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Deathtrap (film)
Encyclopedia
Deathtrap is a 1982 thriller film based on Ira Levin
's play
of the same name
.
The cast includes Michael Caine
, Christopher Reeve
, Dyan Cannon
, Irene Worth
and Henry Jones
. Real-life movie and theatre critics Stewart Klein, Jeffrey Lyons
and Joel Siegel
have cameo appearance
s as themselves.
home to discuss it.
Clifford arrives by train. Myra tries desperately over the course of an evening to convince Sidney to work with Clifford as equal partners, but to no avail. Sidney attacks Clifford, strangling him with a chain.
Sidney removes the body but still has to convince Myra to conspire with him. She reveals nothing when they receive an unexpected visit from the psychic
Helga Ten Dorp, a minor celebrity who is staying with the Bruhls' neighbors. But Helga senses pain and death in the house; before she leaves she warns Sidney about a man in boots who will attack him.
As she prepares for bed, Myra is managing to come to terms with Sidney's diabolical deed. All is calm until Clifford bursts through the bedroom window and beats Sidney with a log. Clifford chases Myra through the house until her heart gives out; she collapses and dies. Sidney calmly descends the stairs, uninjured, and sidles unperturbed to Clifford's side. They exchange a few words about what to do with Myra's body, then exchange a passionate kiss.
Clifford moves in. The two work together at a double desk, Sidney suffering from writer's block but Clifford busily typing page after page of a new play that he keeps suspiciously under lock and key. Sidney breaks the lock and is horrified to discover that Clifford is using the true story of Myra's murder as the basis of a play called "Deathtrap." Unashamed, Clifford offers to share the work and the credit. Sidney demurs until Clifford insists he's prepared to leave him and write the play without him.
A few days later, Helga stops by, ostensibly for candles in anticipation of a predicted thunderstorm. Almost immediately after meeting Clifford, she warns Sidney that Clifford is the man in boots.
Sidney doublecrosses Clifford by asking him to arm himself with an axe to demonstrate a bit of stage business, then producing a gun to dispose of Clifford and "Deathtrap." But Clifford has loaded the bullets into a different gun, and he secures Sidney to a chair with manacles, unaware they were once the property of Harry Houdini
. Sidney easily releases himself, grabs a crossbow
and fells Clifford with a single arrow.
Before Sidney can dispose of the body the storm hits with full force, plunging him into darkness. A flash of lightning illuminates the living room and a fleeting figure scurries through. It is Helga, aware of the mortal danger at the house.
Sidney finds a knife while Helga grabs a gun. Clifford regains consciousness and trips Helga. The gun goes flying and a struggle for it ensues that ...
... culminates on a stage with actors before a full house, where "Clifford" stabs "Sidney" and both die, leaving "Helga" victorious. The opening night audience erupts in thunderous applause, and at the back of the house stands Helga Ten Dorp, now the happy author of a hit Broadway play called "Deathtrap."
for "Worst Supporting Actress" for her performance.
Mad Magazine parodied the film as Deathcrap.
The kissing scene between Sidney and Clifford is not in the original play. In his book The Celluloid Closet
, gay
film historian Vito Russo
reports Reeve as saying that the kiss was booed by preview audiences in Denver, Colorado
and estimating that a Time magazine report on the incident (which spoiled a key plot element) cost the film $10 million in ticket sales.
The controversy over the kiss inspired the Tom Smith
song "Two Guys Kissin' (Ruined My Life)."
on July 27, 1999. It was re-released on November 8, 2003 as half of a two-pack with the Henry Winkler
/Michael Keaton
buddy film
Night Shift
.
Ira Levin
Ira Levin was an American author, dramatist and songwriter.-Professional life:Levin attended Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa...
's play
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
of the same name
Deathtrap (play)
Deathtrap is a play by Ira Levin in 1978 which encompasses many plot twists and is essentially a play within a play. It is a play in two acts with one set and five characters. It holds the record for the longest running comedy-thriller on Broadway and was also nominated for the Tony Award for Best...
.
The cast includes Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
, Christopher Reeve
Christopher Reeve
Christopher D'Olier Reeve was an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author and activist...
, Dyan Cannon
Dyan Cannon
Dyan Cannon is an American film and television actress, director, screenwriter, editor, and producer.-Early life:...
, Irene Worth
Irene Worth
Irene Worth, CBE was an American stage and screen actress who became one of the leading stars of the English and American theatre. -Early life:...
and Henry Jones
Henry Jones (actor)
Henry Burk Jones was an American actor of stage, film and television.Jones was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Helen and John Francis Xavier Jones. He was the grandson of Pennsylvania Representative Henry Burk...
. Real-life movie and theatre critics Stewart Klein, Jeffrey Lyons
Jeffrey Lyons (television critic)
Jeffrey Lyons is an American television and film critic.-Life and career:Lyons was born in New York City, one of the four sons of Sylvia and Leonard Lyons...
and Joel Siegel
Joel Siegel
Joel Siegel was an American film critic for the ABC morning news show Good Morning America for over 25 years. Born to a Jewish family of Romanian descent, and raised in Los Angeles, California, he graduated cum laude from UCLA. His Romanian-born grandmother from Botoşani survived the Triangle...
have cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
s as themselves.
Plot
Famed playwright Sidney Bruhl debuts the latest in a series of Broadway flops and returns to his opulent Long Island home and his sympathetic but sick wife, Myra. Although their financial situation is not dire, Sidney is hungry for a hit. They are starting to feel the limit of his wife's fortune, so he shares with her a plan. He has received a manuscript written by one of his students that he considers near perfection. Clifford Anderson recently attended one of Sidney's writing workshops and now asks for his input on his play "Deathtrap." Myra's weak heart is not improved when her husband does not rule out eliminating Clifford and producing the play as his own. He invites Clifford to their secluded Long IslandLong Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
home to discuss it.
Clifford arrives by train. Myra tries desperately over the course of an evening to convince Sidney to work with Clifford as equal partners, but to no avail. Sidney attacks Clifford, strangling him with a chain.
Sidney removes the body but still has to convince Myra to conspire with him. She reveals nothing when they receive an unexpected visit from the psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
Helga Ten Dorp, a minor celebrity who is staying with the Bruhls' neighbors. But Helga senses pain and death in the house; before she leaves she warns Sidney about a man in boots who will attack him.
As she prepares for bed, Myra is managing to come to terms with Sidney's diabolical deed. All is calm until Clifford bursts through the bedroom window and beats Sidney with a log. Clifford chases Myra through the house until her heart gives out; she collapses and dies. Sidney calmly descends the stairs, uninjured, and sidles unperturbed to Clifford's side. They exchange a few words about what to do with Myra's body, then exchange a passionate kiss.
Clifford moves in. The two work together at a double desk, Sidney suffering from writer's block but Clifford busily typing page after page of a new play that he keeps suspiciously under lock and key. Sidney breaks the lock and is horrified to discover that Clifford is using the true story of Myra's murder as the basis of a play called "Deathtrap." Unashamed, Clifford offers to share the work and the credit. Sidney demurs until Clifford insists he's prepared to leave him and write the play without him.
A few days later, Helga stops by, ostensibly for candles in anticipation of a predicted thunderstorm. Almost immediately after meeting Clifford, she warns Sidney that Clifford is the man in boots.
Sidney doublecrosses Clifford by asking him to arm himself with an axe to demonstrate a bit of stage business, then producing a gun to dispose of Clifford and "Deathtrap." But Clifford has loaded the bullets into a different gun, and he secures Sidney to a chair with manacles, unaware they were once the property of Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini was a Hungarian-born American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer noted for his sensational escape acts...
. Sidney easily releases himself, grabs a crossbow
Crossbow
A crossbow is a weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles, often called bolts or quarrels. The medieval crossbow was called by many names, most of which derived from the word ballista, a torsion engine resembling a crossbow in appearance.Historically, crossbows played a...
and fells Clifford with a single arrow.
Before Sidney can dispose of the body the storm hits with full force, plunging him into darkness. A flash of lightning illuminates the living room and a fleeting figure scurries through. It is Helga, aware of the mortal danger at the house.
Sidney finds a knife while Helga grabs a gun. Clifford regains consciousness and trips Helga. The gun goes flying and a struggle for it ensues that ...
... culminates on a stage with actors before a full house, where "Clifford" stabs "Sidney" and both die, leaving "Helga" victorious. The opening night audience erupts in thunderous applause, and at the back of the house stands Helga Ten Dorp, now the happy author of a hit Broadway play called "Deathtrap."
Cast
- Michael CaineMichael CaineSir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
as Sidney Bruhl - Christopher ReeveChristopher ReeveChristopher D'Olier Reeve was an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author and activist...
as Clifford Anderson - Dyan CannonDyan CannonDyan Cannon is an American film and television actress, director, screenwriter, editor, and producer.-Early life:...
as Myra Bruhl - Irene WorthIrene WorthIrene Worth, CBE was an American stage and screen actress who became one of the leading stars of the English and American theatre. -Early life:...
as Helga Ten Dorp - Henry JonesHenry Jones (actor)Henry Burk Jones was an American actor of stage, film and television.Jones was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Helen and John Francis Xavier Jones. He was the grandson of Pennsylvania Representative Henry Burk...
as Porter
Reception
Critics were about evenly divided on the film. Cannon was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award1982 Golden Raspberry Awards
The 3rd Golden Raspberry Awards were held on April 11, 1983 at an Oscar night potluck party to recognize the worst the film industry had to offer in 1982...
for "Worst Supporting Actress" for her performance.
Mad Magazine parodied the film as Deathcrap.
The kissing scene between Sidney and Clifford is not in the original play. In his book The Celluloid Closet
The Celluloid Closet
The Celluloid Closet is a 1996 American documentary film directed and written by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. The film is based on the 1981 book of the same name written by Vito Russo, and on previous lecture and film clip presentations given in person by Russo 1972–82.Russo researched the...
, gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
film historian Vito Russo
Vito Russo
Vito Russo was an American LGBT activist, film historian and author who is best remembered as the author of the book The Celluloid Closet ....
reports Reeve as saying that the kiss was booed by preview audiences in Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
and estimating that a Time magazine report on the incident (which spoiled a key plot element) cost the film $10 million in ticket sales.
The controversy over the kiss inspired the Tom Smith
Tom Smith (filker)
Tom Smith is a singer-songwriter from , who got his start in the filk music community. He is a fourteen-time winner of the Pegasus Award for excellence in filking, including awards for his "A Boy and His Frog", "307 Ale", and "The Return of the King ", and was inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame in...
song "Two Guys Kissin' (Ruined My Life)."
DVD release
Deathtrap was released on Region 1 DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
on July 27, 1999. It was re-released on November 8, 2003 as half of a two-pack with the Henry Winkler
Henry Winkler
Henry Franklin Winkler, OBE is an American actor, director, producer, and author.Winkler is best known for his role as Fonzie on the 1970s American sitcom Happy Days...
/Michael Keaton
Michael Keaton
Michael John Douglas , better known by the stage name Michael Keaton, is an American actor known for his early comedic roles, most notably his performance as the title character of Tim Burton's Beetlejuice . Keaton is also famous for his dramatic portrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman in Tim Burton's...
buddy film
Buddy film
The buddy film is a film genre in which two people of the same sex are paired. The two often contrast in personality, which creates a different dynamic onscreen than a pairing of two people of the opposite sex. The contrast is sometimes accentuated by an ethnic difference between the two...
Night Shift
Night Shift (film)
Night Shift is a 1982 comedy film, one of Ron Howard's earliest directorial efforts. It stars Howard's Happy Days co-star Henry Winkler along with Michael Keaton, in his first starring role, and Shelley Long, who later in the year would star as Diane Chambers in the popular sitcom Cheers. Also...
.