Funny, surreal, cunning and cruel (boy does Anthony Shaffer like his characters to squirm), this one really has it all before you even get to the lead performances of Sirs Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier. It’s based on a play and to call it stagey would be an understatement – absolutely it’s stagey, even the act break shows, but y’know what? It doesn’t matter. Ken Adam’s production design and John Addison’s music more than make up for it. The tagline could easily have been Caine’s immortal line, “It’s only a bloody game!” and it plays out as such. Had anyone told me this was more the romp with a sting in its tail that it is than the far more serious mind game I expected, I might have put off seeing it even longer – but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the whole thing. It more than earns its right to its lengthy running time, put it that way. I can’t wait for the remake.

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