From Our Vaults: Gregory Peck
Edward Dmytryk directed Mirage, a neo-noir thriller, starring Gregory Peck and Diane Baker.
Grade: B-
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Theatrical release poster
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Peter Stone’s script of amnesia and film noir is based on the 1952 novel “Fallen Angel,” written by Howard Fast under the pseudonym Walter Ericson.
Walter Matthau, George Kennedy, Leif Erickson and Kevin McCarthy appear in supporting roles.
During a power outage in the New York skyscraper where he works, corporate suit David Stillwell (Peck) exits through the unlit stairs. While descending, he encounters an attractive woman named Shela (Baker), who seems to know him, though he has no recollection of her.
Meanwhile, the body of noted philanthropist and leading world peace activist Charles Calvin is discovered, apparently he jumped from his 27th-floor office.
At a nearby bar, Stillwell feels uneasy and flashes back to his encounter with the woman. He returns to look for her, but now there is no sub-basement. A large pugnacious man named Willard orders Stillwell to leave.
At Stillwell’s building, a stranger named Lester pulls a gun and forces him into the apartment. He demands that Stillwell get his briefcase and meet “the Major.” Stillwell checks his briefcase and finds it completely empty.
While attempting to report the encounter to the police, Stillwell becomes distressed by questions about his own background. He suddenly realizes lack of memory of anything before his present job. He consults psychiatrist Broden, who declares it impossible to have amnesia for two years without being aware.
Stillwell encounters the woman again, who says that “the Major” urgently wants something from him. She reveals that her name is Shela, and that she and Stillwell previously had a relationship. She reluctantly accompanies him to see Joe Turtle, a concierge at Stillwell’s building who knows him, but Turtle has been beaten to death by Lester. Stillwell forces Shela to see what her associates are capable of.
After spending the night together, Stillwell wakes to find Shela gone, and Lester and Willard waiting downstairs. Willard callously kills Lester, an. Stillwell egoes to Caselle’s office, but finds him dead.
As Stillwell’s intermittent flashbacks are becoming regular and detailed, he revisits Dr. Broden. Stillwell’s amnesia is only two days old and that false memories have displaced recent traumatic ones. Stillwell realizes that he is not a cost accountant, but a “physio-chemist” and Calvin’s protégé. His home is New York, but he has spent the last two years in California working at research facility in a sub-basement lab under Sylvester Josephson.
To force Stillwell to recreate his formula, the Major forces Willard to play Russian roulette. Shela shoots Willard, and Stillwell convinces him that the Major will not let Josephson live as he knows too much.
In the preposterous happy ending, Josephson calls the police, and Stillwell and Shela embrace.
The screenplay was written by Peter Stone as follow-up to the 1963 hugely successful Charade; Matthau and Kennedy were holdovers from that movie’s cast.
Location shootings include New York Financial District. The fictitious Unidyne company was headquartered at 2 Broadway. Another key location is Battery Park to City Pier A.
While the plot is often confusing and overly-contrived, Mirage benefits from he harsh black and white photography, and the use of urban landscape, which contribute to the prevalent feeling of unease.
The movie was mildly popular at the box-office.
Cast
Gregory Peck as David Stillwell
Diane Baker as Shela
Walter Matthau as Ted Caselle
Kevin McCarthy as Josephson
Jack Weston as Lester
Leif Erickson as Major Crawford
Walter Abel as Charles Calvin
George Kennedy as Willard
Robert H. Harris as Dr. Broden
Credits:
Directed by Edward Dmytryk
Screenplay by Peter Stone, based on “Fallen Angel,” 1952 novel by Howard Fast (as Walter Ericson; uncredited)
Produced by Harry Keller
Cinematography (Black and white) Joseph MacDonald
Edited by Ted J. Kent
Music by Quincy Jones
Production and Distribution: Universal Pictures
Release dates: May 26, 1965 (NYC); July 7, 1965 (US)
Running time: 109 minutes
Box office $3,270,000
