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 * {{Rotten Tomatoes}}
 * {{cite web| url=http://caine-home.narod.ru/60-16/60-16.html| title=Michael Caine's Russian Home| publisher=caine-home.narod.ru| language=ru| access-date=31 March 2008}}, Screenshots from the film
 [[Category:1966 plays]]

en>Zaslav: /* Casting */ Ce

2023-02-23T01:07:00Z

Casting: Ce

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{{short description|1966 British film by Lewis Gilbert}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Alfie
| image = Alfie_original.jpg
| border = yes
| alt =
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = [[Lewis Gilbert]]
| screenplay = [[Bill Naughton]]
| based_on = {{based on|''[[Alfie (play)|Alfie]]''|Bill Naughton}}
| producer = Lewis Gilbert
| starring = {{Plainlist|
* [[Michael Caine]]
* [[Millicent Martin]]
* [[Julia Foster]]
* [[Jane Asher]]
* [[Shirley Anne Field]]
* [[Vivien Merchant]]
* [[Eleanor Bron]]
* [[Shelley Winters]]
}}
| cinematography = [[Otto Heller]]
| editing = [[Thelma Connell]]
| music = [[Sonny Rollins]]
| studio = Sheldrake Films
| distributor = [[Paramount Pictures]]
| released = {{Film date|df=y|1966|03|24|United Kingdom}}
| runtime = 114 minutes<ref>{{cite web|title=''Alfie'' (X)|url=http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/alfie-1970-3|publisher=[[British Board of Film Classification]]|date=7 January 1966|access-date=14 March 2014}}</ref>
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget = $800,000<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060086/business |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050922144746/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060086/business |title=Alfie (1966): Box Office |publisher=[[IMDb]] |access-date=17 June 2018 |archive-date=22 September 2005}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=IMDB not reliable|date=December 2020}}
| gross = $18.9 million<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1966/0ALFI.php |website=[[The Numbers (website)|The Numbers]] |title=Alfie (1966) |access-date=16 April 2012 }}</ref>
}}
'''''Alfie''''' is a 1966 British [[comedy-drama]] film directed by [[Lewis Gilbert]] and starring [[Michael Caine]]. An [[Film adaptation|adaptation]] by [[Bill Naughton]] of his own 1966 novel and 1963 [[Alfie (play)|play of the same name]], the film was released by [[Paramount Pictures]].

''Alfie'' tells the story of a young womanising man who leads a self-centred life, purely for his own enjoyment, until events force him to question his uncaring behaviour, his loneliness and his priorities. He cheats on numerous women, and despite his confidence towards women, he treats them with disrespect and refers to them as "it", using them for sex and for domestic purposes. Alfie frequently breaks the [[fourth wall]] by speaking directly to the camera narrating and justifying his actions. His words often contrast with or totally contradict his actions.

The film had its World Premiere at the Plaza Theatre in the [[West End of London]] on 24 March 1966. A box office success, it received critical acclaim and is an influential part of British cinema.

==Plot==
Alfie Elkins, a handsome [[Cockney]], self-centered, narcissistic chauffeur in London, enjoys the sexual favours of married and single women while avoiding commitment. He is ending an affair with Siddie, a married woman, just as he gets his submissive single girlfriend, Gilda, pregnant. Alfie thinks nothing of pilfering fuel and money from his employer and tells Gilda to do the same. Although he refuses to marry her, and despite his constant cheating, Gilda decides to have the child, Malcolm Alfred, and keep him rather than give him up.

Over time, Alfie becomes quite attached to his delightful son, but his unwillingness to marry Gilda causes her to break up with him and marry Humphrey, a kindly bus conductor and neighbour. He loves her and is willing to accept Malcolm Alfred as his own. Gilda bars Alfie from any further contact with Malcolm, forcing him to watch from a distance as Humphrey steps into his fatherly role. When a health check reveals Alfie has [[Tuberculosis|tubercular shadows on his lungs]], the diagnosis and his fear of death, combined with his separation from his son, lead him to have a brief [[mental breakdown]].

Alfie spends time recuperating in a pastoral sanitorium, where he befriends Harry, a fellow patient, a family man devoted to his frumpy wife Lily. Alfie makes out with one of the nurses, disgusting Harry. Alfie thinks nothing of cheating, lying, stealing, or taking other men's wives. When Alfie flippantly suggests that Lily might be cheating on him, Harry angrily confronts Alfie about his attitudes and behaviour.

Released from the convalescent home, Alfie briefly stops working as a chauffeur to take holiday photos of tourists near the [[Tower of London]]. Here he meets Ruby, an older, voluptuous, affluent and promiscuous American, who, although she is accompanied by an older gentleman, gives him her address and telephone number.

Alfie returns to chauffeuring and drives a Rolls-Royce to the sanitorium to visit Harry. He finds Lily finishing a visit with her husband, who asks him to give his wife a ride back to London to save her an exhausting train ride. Neither initially want to spend time together, but they agree in order to please Harry. Along the way, they stop for tea and then a canoe ride where he seduces her.

Later, chauffeuring in the Rolls again, Alfie sees a young red-headed hitchhiker, Annie, who wants a fresh start in London. A lorry driver picks her up just before Alfie gets to her. He follows them to a cafe and steals her away to London. She moves into his bedsit where she proves preoccupied with a love left behind, scrubbing Alfie's floor, doing his laundry, and preparing his meals to compensate. The lorry driver finds him in a pub, punches him in the face and a barroom brawl ensues.

Coming home with a big black eye, Alfie grows resentful of Annie and drives her out with an angry outburst, immediately regretting it. Around the same time, Lily informs him that she is pregnant from their one encounter, and they plan for her to have an abortion. Lily comes to his flat to meet the abortionist. During the procedure, Alfie leaves Lily and walks around. He catches sight of his son Malcolm outside a church and witnesses the baptism of Gilda and Humphrey's new daughter. He watches as they exit the church as a family. The abortion traumatizes both Lily and Alfie; he breaks down in tears when seeing the aborted fetus, the first time he confronts the consequences of his actions.

The stress of the situations with Annie and Lily makes Alfie decide to change his non-committal ways and settle down with the rich Ruby. However, visiting her, he finds a younger man in her bed. He comes across Siddie (the married woman from the beginning of the movie), but she has lost interest in him and returned to her husband. Alfie is left lonely, wondering about his life choices; he asks the viewers, "What's it all about? You know what I mean."

==Cast==
{{Cast listing|
* [[Michael Caine]] as Alfie Elkins
* [[Shelley Winters]] as Ruby
* [[Millicent Martin]] as Siddie
* [[Vivien Merchant]] as Lily Clamacraft
* [[Jane Asher]] as Annie
* [[Julia Foster]] as Gilda
* [[Shirley Anne Field]] as Carla
* [[Eleanor Bron]] as the Doctor
* [[Denholm Elliott]] as the Abortionist
* [[Alfie Bass]] as Harry Clamacraft
* [[Graham Stark]] as Humphrey
* [[Murray Melvin]] as Nat
* [[Sydney Tafler]] as Frank
* [[Queenie Watts]] (''uncredited'') as the Blonde Pub Singer
* [[Pauline Boty]] (''uncredited'') as Laundress
}}

==Production==
The film is unusual in that it has no opening credits and the end credits feature photos of the principal actors, as well as of the main technical crew, including director Gilbert and cameraman Otto Heller.

===Casting===
Several leading actors, including [[Richard Harris]], [[Laurence Harvey]], [[James Booth]] and [[Anthony Newley]], turned down the title role due to the then-taboo subject matter. Despite having played "Alfie" on Broadway, [[Terence Stamp]] categorically declined to reprise the role on film, so he and casting agents approached his good friend and then roommate [[Michael Caine]]: not one to then snub a role about a [[Everyman|common man]], Caine agreed to do it. He received a positive reception for the role.

===Filming===
It was shot at [[Twickenham Film Studios|Twickenham Studios]] with scenes shot at several locations in London;<ref name=reelstreets>{{Cite web|url=http://www.reelstreets.com/films/alfie-1966/ |title=Alfie (1966) |work=ReelStreets |access-date=6 November 2013}}</ref> including [[Waterloo Bridge]] which is seen at the beginning and end of the film where the title character walks into the distance accompanied by a stray dog<ref name=Locations>{{cite book|date=11 May 2012|first=Neil |last=Mitchell|isbn=978-1841504841|title=World Film Locations: London|publisher=Intellect}}</ref> and [[Tower Bridge]] which is the backdrop for the photography scene with Shelley Winters.<ref name=filmLondon>{{cite web|url=http://core.filmlondon.org.uk/library/documents/South_Bank_Movie_Trail.pdf |title=The South Bank Movie Trail|publisher=[[Film London]]|access-date=6 November 2013}}</ref>

===Music===
The original film soundtrack featured jazz saxophonist [[Sonny Rollins]] with London musicians including [[Stan Tracey]] on piano, who improvised "Little Malcolm Loves His Dad" (although never credited), [[Rick Laird]] on bass, [[Phil Seamen]] on drums, [[Ronnie Scott]] on tenor sax.

The Sonny Rollins album ''[[Alfie (Sonny Rollins album)|Alfie]]'', orchestrated and conducted by [[Oliver Nelson]], was recorded in the United States in January 1966. It features Rollins with [[J.J. Johnson]] – trombone (tracks 1 & 2), [[Jimmy Cleveland]] – trombone (tracks 3–6), [[Phil Woods]] – alto saxophone, [[Bob Ashton]] – tenor saxophone, [[Danny Bank]] – baritone saxophone, [[Roger Kellaway]] – piano, [[Kenny Burrell]] – guitar, [[Walter Booker]] – bass and [[Frankie Dunlop]] – drums

The title song, "[[Alfie (Burt Bacharach song)|Alfie]]", written by [[Burt Bacharach]] and [[Hal David]], was sung by [[Cher]] over the film's closing credits in the US release reaching #32 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart.<ref>The credits list Cher as the singer, but do not mention Bacharach and David.</ref> It became a hit for British singer [[Cilla Black]] ([[Millicent Martin]] sang ''Alfie'' on its British release) and for [[Madeline Eastman]] and [[Dionne Warwick]].

==Reception==
On [[Rotten Tomatoes]] the film has an approval rating of 97%, based on reviews from 29 critics, with an average rating of 8/10. The site's consensus states: "Anchored by Michael Caine's charmingly droll performance, Alfie is an equally raucous and heart-rending portrait of romance in the Swinging '60s."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1000581-alfie/ | title=Alfie (1966)| publisher=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |access-date=18 December 2022 }}</ref>

[[Bosley Crowther]], film reviewer for ''[[The New York Times]]'', singled out Vivien Merchant's acting for particular praise:
{{blockquote| There must be an abortion—a miserable and tragic thing, which Lewis Gilbert, who produced and directed, makes us sense in all its shabbiness and shame. But it is the performance of Miss Merchant as the woman brought to this shame, stunned and saddened by the necessity, deadened by her grief, that shocks us into feeling contempt for Alfie—and all the free-wheeling Alfie's in this world.<ref>Crowther, Bosley; "'Alfie,' Story of a Cockney Anti-Hero, Begins Run Here: Movie More Effective Than Stage Play," ''The New York Times'', 25 August 1966</ref>}}

==Accolades==
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Award
! Category
! Nominee(s)
! Result
! Ref.
|-
| rowspan="5"| [[39th Academy Awards|Academy Awards]]
| [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]]
| [[Lewis Gilbert]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="5"| <ref name="Oscars1967">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1967 |title=The 39th Academy Awards (1967) Nominees and Winners |access-date=2011-09-04 |work=oscars.org |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110020832/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1967 |archive-date=2014-11-10}}</ref>
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| [[Michael Caine]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]]
| [[Vivien Merchant]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Screenplay – Based on Material from Another Medium]]
| [[Bill Naughton]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Original Song|Best Song]]
| "[[Alfie (Burt Bacharach song)|Alfie]]" Music by [[Burt Bacharach]]; Lyrics by [[Hal David]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| rowspan="6"| [[20th British Academy Film Awards|British Academy Film Awards]]
| [[BAFTA Award for Best British Film|Best British Film]]
| Lewis Gilbert
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="6"| <ref>{{cite web |url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1967/film |title=BAFTA Awards: Film in 1967 |publisher=[[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]] |year=1977 |access-date=3 June 2021 |ref={{harvid|BAFTA|1967}}}}</ref>
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role|Best British Actor]]
| Michael Caine
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best British Screenplay|Best British Screenplay]]
| Bill Naughton
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography|Best British Cinematography – Colour]]
| [[Otto Heller]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Editing|Best British Film Editing]]
| [[Thelma Connell]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles|Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles]]
| Vivien Merchant
| {{won}}
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[1966 Cannes Film Festival|Cannes Film Festival]]
| [[Palme d'Or]]
| rowspan="3"| Lewis Gilbert
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="2"| <ref name="cinemafr">{{cite news|url=http://www.cinema-francais.fr/cannes/cannes_1966.htm |title=19ème Festival International du Film – Cannes |work=cinema-francais.fr |language=fr |access-date=4 June 2017}}</ref>
|-
| [[Jury Prize (Cannes Film Festival)|Special Jury Prize]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[19th Directors Guild of America Awards|Directors Guild of America Awards]]
| [[Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film|Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dga.org/Awards/History/1960s/1966.aspx?value=1966 |title=19th DGA Awards |website=[[Directors Guild of America Awards]] |access-date=3 June 2021}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="7"| [[24th Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globe Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[Golden Globe Award for Best English-Language Foreign Film|Best English-Language Foreign Film]]
| {{won}}
| align="center" rowspan="7"| <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/film/alfie-1966 |title=Alfie (1966) – Golden Globes |website=[[HFPA]] |access-date=3 June 2021 |ref={{harvid|HFPA|1967}}}}</ref>
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama|Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama]]
| Michael Caine
| {{nom}}
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture|Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture]]
| Vivien Merchant
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Shelley Winters]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Director|Best Director – Motion Picture]]
| Lewis Gilbert
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay|Best Screenplay – Motion Picture]]
| Bill Naughton
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song|Best Original Song – Motion Picture]]
| "Alfie" Music by Burt Bacharach; Lyrics by Hal David
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[9th Annual Grammy Awards|Grammy Awards]]
| [[Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media|Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Show]]
| [[Sonny Rollins]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/9th-annual-grammy-awards |title=1966 Grammy Award Winners| publisher=Grammy.com| access-date=1 May 2011}}</ref>
|-
| Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards
| Best Actor
| Michael Caine
| {{won}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web|url=https://kcfcc.org/kcfcc-award-winners-1966-69/ |title=KCFCC Award Winners – 1966-69 |date=14 December 2013 |access-date=10 July 2021}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="3"| [[Laurel Awards]]
| colspan="2"| Top Drama
| {{draw|4th Place}}
| align="center" rowspan="3"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060086/awards |title=Alfie – Awards |publisher=[[IMDb]] |access-date=3 June 2021}}</ref>
|-
| Top Female Supporting Performance
| Shelley Winters
| {{nom}}
|-
| Top Song
| "Alfie" Music by Burt Bacharach; Lyrics by Hal David
| {{draw|4th Place}}
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[National Board of Review Awards 1966|National Board of Review Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[National Board of Review: Top Ten Films|Top Ten Films]]
| {{draw|3rd Place}}
| align="center" rowspan="2"| <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nbrmp.org/awards/past.cfm?year=1966 |title=National Board of Review of Motion Pictures :: Awards |publisher=Nbrmp.org |access-date=8 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111218133047/http://www.nbrmp.org/awards/past.cfm?year=1966 |archive-date=3 June 2021}}</ref>
|-
| [[National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]]
| Vivien Merchant
| {{won}}
|-
| [[1966 National Society of Film Critics Awards|National Society of Film Critics Awards]]
| [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| Michael Caine
| {{won}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite news|url=https://nationalsocietyoffilmcritics.com/about-2/ |title=Past Awards |website=[[National Society of Film Critics]] |date=19 December 2009 |access-date=5 July 2021}}</ref>
|-
| [[Writers' Guild of Great Britain|Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards]]
| Best British Dramatic Screenplay
| Bill Naughton
| {{won}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web|url=https://writersguild.org.uk/writers-guild-awards-1966/ |title=Writers' Guild Awards 1966 |website=[[Writers' Guild of Great Britain]] |access-date=3 June 2021}}</ref>
|}

==Legacy==
The 1966 film was followed by ''[[Alfie Darling]]'' (1975), with [[Alan Price]] replacing Caine. An updated [[Alfie (2004 film)|2004 remake]] starred [[Jude Law]] in the title role.

===References in popular culture===
* Much of the film's dialogue was sampled by the band [[Carter USM]] for their 1991 album ''[[30 Something]]''.
* The LP, ''Nino Tempo's Rock 'N Roll Beach Party'' (1956 Liberty Records ... LRP3023) can be seen hanging in Alfie's apartment in several key scenes.
* New York [[post-hardcore]] band [[Polar Bear Club]] references "Alfie Elkins '66" in their song "Drifting Thing" off their 2009 release ''[[Chasing Hamburg]]''.
* The soundtrack to ''[[Austin Powers in Goldmember]]'' (in which Caine co-stars) contains a song entitled "Alfie (What's It All About Austin)" performed by [[Susanna Hoffs]]. This song is a cover of the original film's title song, with all occurrences of "Alfie" replaced with "Austin". A [[deleted scene]] has the cast performing the song.
* The film inspired [[The Divine Comedy (band)|The Divine Comedy]]'s ''[[Casanova (The Divine Comedy album)|Becoming More Like Alfie]]'', which samples its opening dialogue in its introduction.
* Guitarist [[Jeff Beck]] quoted the title song's melody in his instrumental showpiece [[Over Under Sideways Down|"Jeff's Boogie"]], released a few months after the film's premiere.
* Singer/songwriter [[Tori Amos]] performed the theme as part of her repertoire as a teen, and references it in the song "Gold Dust" from her 2002 album ''[[Scarlet's Walk]]''.
* British Pop Art artist [[Pauline Boty]] makes a brief appearance as the manageress of a Dry-Cleaner's whom Alfie visits for sex. Boty died just over three months after the film's UK premiere.
*In the second episode of the third season of ''[[Emily in Paris]]'', [[Lily Collins]] sings the song ''Alfie''.

==See also==
* [[BFI Top 100 British films]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title}}
* {{AllMovie title}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes}}
* {{cite web| url=http://caine-home.narod.ru/60-16/60-16.html| title=Michael Caine's Russian Home| publisher=caine-home.narod.ru| language=ru| access-date=31 March 2008}}, Screenshots from the film

{{Alfie}}
{{Navboxes
| title = Awards for ''Alfie''
| list =
{{Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize}}
{{Golden Globe Award for Best English-Language Foreign Film}}
}}
{{Lewis Gilbert}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1966 plays]]
[[Category:1966 films]]
[[Category:1966 comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:1960s sex comedy films]]
[[Category:British comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:British films based on plays]]
[[Category:British sex comedy films]]
[[Category:Casual sex in films]]
[[Category:Films about abortion]]
[[Category:Films about adultery in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Films directed by Lewis Gilbert]]
[[Category:Films set in London]]
[[Category:Films shot in London]]
[[Category:Paramount Pictures films]]
[[Category:Plays by Bill Naughton]]
[[Category:1960s British films]]

Alfie (1966 film) - Revision history

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