Michael Caine, the cockney who wanted to be a star
Having become one of the most famous British actors, Michael Caine gives himself up entirely in an astonishing documentary broadcast on Arte.
A beautiful white Jaguar criss-crosses the sunny English countryside to a background of bebop jazz. The smooth and elegant voice of Michael Caine comes to stick to the image.“No one knows the magic formula for success”says the actor with that bit of humor and self-mockery that have made him so charming since his debut.
However, he, the little ****ney from the popular suburbs of London, was able to find this fabulous martingale. He became one of the greatest British comedians of his time, with Sean Connery Or Peter O’Tooleknighted by the Queen in 2000, Oscar winner twice by Hollywood (for Hannah and her sisters in 1986, and in 2000 with God’s Work, the Devil’s Part), while counting no less than 150 films to his credit.
Surprising anecdotes
Margarete Kreuzer’s documentary Sir Michael Caine, from the working world to the Oscars of fame pays a tremendous tribute to this gentleman. Blue shirt, mischievous gaze, connected watch on the wrist, Michael Caine recounts his life, facing the camera, with rare precision, a beautiful relaxation and surprising anecdotes.
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From his real name Maurice Joseph Micklewhite Jr, Michael Caine was born on March 14, 1933 in London. Her father works as a porter at Billingsgate Market and her mother is a cleaner. “She was the one who put me on the road to success, he says. AT the age of 3 years, I used to do a little sketch to all the creditors who came knocking at our door. I only had one line : “Mom is out! ”” At 14, he joined a theater club to flirt with girls. After his military service, he saw odd jobs, married Patricia Haines and became the father of a girl baptized Dominique.
Anthology roles
The desire to be an actor does not leave him. It is in the theater that he breaks through. His agent asks him to change his name. Perceiving the poster ofHurricane on the Caine, with Bogart, his favorite actor, he renamed himself Michael Caine. Cy Endfield puts his foot in the stirrup thanks to Zulu in 1964. The following year, he made sparks in Ipcress, immediate danger, where he plays the role of Harry Palmer, anti-James Bond with glasses created by Len Deighton. In 1966, Alfie, the flirty establishes its notoriety. He meets Shakira Baksh, his second wife, married in 1971, with whom he still lives. The 1970s was a flamboyant decade for Caine. He connects the great films. Masterful in the thriller Get Carter (1971), he co-starred with Laurence Olivier in The Bloodhound (1972). And above all forms an unforgettable duo with Sean Connery in The Man Who Would Be Kingthe adaptation of Kipling’s novel by John Huston, in 1975.
Read alsoYouth, sins of old age
If younger generations know him as Batman’s butler at Nolan’s, he shines in Youth (2014) by Paolo Sorrentino as a melancholy old conductor. And Caine has not finished surprising us: he has just played in a modern version ofOliver Twist, still unpublished in theaters. At 90, we won’t blame him for contradicting his mantra: “Less is more!” »
