“No one knew who the hell I was”: Michael Caine’s awe-inspiring first trip to Hollywood
When Michael Caine was young, he dreamed of making it to Hollywood, escaping the confines of working in factories and serving in the army, but after many years of trying to become a successful actor, he was close to giving up, wondering whether his dream was going to happen.
When he was told by the director of The Day the Earth Caught Fire, Val Guest, that he’d never act again, Caine was almost ready to retire to a life of mundanity. He wasn’t going to give up that easily, though, for just a few years later, the Cockney actor, known for those classic horn-rimmed glasses and effortless cool, scored roles in the likes of Zulu and The Ipcress File, and his whole life changed.
He proved that he did have what it took after all, and by 1966, he’d landed an Oscar nomination for his performance in Alfie, playing the womanising Londoner who soon faces the consequences of his actions, so, it was only a matter of time before Caine was swept away into the arms of Hollywood, with his first role across the pond arriving that same year with Gambit.
The Technicolour heist flick saw him star opposite Shirley MacLaine, with the film landing three Oscar nominations for its art direction, sound, and costume design, and while it might not be one of Caine’s most legendary films from the ‘60s, it was a significant moment in his career, and he was ready to conquer Hollywood.
When he arrived in America, he was greeted by a melange of stars and famous figures, and it almost seemed too good to be true. Discussing his trip to Hollywood, Caine once revealed (via the Guardian), “The first time I went to America to star in a movie, it was in a picture called Gambit, with Shirley MacLaine, and because she was a big star then she got to pick her leading man. She picked me after seeing The Ipcress File. When I arrived, they threw a big party to welcome me, and a lot of people came. Of course, they were coming to see Shirley not for me, no one knew who the hell I was.”
Despite feeling rather unknown, he could bask in this rich collection of guests now presented to him, including Gloria Swanson and Frank Sinatra. “I spent a lot of time in Hollywood being in awe, although not in a work situation. In a work situation, you’re alongside some big star, and you realise that they’re having the same problems as you are,” he added.
Caine never knew who he was going to meet in Hollywood, and in some instances, he was left partying with people he could only have dreamed of meeting just a few years prior.
“In the social situations, though, it’s different. I remember one evening with Shirley, I wound up eating Chinese food in Danny Kaye’s kitchen, with Cary Grant and the Duke of Edinburgh!”
The actor soon graduated to the top ranks of the industry, picking up two Oscars, first for his performance as Elliot in Hannah and Her Sisters and then for his role in The Cider House Rules 13 years later. Nowadays, if you’re a budding star and you get to meet Caine at a party (although I’m not sure how hard he parties these days now that he’s in his 90s), you’d be pretty starstruck, but he knows how it feels; that was him once.
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