著名なミステリー作家のワイクは、妻の不倫相手で美容師のティンドルを自宅に呼びつけた。不倫の追及を受けるものと思っていたティンドルだったが、ワイクは「浪費家の妻にはほとほと困り果てていた」「私にも素敵な愛人がいる」と切り出し、自宅の金庫に保管している宝石を泥棒に扮して盗んで欲しいと言い出した。宝石には盗難保険がかかっているため、双方に利益があるという言い分であった。あまりにも虫の良い話だったが、金銭的に厳しいティンドルはワイクの筋書きどおりに、珍妙な手順で宝石を盗み始める。
AIが作品の魅力を深く読み解いています
製作費: $3,500,000 (5億円)
興行収入: $5,750,000 (9億円)
推定収支: $2,250,000 (3億円)
※製作費・興行収入はTMDBのデータを参照しています。収支は(興行収入 - 製作費)で算出したFindKey独自の推定値であり、広告宣伝費や諸経費は含まれません (1ドル=150円換算)。
“Milo” (Michael Caine) arrives at the stately pile of a renowned crime writer - a sort of male Agatha Christie, and has to navigate a complex maze to track down his voice. The dapper “Andrew” (Sir Laurence Olivier) welcomes his guest effusively and takes him into his home. It’s an Aladdin’s cave of theatrical props and costumes which leaves “Milo” a little unnerved. Not as unnerved as he’s going to get, though, when “Andrew” declares his knowledge of the affair his wife is having with him and that he’s relatively relaxed about her leaving so long as he can get the insurance on £175,000 worth of baubles. If only “Milo” can think of a way to purloin them so the police don’t suspect an inside job? Well, it’s not as if there aren’t loads of disguises available and soon the germ of a cunning plan emerges. Unfortunately for the hapless “Milo” this plan has hidden consequences which soon have him very much on the back foot. Smugly satisfied with his night’s work, “Andrew” settles down to some caviar only to find he has an unexpected visitor who meticulously upsets his plan and starts to turn the tables. Now it’s a battle of wits! Olivier and Caine hold this together really quite entertainingly aided by a really cleverly constructed plot, script, some great mechanical gadgets and a good old dose of psychologically malevolent revenge. It’s possibly the most natural I’ve ever seen Olivier on a big screen, though that might be because he’s possibly not doing so much actual acting until very near the end. Caine, likewise, proves he has more to his portfolio than his more traditional East End Charlie in a sharp suit. I didn’t really love the denouement, but en route it’s a game of two halves where jeopardy is the name of the game for them and us! It’s a classy production with two actors looking like they were having a good time, and I found that contagious .
