to jail.
Cast
- Campbell ScottCampbell ScottCampbell Scott is an American actor, director, producer, and voice artist.-Life and career:Scott was born in New York City, the son of George C. Scott, an actor, director, and producer, and Colleen Dewhurst, a Canadian-born actress. He graduated from Lawrence University in 1983. His brother is...
as Joe Ross - Steve MartinSteve MartinStephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
as Jimmy Dell - Rebecca PidgeonRebecca PidgeonRebecca Pidgeon is a British actress and singer-songwriter. She has maintained a recording career while also acting on stage and in feature films. She is married to the American writer and director David Mamet.-Early life:...
as Susan - Ben GazzaraBen Gazzara-Early life:Gazzara was born Biagio Anthony Gazzara in New York City, the son of Italian immigrants Angelina and Antonio Gazzara, who was a laborer and carpenter. Gazzara grew up on New York's tough Lower East Side. He actually lived on E. 29th Street and participated in the drama program at...
as Mr. Klein - Ricky JayRicky JayRichard Jay Potash , better known by the stage name Ricky Jay, is an American stage magician, actor, and writer. He is a sleight-of-hand expert and is notable for his card tricks, card throwing, memory feats, and stage patter.-Life and career:...
as George Lang - Felicity HuffmanFelicity HuffmanFelicity Kendall Huffman is an American film, stage, and television actress. She is known for her role as executive producer Dana Whitaker on the ABC television show Sports Night , which earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination, and as hectic supermom Lynette Scavo on the ABC show Desperate...
as FBI Agent McCune - Ed O'NeillEd O'NeillEdward Phillip "Ed" O'Neill, Jr. is an American actor. He is best known for his role as the main character, Al Bundy, on the Fox Network sitcom Married... with Children, for which he was nominated for two Golden Globes...
as FBI Team Leader
Reception
The film has been generally well received by critics and fans alike. The aggregate review website Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
recorded an 89% fresh rating for the film as of February 5, 2008 while, as of the same date, another aggregate review website, Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, recorded a score of 70%, classified as Generally favorable reviews by the website's rating system. Film critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
awarded the film 3½ stars out of 4 calling it "delightful" and comparing it to works of Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
. James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli is an American online film critic.-Personal life:Berardinelli was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey and spent his early childhood in Morristown, New Jersey. At the age of nine years, he relocated to the township of Cherry Hill, New Jersey...
of Reelviews.net, who gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, also compared Mamet's script to Hitchcock's works claiming that it "supplies us with a seemingly-endless series of twists and turns, only a fraction of which are predictable" as well as praising the actors by saying that "nearly every major performance is impeccable".
Reviewer Paul Tatara, on the other hand, criticized the film for using well-worn plot mechanisms, "stiff characterizations and ridiculous line readings".
Background information
A short storyShort story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
by Arthur Train
Arthur Train
Arthur Cheney Train was an American lawyer and legal thriller writer, particularly known for his novels of courtroom intrigue and the creation of the fictional lawyer Mr Ephraim Tutt.-Life:...
, also entitled "The Spanish Prisoner," was published by The Cosmopolitan Magazine
Cosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
in March 1910.
The title of the film is a direct reference to the confidence trick of the same name
Spanish Prisoner
The Spanish Prisoner is a confidence trick originating in the late 19th century. In its original form, the con-man tells his victim that he is in correspondence with a wealthy person of high estate who has been imprisoned in Spain under a false identity...
, and in fact, the trick serves as the plot of the film.