The only movie Michael Caine made for free: “I knew that was going to be a dud”
There’s a toxic idea at the heart of the film industry that you should work for free in order to get ahead, with unpaid internships becoming a normalised area of the greasy pole as you try to climb your way to a living wage.
Anyone who has worked in the business knows that these roles are the worst to exist, being treated poorly by those with power and forced to jump through flaming hoops while earning no respect for doing so. Whether it be making coffee, writing script reports or buying pastries for a demanding man-child, the industry has a fair amount of curveballs to throw at anyone who tries to enter it, which certainly keeps you on your feet (and very broke).
But while this is a standard part of the process for those starting out, it is less normal for those already famous and have an established career, which is why it was all the more baffling when Michael Caine volunteered to star in a film for free.
There are many actors who have accepted discounted rates or low fees out of pure love for a project, with Al Pacino offering to appear in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood for free and Timothée Chalamet starring in Bones and All for a significantly lower pay cheque than usual. Sometimes, passion is all you need to get on board with an idea, even if the financial compensation doesn’t equal your enthusiasm.
This is something that Michael Caine had in spades when agreeing to star in the 1971 film Kidnapped, an adaptation of the classic novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. It’s a renowned Scottish tale that held an undeniable appeal for Caine, with the actor leaping at the chance to be in it and act alongside Lawrence Douglas.
However, while the project might have sounded great on paper, it ended up being a huge disappointment for Caine, with the actor biting off more than he could chew and ending up on a miserable three-month shoot in Scotland that he was never paid for.
Caine described his utter misery at this, saying, “The next film I made was the only one for which I was never paid. It was called Kidnapped, and was based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson and was filmed on location in Scotland. I returned home to London in a terrible state. I had worked very hard for three months, but had not been paid and even worse, I knew that Kidnapped was going to be a dud”.
It’s a painful experience to pour your heart and soul into something only for it to come out as a flop, knowing that everything you put yourself through and all the challenges were not entirely worth it if you don’t like the final result. It’s a different story if you like the film and audiences don’t, because at least you feel proud of the work. But the double whammy of being a flop and not earning a single penny is a bitter pill to swallow, and an experience that Caine surely wasn’t keen to replicate.
Never Miss A Tale
The Far Out Michael Caine Newsletter
All the latest stories about Michael Caine from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.