Mirage (1965 film)

After a power outage in the skyscraper where he works, cost accountant David Stillwell (Gregory Peck) decides to leave by the darkened stairs rather than wait for power to be restored. Stillwell meets a young woman on the stairs, Shela (Diane Baker), and she greets him as if they know each other well; she says that she did not know that he was 'back'; but he has no recollection of her. Alarmed, she flees into a sub-basement.

On the street is the body of peace activist Charles Calvin (Walter Abel), who apparently jumped from his office in the same building where Stillwell works. After having a drink in the bar across the street, during which he feels ill-at-ease and flashes back to his encounter with Shela, Stillwell returns to his office building and heads for the sub-basement, but it does not exist. A man working in the basement, Willard (George Kennedy), tells him to leave.

At Stillwell's apartment building, a stranger, Lester (Jack Weston), pulls a gun on him. He orders Stillwell to go meet "the Major" and to take his briefcase. Stillwell manages to knock him out and hides him in a service closet in the hallway.

He attempts to report the event to the police, but is distressed by basic questions about his background and storms out. He suddenly realizes he has no memory of anything before the two years of his present job. Stillwell finds a psychiatrist, Dr. Broden (Robert H. Harris), who throws him out, declaring that it is impossible to have amnesia for two years without being aware of it.

Stillwell then locates a private detective, Ted Caselle (Walter Matthau), who admits that this is his first case. Skeptical at first, Caselle becomes convinced his client is not crazy when he spots Willard following them. Stillwell tries to show Caselle his office, close to Calvin's (the jumper), but there is only a blank wall. They go to the basement; Willard arrives and shoots at them, but they escape.

Stillwell then encounters Shela. She tells him he has something "the Major" wants very badly; she also claims they were previously in a relationship. She reluctantly accompanies him to see Joe Turtle, the concierge at Stillwell's workplace, but Turtle has been murdered by Lester. Stillwell forces Shela to see what her associates are capable of. Then they spend the night together.

Stillwell wakes to find Shela gone, and Lester and Willard downstairs. He disarms Lester and tries to use him as a shield, but Willard just kills Lester. Stillwell escapes once again, but then finds Caselle murdered.

Stillwell's flashbacks, which have been intermittent, now become more regular and more detailed. He revisits Dr. Broden. They work out that his amnesia is only two days old. Broden helps him recall more. Stillwell realizes he has been recalling false memories; Broden explains that his mind was trying to replace memories too painful to remember. Stillwell is not an accountant, but rather a "physio-chemist", and a protege of Calvin's. Although he formerly lived in New York and owns an apartment there, for two years he has been working in California (in a sub-basement) under Josephson (Kevin McCarthy), doing some kind of secret research.

Stillwell goes to see Calvin's widow. She thinks he killed Calvin, and Stillwell remembers seeing him fall. He spots a photograph of Calvin with a major, whom she names. He goes to see the Major, and finds there Willard, Josephson, and Shela, the Major's girlfriend.

Stillwell's memory now returns completely. He had discovered a way to "neutralize nuclear radiation"; though ostensibly for peaceful purposes, this discovery would make the use of nuclear weapons more attractive. He went to New York to consult Calvin and found he was in business with the Major. The Major turned off the building power to keep Stillwell from leaving. During their argument, Stillwell called himself a "cost accountant" for nuclear war. Stillwell set fire to the paper with his formula on it; Calvin grabbed for it and fell out the window to his death. The shock of these events caused Stillwell's amnesia.

The Major has Willard play Russian roulette with his gun pointed at Stillwell's head in an attempt to get his formula. Shela shoots Willard. Josephson takes her gun, but when Stillwell points out that the Major will not let Josephson live (as he knows too much about the secret project), Josephson calls the police. Stillwell and Shela embrace.

The Hitchcockian screenplay was written by Peter Stone as a follow-up to the hugely successful Charade.[5] Matthau and Kennedy were holdovers from the cast of Charade.[6]

Filming took place on a number of locations in the New York Financial District.[7] The fictitious Unidyne company was headquartered at 2 Broadway. Another key location in the film is the walk with Peck and Baker through Battery Park to City Pier A.

The movie was filmed between 24 October and 24 December 1964 on Eastman Kodak black and white film 4-X 5224 [8] and first released in the USA on 26 May 1965.

The New York Times wrote "In brisk, colloquial, occasionally humorous style, this exercise in mayhem, murder, mental instability and moralizing about the scientist's place in an atomic world, evolves as an interesting, fairly taut, if not especially credible, chase-mystery";[9] whereas Variety noted "There are moments of stiff action and suspense but plot is as confusing as it is overly-contrived."[10] However, more recently, Time Out called it "one of the better thrillers of the '60s," concluding that "The harsh b/w photography, the various levels of reality, and the use of urban landscape, all contribute to the feeling of unease, building up an atmosphere that is perhaps better than the mechanics of the plot deserve."[11]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[12]

The film score was composed, arranged and conducted by Quincy Jones, and the soundtrack album was released on the Mercury label in 1965.[13][14]

• List of American films of 1965

• Mirage at IMDb
• Mirage at Rotten Tomatoes
• Mirage at Film Noir of the Week by Wheeler Winston Dixon