“Alfie” (1966)
The character of Alfie Elkins made Michael Caine’s career. Pauline Kael dubbed Caine and the role as “the swaggering Cockney Don Juan” and, although critics continue to argue over how to regard the film, all agree that Caine was marvelous. On paper, we shouldn’t like Alfie. He’s not so much misogynistic as much as apathetic, but that still doesn’t stop him from a multitude of meaningless flings and unwanted pregnancies all the while not taking any of it too seriously. At the end, we look for some character growth as Alfie asks, “So what’s the answer? That’s what I keep asking myself – what’s it all about? Know what I mean?” We either project our own hopes onto his existential query and/or leave knowing that he’ll continue to be “the sodding little spiv with a raucous charm” (as described in the 1966 Time review). Onscreen, Michael Caine plays the role with such bravado that we follow along with every “ain’t”, “innit”, and “bird”, from telling his pregnant girlfriend “Blimey, girl, you ain’t as ugly as I thought” to telling another “You’re not entitled to secret thoughts!” A sequel (1975’s “Alfie Darling,” with the little-known Alan Price taking over the title role) and remake (starring Jude Law, in 2004) have happened without Caine, and for all the original film’s lightweight qualities, that these projects are still hugely overshadowed is testament to the qualities of the star’s performance in the role that truly made him a phenomenon. Michael Caine is the only man, dead or alive, who could turn Alfie into the charismatic character we all know and love in spite of ourselves.
“Get Carter” (1971)
Picking Caine’s single greatest, or at least most iconic, performance, would be an absolute fool’s errand. But if we really really had to, gun to our head, we’d probably go with “Get Carter,” Mike Hodges‘ brutal, outstanding 1971 crime pic, one of the best British films ever, featuring as magnetic a performance as Caine ever gave. He plays the eponymous Carter, a Newcastle-born, London-based gangster. He’s planning to run away with his boss’ girl (Britt Ekland), but is called back home for the first time in years when his brother is killed, seemingly in a drunk driving accident. Carter sets out to track down the man responsible, discovering all kinds of corruption, betrayal and insidious acts in the process. Caine stalks the north-eastern industrial wasteland like he owns the joint, burying his charm deep down; he’s magnetic, but never pleasant, getting up to some truly abhorrent acts, and coming across as nothing less than a Cockney Angel of Death. And when combined with the assuredness with which Hodges directs, and the bleak, almost existential feel of the script (right down to the ending), it adds up to something of a crime classic. Stay far, far away from the Sylvester Stallone-starring remake (which Caine cameos in); this one’s the real deal.
“Sleuth” (1972)
Still in his young rogue prime, Michael Caine plays Milo Tindle, a self-made successful hairdresser who is sleeping with the wife of the knighted and wealthy crime fiction writer Andrew Wyke (Laurence Olivier). Another character with shaky morals, Milo agrees to Andrew’s plan consisting of Milo “stealing” Andrew’s jewels and selling them while Andrew claims the insurance money. This starts a chain of “games” involving infidelities, theft, and murder. The film ends with Milo telling Andrew “don’t forget, be sure and tell them, it was all just, a bloody game.” Some critics, including Time’s Jay Cocks, believed that to appreciate this film you need a taste for the sort of crime fiction in which “all the detectives were titled” (to borrow a line from the film). Others disregard that criticism and consider the film, as Roger Ebert described it, as “a totally engrossing entertainment…funny and scary by turns, and always superbly theatrical.” Wherever you fall, Olivier and Caine stand out for the magnificent performances they brought out in each other while tackling the issues of age, impotency, and class through bloody cat-and-mouse games. Remade in 2007 with Caine aging up as Andrew and Jude Law taking the part of Milo, the original still remains supreme in the hearts of critics and audiences alike.