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Caine You Believe It? Why Did No One Spot Michael Caine's 'Dunkirk' Cameo?

Did anyone spot Michael Caine among the all the flying and the floating?

By Tom ChapmanPublished 6 years ago 2 min read
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'Dunkirk' [Credit: Warner Bros.]

As Dunkirk guns down the enemy at the box office, Christopher Nolan's wartime epic will surely be remembered alongside the greats like Pearl Harbor and Saving Private Ryan. Said to have redefined the war movie genre, Nolan has waved his directorial wand over yet another masterpiece and given us a cinematic event for the ages. However, with an all-star cast of Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, and even Harry Styles, did anyone spot Michael Caine among the all the flying and the floating?

Citizen Caine

As a long-time collaborator with #ChristopherNolan, #MichaelCaine has appeared in the Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception, Interstellar, and The Prestige. We had always expected that the 84-year-old British national treasure would've made it into Dunkirk, so it was a big letdown that he wasn't on the cast list — or so we thought.

Even watching Dunkirk in its immersive 70mm IMAX format, you would struggle to spot the Oscar-winning actor, but you may be able to hear his gravelly grumbles at some point. Speaking to NJ.com, Nolan revealed that it is Caine's voice behind the wing commander who directed Tom Hardy's Farrier via radio:

"Yes, good for you for spotting him. It's shocking to me that a lot of people haven't, when he has really one of the most distinctive voices in cinema. I wanted very much to squeeze him in here. It's a bit of a nod to his character in Battle of Britain. And also, it's Michael. He has to be in all my films, after all."

Those of a certain age will know that Nolan is referring to Caine's role as Squadron Leader Canfield from 1969's Battle of Britain. Starring Sir Laurence Olivier, Christopher Plummer, and a young Ian McShane, Battle of Britain featured Caine as an outnumbered pilot taking on the German Luftwaffe. The film covered a lot of the same ground as Dunkirk, and you could even argue that Nolan's latest film is a modern interpretation of it.

Nolan may give Caine a nice nod in Dunkirk, but it is odd that he doesn't even get credited in the traditional sense. In fact, the only mention of Caine comes in the "Special Thanks To" section at the very end of the movie. Perhaps it is right that Nolan didn't want the gravitas of Caine to overshadow his vision for the heroic saga, but we just wish he had more to do.

Nolan is right though, Caine has one of the most distinct voices out there, but perhaps it is because we didn't hear him say, "You're only meant to blow the bloody doors off," that this one passed us by.

(Source: NJ.com)

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About the Creator

Tom Chapman

Tom is a Manchester-based writer with square eyes and the love of a good pun. Raised on a diet of Jurassic Park, this ’90s boy has VHS flowing in his blood. No topic is too big for this freelancer by day, crime-fighting vigilante by night.

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