A man who loves games and theater invites his wife's lover to meet him, setting up a battle of wits with potentially deadly results.A man who loves games and theater invites his wife's lover to meet him, setting up a battle of wits with potentially deadly results.A man who loves games and theater invites his wife's lover to meet him, setting up a battle of wits with potentially deadly results.
- Nominated for 4 Oscars
- 5 wins & 11 nominations total
Alec Cawthorne
- Inspector Doppler
- (credit only)
John Matthews
- Detective Sergeant Tarrant
- (credit only)
Eve Channing
- Marguerite Wyke
- (credit only)
Teddy Martin
- Police Constable Higgs
- (credit only)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe reason this film is so difficult to find on streaming is because it fell into the hands of a pharmaceutical company called Bristol-Myers Squibb, who dissolved their entertainment division shortly after creating it, leaving this movie's distribution rights in limbo. It has since never been re-acquired or restored as of early 2022.
- Goofs(at around 1h 2 mins) When Wyke "shoots" Tindle in the head at contact range with what is supposed to be a blank cartridge, Tindle simply faints from fright. In fact, the hot gases, explosive particles, wadding and minuscule barrel debris from a blank-cartridge shot to the head at point-blank range would certainly have given Tindle quite a serious wound, possibly even a fatal one.
- Quotes
[last lines]
Milo Tindle: Andrew... remember... be sure and tell them... it was only a bloody game.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 51st Annual Academy Awards (1979)
- SoundtracksJust one of these things
Words and music by Cole Porter
Featured review
Battle of Wits
I'm so curious as to how the 2007 remake pulled off this story considering the particular directions it takes. Alas, I'm here to discuss the 1972 original. Brilliantly played out by two of the all time great actors, Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier, Sleuth tells the twisted story of two men constantly trying to one-up the other with games and wit which could lead to deadly outcomes. It's 2 hours and 18 minutes and not a single second lost my attention. Even more impressive that it all takes place in one house, over the course of just a night or two, and yet the film doesn't drag nor hold up on thrills. It's not a film that can necessarily be duplicated ever again, considering the social media age we live in now, but considering this film still holds up, we never need another rendition.
8.3/10
8.3/10
helpful•71
- ThomasDrufke
- Feb 11, 2019
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Mord mit kleinen Fehlern
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $4,081,254
- Runtime2 hours 18 minutes
- Color
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