When asked what he thought about “Jaws: The Revenge,” Michael Caine (born Maurice Micklewhite in London on March 14, 1933) famously said, “I have never seen it, but by all accounts it is terrible. However, I have seen the house that it built, and it is terrific.” That would seem to give the impression that Michael Caine’s career choices have often been driven by paychecks, but that would be a false one. While he’s done his fair share of bill-paying, the prolific British actor has, across a fifty-year career, remained one of the best-loved and most enduring stars we have, as well as a wonderful — and all too often underrated — actor.
Besides Jack Nicholson, Caine is the only actor to have been nominated for an Oscar in every decade from the 1960s to the 2000s (both are still awaiting a nod in the 2010s), and a man whose career runs from starring in the iconic “Zulu” in 1964 to 2012’s billion-dollar blockbuster “The Dark Knight Rises,” taking in gangsters, Woody Allen, killer bees and the Muppets along the way. The actor celebrates his 80th birthday today, and though he shows no sign of letting up any time soon (he’s got the magician heist thriller “Now You See Me” and drama “Mr. Morgan’s Last Love” on the way later in the year), it seemed like a good time to celebrate one of our favorites. Check out our picks for Caine’s ten greatest roles below, and argue for your own choices in the comments section below.
And a very, very happy birthday to Sir Michael.
“The Ipcress File” (1965)
It took a few years for Caine to make his name — he described the first nine years of his career as “really, really brutal,” but finally got some big breaks on stage, taking over from Peter O’Toole in “The Long and the Short and the Tall,” and then appearing in the comedy hit “Next Time I’ll Sing To You.” His first starring role on film came with “Zulu” in 1964, the same year that he played Horatio to Christopher Plummer‘s Hamlet on the BBC, but Caine truly cemented his screen presence as anti-Bond Harry Palmer in Sidney J. Furle‘s still-thrilling 1965 adaptation of Len Deighton‘s spy novel “The Ipcress File.” He plays an army sergeant transferred to British intelligence, to help solve the “brain drain” of seventeen top scientists, who’ve been kidnapped and returned with their knowledge of technical matters gone. Palmer is a working class chap, forced to become a spy after being court-martialed for black market racketeering, and Caine plays him as if Jimmy Porter from “Look Back In Anger” had been drafted into MI5. And yet, in his own way, he can be just as suave as 007, womanizing and brawling, but there’s much more of an edge to him, as he carries a subtle resentment toward his higher-ups (who reprimand him for insubordination). And Caine gets better material than Connery ever did as Bond, impressive and heroic as he’s kidnapped and brainwashed over weeks, possibly even months. While the film isn’t as well known these days as it should be, the influence of Caine’s performance (which he’d later reprise four more times, to increasingly poor effect) certainly lives on: Daniel Craig‘s James Bond owes as much to Caine’s Palmer as it does to any previous 007s, and there’s a trace of him in Gary Oldman‘s George Smiley too.
Nobody remembers "Noises off". I think the movie is amazing, and he was super funny.
Sorry but his best role has been completely missed. When I say his best he even said it was in his autobiography. It\’s playing the Kaptain in James Clavells The Last Valley (1971). His performance is terrific
Secondhand Lions is an underrated performance that deserves mention but Little Voice should probably be in the Top Ten.
Great choices. And I concur with those who mention Little Voice, Educating Rita and A Shock to the System. Those are both in my Top 10…Honorable mentions to Dressed to Kill and The Hand. That's right, I said it. It's a guilty pleasure but Caine gives a gripping and intense performance in that early Oliver Stone movie.
MONA LISA
EDUCATING RITA
SLEUTH remake
A SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM
DEATHTRAP
I enjoyed him with Elizabeth Taylor in X, Y and Z… certainly not a very good movie, but they were good.
Zulu and Second Hand Lions are both great examples of his talent!
A good call re Blood and Wine but i must stick up for the often overlooked Honorary Consul,,not the Film but caine'e perfromance. Faultless. A case could be made that it's his best perfromance in a Graham Greene adaption above the excellant Quiet American which was a far better movie. The less said about Richard Gere's English Doctor the better!! But Caine ( Bafta nominated for it remember) is sublime..
One of my favorites is Second Hand Lions.
I'd put "Gambit" and "the Italian Job" on the main list here. Two great movies and Caine performances.
I loved Michael Caine in The Trip
It's perfectly justifiable to omit his Oscar-winning work in The Cider House Rules. I love Caine, but his in-and-out, wandering New England accent certainly didn't help the hatchet job that John Irving did on his own great novel. While he's very good in The Dark Knight Rises, there are many better choices for his 10 best performances. I'd swap Sleuth out for something else as well. Two lead possibilities: his work in 1982's Deathrap or 1990's A Shock to the System. Two great supporting turns (and kudos for bringing up Children of Men because I would have if you didn't) as possible substutitions: His hysterical turn in 1998's Little Voice (which actually nabbed him a Golden Globe for which, as always, he gave a great speech while accepting) and 1996's Blood and Wine, a mixed bag of a movie but which Caine, Nicholson and Judy Davis were all great in.
Definitely one of the greatest actors alive. I think "Muppet Christmas Carol" deserves at least an honorable mention–he's such a good Scrooge, and gives a completely human, believable, honest, committed performances against a supporting cast of puppets. It's incredible to watch.
I am wondering why "Children Of Men" is on that list, because Caine has just a minor role in that zynical film.
Instead of "Children Of Men" I would put "Jack The Ripper" on that list. Well, just a miniseries made for TV where Caine plays Chief Inspector Fred Abberline, but in my opinion one of the most impressive performance in TV-history!
Little Voice is cute little neglected movie. Caine was great in it.
When I saw the headline, the first role that came to mind was the heavy in Mona Lisa. He lost all of his charm and pulled out a lizard of a man in his most frightening performance. There is a scene in which he is furiously berating Bob Hoskins' character and yet he lets you know he is restraining an even more explosive nature boiling under the surface. It is an electrifying performance in which he has never been more shamelessly vile.
WHAT ABOUT "THE HAND"???
I think his performance in The Prestige is the best one he gave for Nolan (and probably Nolan's best too) and one of his finest performances in general. It nicely plays on his personas from previous films and his performance is nicely nuanced so that you never know too much in terms of his true motivation. That comes mostly from his performance rather than the writing I think.
Little Voice, 1998
A Shock to the System, 1990
Mona Lisa, 1986
Let's not forget:
An interesting role in "Blood and Wine" (1996)
The father in a strangely very believable father-son couple in "The Weather Man"
and almost better father-son couple in "Austin Powers in Goldmember" (the real winner from 2002, let's be honest)…..not but really the two other roles I listed should be appreciated.
Great post. I'd say the biggest omission here would be his underrated/under-seen performance in the black comedy A Shock to the System from 1990. Always loved that one. Cheers!
Michael Caine did not meet his wife Shakira while making "The Man Who Would Me King" with her, he met her earlier. The story is quite famous. He saw her in a coffee commercial directed by Ridley Scott and thought she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He contacted the people who did the commercial, got her info, and wooed her and they fell in love and remain married to this day. 🙂 Sweet story.