The spy movie Michael Caine always wanted to make: “That one first”
Michael Caine has been around long enough to know when a film idea has potential. Over the years, he has starred in several acclaimed projects adapted from books, but he has also had his fair share of regrets over opportunities that never materialised.
An Expensive Place to Die is a 1967 espionage novel by British author Len Deighton. You may not have read it, but Caine certainly has. The story is set in Paris and follows an unnamed British intelligence officer who becomes entangled in a convoluted spider’s web of espionage, blackmail, and political intrigue.
The book’s plot is central to a clandestine clinic on Avenue Foch, operated by the enigmatic Monsieur Datt, which caters to the perversions of influential political figures from both the East and West. The dividing line of the Cold War wasn’t an ethical discrepancy in the indulgences of the rich and powerful. It was the opposite, the acquisitiveness of empire.
The clinic’s true purpose is to gather compromising material on its clients, leading to a high-stakes game involving agents from multiple world powers. It presages conspiracy theories about Little St James being a blackmail operation, or at least solid proof that rich people are all disgusting perverts.
The novel’s title is derived from a quotation by Oscar Wilde about Paris (where the man died himself), reflecting the city’s reputation for both allure and danger, as well as for the cost of living being exorbitantly high–to this day. Wilde’s actual words were: “Dying in Paris is a terribly expensive business for a foreigner.” This book is the fifth in Deighton’s Unnamed Hero series, but it stands out by incorporating third-person narratives alongside the usual first-person perspective and by getting grimier and dimming the shades of traditional spy thrillers. This isn’t James Bond playing baccarat in a white tuxedo.
““I love it when younger actors take on the physical roles.”
michael caine
Upon its release, An Expensive Place to Die received attention for its intricate plot and vivid depiction of the espionage world. Readers and critics, anywhere you might care to find them, have admired the novel’s complex narrative and the morally ambiguous nature of its characters, ambiguous being a generous term. They’re all the worst people that you hope never to meet, and you probably never will, as they’re committing unspeakable acts in a penthouse made of gold–if you’re to believe Len Deighton, anyway.
Talking to Daily Info, Caine said: “I love it when younger actors take on the physical roles. I like to stand about and give orders now. I’m Alfred, the butler in Batman. There was one Len Deighton novel that we didn’t film, with a great title – An Expensive Place to Die, set in Paris. If they were re-making Harry Palmer films, I’d buy that novel and make that one first.”
For those interested in classic spy fiction that delves into the darker aspects of intelligence operations, An Expensive Place to Die offers a compelling and thought-provoking read. Whether Michael Caine could convincingly portray a spy at this stage in his–shall we say–lengthy career is up for interpretation. And he’s far, far too lovable to be convincing as an Epsteinian degenerate.
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