The two movies Michael Caine hated making: “So this is where my career ended”
During the swinging 1960s, not only did music, fashion, and people’s attitudes begin to progress, but so did film. The medium started to reflect these changing values, with filmmakers taking inspiration from the decade’s propensity for sexual liberation. Paired with less censorship, many British movies of the period featured more violence, nudity, sex and taboo topics than ever before.
The era allowed many new young stars to emerge, such as Michael Caine, who landed himself roles in many movies that would come to define this new era. From Alfie and Deadfall to The Ipcress File and The Italian Job, Caine became one of the country’s best-known leading men. He was loved for his Cockney accent, which he rarely watered down, and his signature horn-rimmed glasses – carving out a recognisable image for himself that helped to cement him as a cinematic icon.
Caine continued to find success in the years that followed with roles in films like Get Carter, Sleuth, Dressed to Kill, Educating Rita, Hannah and Her Sisters, and many Christopher Nolan collaborations. He is considered British acting royalty, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t made a few blunders when agreeing to certain movies in the past.
Alongside On Deadly Ground, directed by Steven Seagal, Bullseye, Harry Brown, and a handful of straight-to-home-video titles, there are two sequels that Caine has appeared in, which could be considered some of his worst movies. In 1995 and 1996, he starred in Bullet to Beijing and Midnight in Saint Petersburg, respectively. These two movies were the fourth and fifth instalments in The Ipcress File film series, but they were both considerable flops.
The Ipcress File was one of Caine’s breakthrough roles, helping to further establish his name in British cinema. The Bafta-winning movie was inspired by the popularity of the James Bond series, but it took a much less glamorous approach to the spy genre. Gritty and thrilling, the movie is considered one of his best, and in the wake of its success, he starred in two sequels, Funeral in Berlin and Billion Dollar Brain. The latter film was divisive, with some critics praising it and some absolutely hating it.
Thus, the need for two more sequels, created almost 30 years later, hardly felt necessary. Yet, Caine agreed to the made-for-television movies, and the result was, unsurprisingly, not good. Neither Bullet to Beijing nor Midnight in Saint Petersburg earned acclaim, with many fans seeing these weak sequels as a stain on the genius of the original movie.
Caine ended up hating the process of making the films, too. “I was asked to work with an old friend – the spy Harry Palmer, one of my favourite characters and my first starring role – in two back-to-back sequels to the 1965 film The Ipcress File,” he told The Daily Mail. “It was my worst professional experience ever.”
The actor revealed, “Our hotel turned out to be the centre for the local mafia,” with lots of cinematic-sounding moments occurring during his stay: “A dozen men in black overalls and masks came tearing across the cafe, crashing on top of the tables and hurling themselves straight at their target.”
Moreover, “The filming itself was a joke,” he claimed, stating that the LenFilm studios where they were shooting had facilities which had seen better days, “I could smell it 50 yards away, and it was the filthiest lavatory I have ever seen.” He added, “So this is where my career has ended, I thought to myself: in the toilet. I’m done.”
Luckily for Caine, his career was not over. By the early 2000s, he was back on track, appearing in many acclaimed movies, including The Dark Knight trilogy, Children of Men, and Inception.
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