Mirage (1965 film)

Mirage
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Edward Dmytryk
Produced by	Harry Keller
Written by	Peter Stone Howard Fast (book)
Starring	Gregory Peck Diane Baker Walter Matthau
Music by	Quincy Jones
Cinematography	Joseph MacDonald
Editing by	Ted J. Kent
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Country	United States
Language	English

Mirage is a 1965 thriller directed by Edward Dmytryk from a script by Peter Stone (based on a book by Howard Fast), starring Gregory Peck, Diane Baker, Walter Matthau, and Kevin McCarthy, and released by Universal Pictures.

Plot

After emerging from a blacked-out skyscraper from which a famous humanitarian apparently jumped to his death, cost accountant David Stillwell (Gregory Peck) is stunned to discover that gunmen are chasing him and he has no idea why. Stillwell gradually realizes that he suffers from "unconscious amnesia", and that this illness has caused him to apparently black out the events of the past two years. The problem is that a prickly psychiatrist he consults assures him that it is impossible for unconscious amnesia to last more than a day or two.

As he furiously tries to piece together the puzzle of his life, Stillwell comes across Sheila (Diane Baker), who implies that they have been involved in a relationship. She is vague and evasive, insisting that not remembering is the only thing keeping him alive. He apparently has something a mysterious figure known only as "The Major" wants, but he doesn't know what it is. He recalls working as a "cost accountant" for Unidyne, the company Charles Calvin (Walter Abel), a wealthy (and apparently suicidal) humanitarian whose "nightmare ended just as [Stilwell's] began".

Nothing adds up. Stillwell's life is threatened by mysterious men (George Kennedy and Jack Weston). He engages the private detective Ted Casselle (Walter Matthau), who is more willing than able, this being his first case. The case? Find out who David Stillwell is and why strangers are trying to kill him.

When Stillwell seeks out Calvin's widow to ask what killed him, she replies: "You did."

As his fog lifts, Stillwell comes to realize that he is not at all what he thought himself to be, "Cost Accountant" is a metaphor he used for his real work as a physical chemist. The Garrison Foundation he works for is actually a secret branch of Unidyne, and Stillwell's work is a method to neutralize radiation will allows radiation-free atomic bombs to be made. His amnesia was induced when he tried to burn the only existing copy of his work, with Calvin falling to his death during an attempt to grab it.

This Hitchcockian screenplay is written by Peter Stone as a follow-up to the hugely successful Charade. Matthau and Kennedy are holdovers from Charade.

Cast

• Gregory Peck as Stillwell
• Diane Baker as Sheila
• Walter Matthau as Casselle
• Kevin McCarthy as Josephson
• Leif Erickson as the Major
• George Kennedy as Willard
• Jack Weston as Lester
• Walter Abel as Charles Calvin
• Robert H. Harris as Dr. Braden

Filming

Filming took place on a number of locations in the New York Financial District. The fictitious Unidyne company is headquartered at 2 Broadway. Another key location in the film is the walk with Peck and Baker through Battery Park to City Pier A.

External links

• Mirage at the Internet Movie Database