The Jigsaw Man

The Jigsaw Man (1983)

Philip Kimberly, the former head of the British Secret Service who defected to Russia, is given plastic surgery and sent back to Britain by the KGB to retrieve some vital documents. With the documents in hand, he instead plays off MI6 and the KGB against each other.

Date of release
1983-11-11
TMDB
5.0 / 10 (44)
Runtime
1h 34m
Genres
Thriller
Director
Terence Young

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: Finland

The Jigsaw Man is a 1983 British espionage film starring Michael Caine, Susan George, Laurence Olivier and Robert Powell. It was directed by Terence Young. The screenplay was written by Jo Eisinger, based on the novel The Jigsaw Man by Dorothea Bennett.

Production

Director Terence Young cast Michael Caine to play the lead role of Sir Philip Kimberley. The other major role of Admiral Sir Gerald Scaith went to Laurence Olivier, thus reuniting the two actors who had previously received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor for their roles in the acclaimed Sleuth at the 45th Academy Awards in 1972.

The Jigsaw Man had a troubled filming history. Filming began in 1982 but the film hit financial troubles, and was reportedly shut down due to cash difficulties. Olivier, who had been ill on and off since the late 1970s, collapsed on set. He also apparently walked away from the film after receiving no pay, with Caine following not long after.

Originally Mike Hodges was going to direct The Jigsaw Man, which, if he had cast Caine, would have been Hodges and Caine's third film after their cult classics Get Carter (1971) and Pulp (1972).

There are several uncredited cameos by friends of Olivier and Caine, who were invited to take part when they visited the set. These include Max Bygraves (3rd Policeman), William Walton (Salvation Army band leader), Arthur Negus (Man in trilby) and Sir John Mills as a Cockney bingo-caller.

Rhythm arrangement by Jeremy Lubbock and Bob Gaudio.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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