Michael Caine: Photographed by Terry O'Neill

by James Clarke

“I had to be an actor,” Michael Caine once said. “[…] And of course, you have to remember with me, the alternative was a factory.” A working-class actor who broke through to stardom, Caine's screen-time involves standout performances across multiple genres. To this day, he is synonymous with a certain kind of urbane cool. No camera has captured this quality over the decades better than that of his collaborator and long-time friend, Terry O'Neill. Michael Photographed by Terry O'Neill offers an immersive visual journey through Michael Caine's career, immortalizing Caine's charm both in and out of character. Caine occupies a landmark position in cinema and O'Neill was there from the early days of his stellar career. From the comedy of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels to the European drama of Seven Times A Woman; from the miasma of The Magus to the British cult classic Get Carter, this book combines black and white and color images and includes never-before-seen contact sheets. Featuring the following Mona Lisa, Midnight in Saint Petersburg / Bullet to Beijing, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Blue Ice, Without a Clue, Get Carter, Deadfall, Magus, Woman Times Seven, Funeral in Berlin.

224 pages, Hardcover

Published June 14, 2021

Reviews

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I already have a couple of books containing Terry O'Neill's photographs from many of the Sean Connery/Roger Moore James Bond films, so this excellent book featuring Michael Caine was a very welcome addition to my collection.
Although the photographs here are only from a handful of Caine's films they are all excellent, especially those from Get Carter. There are some brief pieces of text, giving the background to each film, and these are surprisingly informative. However, it's Terry O'Neill's superb photographs that are the real reason for this purchase and they are all quite brilliant.