Get Carter
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1971
Starring: Michael Caine, John Osborne, Ian Hendry, and Britt Ekland
Director: Mike Hodges
The plot: When Jack Carter’s (Caine) brother dies in a car accident, the gangster suspects foul play, and travels north from London to his hometown of Newcastle to investigate. Local thugs threaten him, trying to thwart his sleuthing, but they’re no match for his cold-blooded determination. Jack ultimately unearths a cover-up that leads to a ring of murderous pornographers.
Why it’s good: Let’s begin with Michael Caine. He worked incessantly for over four decades (“I’ve done a lot of crap,” he once quipped) and phoned-in a few roles, but in films like “Zulu,” “Alfie,” “The Ipcress File,” “Sleuth,” Pulp,” “The Man Who Would be King,” “Deathtrap,” “Mona Lisa,” and “Little Voice,” he displayed an astonishing range and depth of characterization. As Jack in “Get Carter,” his heartless precision is almost reptilian. He’s out for a vengeance that might be interpreted as noble (he’s looking out for his family, after all), but Jack’s seemingly jaded attitude toward women — and life in general — could also be viewed as sociopathic. This is one of Caine’s best performances; you can’t take your eyes off him, and for once, he projects the silent, on-camera charisma so effortlessly achieved by Steve McQueen. The story is spare, and the action relentless.
Should I watch it? There are some ugly killings and a particularly disturbing accidental death, but the dialogue fairly crackles (when Jack is told by a fellow gangster that the police seem satisfied his brother died of natural causes, Jack snaps, When has that ever been good enough?!) and director Mike Hodges, who did such a fine job with Pulp and A Prayer for the Dying, throws some nice touches into a head-long, frenetic trajectory. Ian Hendry and Britt Ekland both remind us here that they have been sadly under-utilized by film-makers, and playwright/screenwriter John Osborne (Look Back in Anger) does a chilling job here, proving what a fine full-time actor he would have made. You can see the large influence this film has had on British and American crime films of the last 20 years. The Warner Archive DVD presents the film with a good deal of reverence. The 2000 remake with Sylvester Stallone was, predictably, insipid.