It
was the very initial phase of Sir Michael Caine’s film career. He was shooting a pivotal
scene in the film.
The
cameras rolled and Caine’s erupted like a volcano delivering what he thought
was perfection. To his surprise, the director asked for another take requesting Caine to
underplay the scene.
Caine
delivered again, intensely but with a bit of restraint, but to Caine’s
dismay, another retake and further subtlety were requested.
The cycle
continued for a while until exasperated Caine said to the director “If I keep
underplaying, I will reach a point where I’m doing nothing”. The director smiled and told Caine “now you get it”.
This
was an important lesson in film acting that Caine never ever forgot.
Caine’s film performances always appeared spontaneous as if he is reacting to real-life situations. It's a delicate balance between projecting for the camera and maintaining restraint. It’s being extraordinary by being ordinary. Caine never allowed the effort to show
As Caine turns 90, we revisit some of his finest works.
Zulu(1964)
This
was Caine’s first major film role about the 1879 siege of Rorke’s
Drift during the Anglo-Zulu War, where 150 British successfully held off against
4,000 Zulu warriors. Caine delivers a nuanced performance of an upper-crust English
officer who is conflicted about the course of action against the siege.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yElGD7LHFrc
“The
Ipcress File” (1965)
Caine played Harry Palmer in the thrilling 1965 adaptation of Len Deighton‘s spy novel The Ipcress File. Palmer was a working-class intelligence officer which was a counter to the fantasy-based James Bond. Caine's performance of a conflicted patriot with tendencies of irreverence and insubordination was masterful. It was his first major hit that made him a star.
Funeral in Berlin (1966), Billion Dollar Brain (1967), Bullet to Beijing (1995), and Midnight in Saint Petersburg (1996) were follow-ups.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QesO-BRvUAM
“Alfie”
(1966)
Caine played a swaggering
cockney womanizer Alfie who often broke the third wall to confide with the
audience regarding his exploits. Caine’s flawless performance caused the audience to empathize with Alfie despite his morally questionable actions and self-centeredness. Alfie reflected the carefree 60s quite perfectly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0FZhLeHy7A
The
Italian Job (1969)
Caine leads a ragtag gang of thieves planning to steal a gold shipment from the streets of Turin in this lighthearted and very entertaining caper. The film has a rare appearance by Noel Coward.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_PX1cVuaVA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVs9RcSMFmo
“Get
Carter” (1971)
Caine played Jack Carter a
cold-blooded British gangster out to avenge the killing of his brother. Caine delivered perfectly depicting the cold and calculated side as well as the ruthlessness of Carter in this masterful crime drama.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NtstlDW0Zo
Sleuth”
(1972)
Caine
was pitted against his acting idol Sir Laurence Olivier in this sharp, witty, and invigorating cat-and-mouse thriller. Caine matched every step with the acting
veteran Olivier to make this a darkly funny mystery.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBRMaieaLdU
The
Man Who Would Be King (1975)
Caine
starred alongside his longtime friend Sir Sean Connery in this adventure based on a Kipling short story
Connery
and Caine played British soldiers who desert the army and embark on an adventure
of a lifetime. As in most of John Huston’s pictures, avarice is the central theme. Both Connery and Caine are brilliantly complementing each other in this memorable film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjAi5ER5FOU
Dressed
to Kill (1980)
Caine plays a psychiatrist
whose patient is brutally murdered by a serial killer. Caine delivers a nuanced
and layered performance that is appreciated more upon the second viewing of this unpredictable thriller film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE37peg5fTU
Educating
Rita (1983)
Caine
played a drunken professor
who helps a vivacious working-class hairdresser (Julie Walters) receive a formal university education. Caine masterfully conveys his character's disillusionment with his life and his
profession as well as his life-changing experience after encountering an ambitious student.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9v_36XKfos
Hannah
And Her Sisters (1986)
Woody
Allen’s masterful family drama “Hannah and Her Sisters” explores the
relationship between three tightly-knit sisters and their extended family in
Manhattan.
Caine
played an unhappily married man yearning for his wife’s vivacious younger
sister. Once again Caine’s skill as an actor makes us empathize with
his character despite the character’s immortality. The performance earned Caine
his first Oscar win.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JauxWp4eWnM
Dirty
Rotten Scoundrels (1988)
Caine
and Steve Martin play rival conmen. Caine plays the upper-class, sophisticated, mustached, and brill-creamed veteran against Martin's brash low-life crook in this delightful comedy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKDUDF3cgRA
The
Fourth Protocol (1987)
This
is a riveting thriller where Caine plays a British Intelligence Officer whose
mission is to stop a KGB agent’s plot to detonate a nuclear bomb on British soil and
blame it on the US Government.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlcVuqM5-vM&t=28s
Bullseye
(1990)
This hilarious comedy of errors had Caine and his longtime friend Sir Roger Moore play dual roles. The film works largely due to the charming performances of the
leads and the scenic beauty of the English countryside.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UUZWcLI3GY
The
Cider House Rules (1999)
Caine
won his second Oscar for playing a kind doctor who runs a Maine orphanage
during WWII. Caine provides ably plays a conflicted character who is doting
father figures to the orphans and also has occasional flings with the nurses.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfrtPQ9jehs
The
Quiet American (2002)
Caine regards this as his best film performance.
He plays an aging British reporter in Vietnam who falls for a local woman half
his age. Caine delivers flawlessly conveying his love for his young mistress, the
insecurities of aging, and his rampant cynicism about the war.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaKEEeMx7Ug
The
Dark Knight Trilogy
Caine
plays Alfred who is a father figure, philosopher, and guide to Bruce
Wayne in Christopher Nolan’s masterful trilogy which is the definitive depiction
of Batman on the big screen. Caine brings gravitas, humanity, and the necessary humor to Nolan's Gotham.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVlSEXAzJE
Harry
Brown (2009)
Caine
plays a pensioner who turns vigilante when street thugs
murder his friend. Caine's sterling performance as the reluctant avenger
sets the tone of this film. Caine is as menacing as he is vulnerable and inundated
by fear of his own mortality.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRa_1KwO3IY
Youth
(2015)
Caine
plays a composer-conductor in retirement who receives an invitation to play his famous
symphonies at Prince Philip’s birthday celebrations.
Caine was brilliant as the cocky and caustic composer prone to melancholia due to his advancing age. Alas, the film and his performance didn't receive the attention they deserved.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T7CM4di_0c
Beyond
his on-screen performance, Caine had written two memoirs where he recounts his journey
from the working class impoverished part of London to the luxurious mansions in
Beverly Hills.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePRHyRdMWVY
Caine
even recorded a TV special on film acting where he shared valuable tips with aspiring
actors
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gak-JVyNYIA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hEpUV4_qeY
Caine
is always a witty, lively, and self-deprecating raconteur on talk shows often
sharing valuable life lessons
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noil9jbyE_Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjFwhF1tInU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFoWTBZAGME
Here’s
wishing Sir Michael a very happy birthday and a century in perfect health.
PS:
He was born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite Jr. He opted for Michael White as a stage name which he thought would be easier to remember. But there was another actor called Michael White, who was prominent on the London stage. Caine’s in a telephone kiosk when his agent asked him to pick another name. He looked around for inspiration, Bogart's The Caine Mutiny was playing at a nearby cinema, and hence he called himself ‘Michael Caine’
It wasn’t only his name that was requested to be changed.
The bigwigs of showbiz also recommended that Caine drop his cockney accent in favor of an upper-class English accent, back then no major actor spoke in anything but a ‘posh’ accent.
But this time Caine insisted on retaining what he knew was his individuality and what revealed his working-class background. The result was remarkable. Caine’s voice and accent are one of the most recognized in the world.
During
the initial phase of his career, Caine was rejected for the part of
Bill Sikes in the theatrical adaptation of Oliver Twist. Caine was
distraught because Sikes was a cockney like him. He began to doubt his career
choice – if he couldn’t convince the makers of the play he could play a cockney
what chances did he have with other parts. Had he been selected, it would have
presented a steady income for years. Years later after achieving movie
superstardom, Caine was driving past the theatre when he noticed that the actor who got the part was still playing Sykes.
Had he got the part he would still be playing Sykes and superstardom would
never have occurred. It was an important lesson he learned to not fret over what is lost.
When Caine was asked why he did so many inconsequential films that didn't merit his talents, Caine revealed that the memory of his father passing away penniless never left him. Caine said he had struggled for over a decade to get leading parts, once he had achieved stardom he was going to make the most of it so that he would never be in the circumstance that his father was which meant at times working for the paycheck.
Besides Jack Nicholson, Caine is the only actor to have been nominated for an Oscar in every decade from the 1960s to the 2000s.
Caine is one of the rare celebrities who sided with Brexit.
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