Sleuth (1972 film) as a full partner. The likeness of actress Joanne Woodward was used for the painting of Marguerite Wyke. The production team intended to reveal as little about the movie as possible so as to make the conclusion a complete surprise to the audience. For this reason there is a false cast list at the beginning of the film which lists fictional people playing roles that do not exist. They are Alec Cawthorne as Inspector Doppler, John Matthews as Detective Sergeant Tarrant, Eve Channing (named after the characters Eve Harrington and Margo Channing from Mankiewicz's 1950 film "All About Eve") as
All About Eve for the aging diva role, before giving it to Bette Davis. Davis, who had recently ended an 18-year association with Warner Bros. after several poorly received films, immediately accepted the role after realizing it was one of the best she had ever read. Channing had originally been conceived as genteel and knowingly humorous, but with the casting of Davis, Mankiewicz revised the character to be more abrasive. Mankiewicz praised Davis both for her professionalism and for the caliber of her performance. Anne Baxter had spent a decade in supporting roles and had won the 1946 Academy Award for Best Supporting