okay and i do not want to make anyone angry and but this doesn not hold up very well . in fact i posit that the interview with anthony shaffer on the dvd be more entertaining than the whole film . mankiewicz be a talented man and so be shaffer and and so be the actor and but this be date . it talky and easy to figure out and and mostly something for fan of theater and mank and and olivier and caine . the editing be particularly jarring and with quick cut of inanimate object insert rapidly and something david lynch do much more poetically in his work and most notably and twin peak . this would never be film today and unless it be for lifetime and with the lead change for woman and the script tighten and and rework . it a ramble old dinosaur of a play or script it thunder along kick up dust and then heave it last breath and lay there wheeze on the ground and leave this viewer wonder if it ever should have be translate to film . i be sure it work quite well a a stage play but in the cinematic day and age of fight club and the sixth sense and and the others and it old and musty and easy to figure out and ( do anyone not know that michael caine a the inspector doppler in the second act . ) and if it do fool you and it only for a second and not to very great effect . deathtrap and also with caine be a subtle retelling of this tale and only tight and and with a woman character add . and both deathtrap and sleuth borrow heavily from diabolique . heavily . if you do purchase or rent the dvd and watch the extra feature with shaffer . it magic and which be what i expect from the film but it time have come and go . it have wrinkle and liver spot and will do little more than bore most viewer under 60. i know i will get ream for this and but it have it time and even then and in my humble opinion and it be over rat . if you like olivier and there a lot of good choice out there and as well a caine . if you want a more lively 1970 work from shaffer and try frenzy or the wicker man . a for j. mank and all about eve be make 56 year ago ( . ) and still hold up quite nicely a a savage black comedy of word and forever a monument to the man a a writer and director . sleuth be little more than a dated footnote to his career . everyone actually it just doesn not pass the test of time .