Sleuth is a 1972 mystery thriller film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and starring Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine.

[5] Andrew Wyke, a crime fiction author, lives in a country manor house filled with elaborate games and automata.

Berating Milo's profession as a hairdresser and background as the "un-English" son of an Italian immigrant, Andrew cannot accept that his wife left him for such an "unworthy" rival.

Vincent Canby's review for The New York Times also listed fictitious actress Karen Minfort-Jones as playing Andrew's mistress Teya [sic].

[6] Shaffer was initially reluctant to sell the film rights to the play, fearful it would undercut the success of the stage version.

When he finally did relent, he hoped the film would retain the services of Anthony Quayle, who had essayed the role of Wyke in London and on Broadway.

[7] Much of the story revolves around the theme of crime fiction, as written by John Dickson Carr (St John Lord Merridew = Sir Henry Merrivale), on whom Olivier's physical appearance is modelled, and Agatha Christie, whose photo is included on Wyke's wall, and how it relates to real-life criminal investigations.

Class conflict is also raised between Wyke, who has the trappings of an English country gentleman, compared to Tindle, the son of an immigrant from a poor area of London.

[10] After the film was released in South Africa Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine performed in a stage version of Sleuth at a theatre in Johannesburg.

[5] The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier), Best Director and Best Music, Original Dramatic Score.

The film was the second to have practically its entire cast (Caine and Olivier) nominated for Academy Awards after Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

[12][13][14][15][16][17] SCTV episode 121 featured Dave Thomas playing Michael Caine, arguing that the two films were different because the library appeared on different sides of the set.

They include him pulling open the shower curtains in one of the bathrooms and exposing the clown's jacket, dripping wet and apparently with bloodstains on it.

Caine starred in this adaptation, this time in the role of Wyke, and Jude Law played Tindle as a struggling actor.