Cul-de-sac (1966)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Roman Polanski

Writers:

Gérard Brach (writer)
Roman Polanski (writer)

Release Date:

7 November 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

A wounded criminal and his dying partner take refuge at a beachfront castle. The owners of the castle...

Plot Keywords:

Castle | Partner | Coward | Chicken | Eccentric

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win

Cast

Donald Pleasence	...	George
Françoise Dorléac	...	Teresa
Lionel Stander	...	Richard
Jack MacGowran	...	Albie
Iain Quarrier	...	Christopher
Geoffrey Sumner	...	Christopher's Father
Renee Houston	...	Christopher's Mother
Robert Dorning	...	Philip Fairweather
Marie Kean	...	Marion Fairweather
William Franklyn	...	Cecil
Jacqueline Bisset	...	Jacqueline (as Jackie Bisset)
Trevor Delaney	...	Nicholas

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Norway:16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (re-release) | UK:15 | West Germany:16 (bw)

Filming Locations:

Holy Island of Lindisfarne, Northumberland, England, UK

Company:

Compton Films

Trivia:

Set on an island in the north-east of England called Holy Island.

Quotes:

Nicholas: [after being punished for scratching one of Teresa's records] That Froggy bitch pulled my ear off!
Philip Fairweather: Here, here, here! Who taught you to speak like that?
Nicholas: Mum did!
Philip Fairweather: [slaps the back of Nicholas's hand] That'll teach you to tell lies.

Movie Connections:

References Rob Roy (1922)

Max to the max

The quiet life of a couple living in a castle located in a peninsula whose road submerges when the tide is high, is disturbed when two gangsters reach there.

Richard -Lionel Stander (Max in Hart to Hart)- must face the waters, hens, a rotted stair, a transvestite, a diet of eggs, an annoying family, a flirting blond boy, an incompetent barber, a small boy gunman,...and even change into an unexpected butler with a new butler's suitable name, the melody of a record player, forced to play the bicycle joke...

I really enjoy all the actors, funny location, imaginative plot, odd situations, and the pace. Cul-de-sac (by the way a catalan origin word) is not for nervous people but for those who enjoy contemplation.