The Jigsaw Man (film)
Encyclopedia
The Jigsaw Man British espionage film starring 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 ....

, Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...

 and Robert Powell
Robert Powell
Robert Powell is an English television and film actor, probably most famous for his title role in Jesus of Nazareth and as the fictional secret agent Richard Hannay...

. Directed by Terence Young, it was based on a novel by Dorothea Bennett and the screenplay was by Jo Eisinger
Jo Eisinger
Jo Eisinger was a film and television writer whose career spanned more than forty years from the early forties well into the eighties...

.

Plot

Sir 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
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...

 to retrieve some vital documents. With the documents in hand, he instead plays MI6 and the KGB off against each other.

Cast

  • 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 ....

     - Philip Kimberley/Sergei Kuzminsky
  • Laurence Olivier
    Laurence Olivier
    Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...

     - Admiral Sir Gerald Scaith
  • Susan George
    Susan George (actress)
    Susan Melody George is an English film and television actress, and film producer.-Career:She trained at the Stage School, Corona Theatre School and has acted since the age of four, appearing on both television and film...

     - Penelope Kimberley
  • Robert Powell
    Robert Powell
    Robert Powell is an English television and film actor, probably most famous for his title role in Jesus of Nazareth and as the fictional secret agent Richard Hannay...

     - Jamie Fraser
  • Charles Gray
    Charles Gray (actor)
    Charles Gray was an English actor who was well-known for roles including the arch-villain Blofeld in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever, Sherlock Holmes' brother Mycroft Holmes in the Granada television series, and as The Criminologist in the cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show in...

     - Sir James Chorley

Production

The director Terence Young decided to cast Michael Caine to play the lead role. The second major role went to Laurence Olivier, thus reuniting the two actors who had previously received Academy Award nominations for their roles in the acclaimed Sleuth 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. Laurence Olivier, who had been ill on and off since the late 1970's, collapsed on set. He also apparently walked away from the film after receiving no pay, with Caine following not long after. The actors returned when $4 million was secured as finance by Mahmud Sipra, an international entrepreneur.

The film was given a 15 rating by the BBFC
British Board of Film Classification
The British Board of Film Classification , originally British Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental organisation, funded by the film industry and responsible for the national classification of films within the United Kingdom...

in August 1983 and was released by Thorn EMI. The Jigsaw Man was released in DVD format in 2002 by Prism Leisure with the special features being limited to chapter selection options.

Originally Mike Hodges was going to direct The Jigsaw Man which could have been Mike Hodges and Michael Caine's third film after their cult classics Get Carter (1971) and Pulp (1972).
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