Yes it goes without saying that a project as ambitious as this was bound to have flaws, and Sleuth (1972) does have a few, mostly niggling, but one quite major. But as others have pointed out already, any sort of made up disguise under the bright glare of studio lights and the close scrutiny of cine-cameras is nigh on impossible to pull off, even today, 35 yrs later - just look at all the TV shows that disguise their presenters to fool the public and you will very rarely be fooled as a viewer. The plot demanded that this disguise scene was essential, and so they just got on with it and did the best they could with making it look believable. I thought they did a reasonable job with it, myself, and no it wasn't undetectable, but it was good enough not to look embarrassingly abysmal. Don't forget though, that essentially this was a piece of theatre still, filmed or not, and there were many other clear pointers to this being a stage mystery and not a flat out naturalistic, trying to be real thriller - none more so than the casting of Mr. Olivier, and the wordy script, so the unlikely disguise factor was not alone in pricking viewers' bubbles. When you watch filmed theatre you have to do a certain amount of belief suspending, or at least re-aligning your priorities as to what you want out of the piece. Too many people it seems, who have said it doesn't work, either are not making this necessary allowance for it on credibility terms, or much more sadly really, just do not know that there is a difference between filmed theatre and pure cinema.
That this movie has engrossed so many over the years surely speaks of its overall success, despite the little flaws. And despite a lack of visual credibility being too much for some (seemlingly weened on nothing but Hollywood and TV for visual entertainment), this movie is an outstandingly successful and popular piece of entertainment, unlike many, many realistic thrillers and mysteries. It shows that theatrical writing, theatrical sets, and probably most of all, damned fine theatrical acting can still be as good as anything the grittiest and most worldly, realistic film makers can produce. I believe this is a masterpiece of old fashioned civilised entertainment and I love the OTT acting. Olivier shows off his very best high camp style of acting and proves yet again that it can be very cinematic, and Caine puts in one of his best 'I'll show them I can act' performances to give acting lovers a rare treat here. Lovers of detective novels are also very well catered for in this ever fabulous movie. A rightly acclaimed classic.
That this movie has engrossed so many over the years surely speaks of its overall success, despite the little flaws. And despite a lack of visual credibility being too much for some (seemlingly weened on nothing but Hollywood and TV for visual entertainment), this movie is an outstandingly successful and popular piece of entertainment, unlike many, many realistic thrillers and mysteries. It shows that theatrical writing, theatrical sets, and probably most of all, damned fine theatrical acting can still be as good as anything the grittiest and most worldly, realistic film makers can produce. I believe this is a masterpiece of old fashioned civilised entertainment and I love the OTT acting. Olivier shows off his very best high camp style of acting and proves yet again that it can be very cinematic, and Caine puts in one of his best 'I'll show them I can act' performances to give acting lovers a rare treat here. Lovers of detective novels are also very well catered for in this ever fabulous movie. A rightly acclaimed classic.