History Film / Mirage1965

* EmbarassingLastName: Joe Turtle (Neil Fitzgerald), the Unidyne receptionist. He likes David because "You’re the only man in this whole building who can say my name without making it sound like a joke." Also see the spoiler text under OnlyKnownByTheirNickname.

''Mirage'' is a 1965 [[FilmNoir noir]] {{thriller}} directed by Creator/EdwardDmytryk, [[FilmOfTheBook based on]] the novel ''Fallen Angel'' by Walter Ericson (a PenName for Howard Fast). The film stars Creator/GregoryPeck, Diane Baker, Creator/WalterMatthau, Creator/{{Kevin McCarthy|Actor}}, Jack Weston, Leif Erickson, and Creator/GeorgeKennedy.

* FailOSuckyName: Joe Turtle (Neil Fitzgerald), the Unidyne receptionist. He likes David because "You’re the only man in this whole building who can say my name without making it sound like a joke." Also see the spoiler text under OnlyKnownByTheirNickname.

''Mirage'' is a 1965 [[FilmNoir noir]] {{thriller}} directed by Creator/EdwardDmytryk, [[FilmOfTheBook based on]] the novel ''Fallen Angel'' by Walter Ericson (a PenName for Howard Fast). The film stars Creator/GregoryPeck, Diane Baker, Creator/WalterMatthau, Kevin [=McCarthy=], Jack Weston, Leif Erickson, and Creator/GeorgeKennedy.

''Mirage'' is a 1965 [[FilmNoir noir]] {{thriller}} directed by Edward Dmytryk, [[FilmOfTheBook based on]] the novel ''Fallen Angel'' by Walter Ericson (a PenName for Howard Fast). The film stars Creator/GregoryPeck, Diane Baker, Creator/WalterMatthau, Kevin [=McCarthy=], Jack Weston, Leif Erickson, and Creator/GeorgeKennedy.

Meanwhile, people around David are being murdered -- and he may well be next. He's being stalked by hitmen working for a powerful, mysterious figure called "The Major" (Erickson). Shela says that David has something the Major wants, but he can't remember either the Major (who is allegedly his boss) or what the sought-after item is. And Calvin's death has something to do with the mystery. Can David regain his memory before he becomes the next victim?

''Mirage'' is a 1965 [[FilmNoir noir]] {{thriller}} directed by Edward Dmytryk, [[FilmOfTheBook based on]] the novel ''Fallen Angel'' by Walter Ericson (a PenName for Howard Fast). The film stars Creator/GregoryPeck, Diane Baker, Creator/WalterMatthau, Creator/GeorgeKennedy, Jack Weston, Leif Erickson and Kevin [=McCarthy=].

Peck plays David Stillwell, a cost accountant for the Unidyne Corporation -- or is he? His memory suddenly becomes mixed up, starting from the moment when Unidyne's Manhattan headquarters has a power blackout -- which happens just before WealthyPhilanthropist Charles Stewart Calvin (Walter Abel) plunges to his doom from an upper floor of the building. David is bewildered that he can't recall even simple particulars of his job, and places he does remember don't exist. Believing he has some type of amnesia, he tries to backtrack what happened before the blackout. Aided by rookie detective Ted Caselle (Matthau) and confused by Shela (Baker), a woman he doesn't recognize but who claims to be an old girlfriend, David tries to make sense of the inconsistent facts.

''Mirage'' is a 1965 [[FilmNoir noir]] {{thriller}} directed by Edward Dmytryk, [[FilmOfTheBook based on]] the novel ''Fallen Angel'' by Walter Ericson (a PenName for Howard Fast). The film stars Creator/GregoryPeck, Diane Baker, Creator/WalterMatthau, Creator/GeorgeKennedy and Kevin [=McCarthy=].

Peck plays David Stillwell, a cost accountant -- or is he? His memory suddenly becomes mixed up, starting from the moment when Unidyne headquarters, the office building he works at, has a power blackout -- which happens just before WealthyPhilanthropist Charles Stewart Calvin (Walter Abel) plunges to his doom from an upper floor. David is bewildered that he can't recall even simple particulars of his job, and places he does remember don't exist. Believing he has some type of amnesia, he tries to backtrack what happened before the blackout. Aided by rookie detective Ted Caselle (Matthau) and confused by Shela (Baker), a woman he doesn't recognize but who claims to be an old girlfriend, David tries to make sense of the inconsistent facts.

Meanwhile, people around David are being murdered -- and he may well be next. He's being stalked by hitmen working for a powerful, mysterious figure called "The Major" (Leif Erickson). Shela says that David has something the Major wants, but he can't remember either the Major (who is allegedly his boss) or what the sought-after item is. And Calvin's death has something to do with the mystery. Can David regain his memory before he becomes the next victim?

* LineOfSightName: David unconsciously picks the profession of a cost accountant as his job because that's what he compared himself with shortly before the traumatic incident. [[spoiler:As David says to Calvin: "Those people aren't even ants to [the Major] -- they're articles of commerce! That man computes human life in terms of dollars and cents. He’s made you his prize salesman, and I’m the cost accountant trying to cut down his overhead with what you and he call 'progress!'"]]

* HeelFaceTurn: Happens at the climax when [[spoiler:Josephson turns against his boss, Major Crawford. David's RousingSpeech while he's dithering helps: "Commit, Josephson! If you're not committed to anything, ''you're just taking up space!''"]]

''Mirage'' is a 1965 [[FilmNoir noir]] {{thriller}} directed by Edward Dmytryk, [[FilmOfTheBook based on]] the novel ''Fallen Angel'' by Walter Ericson (a PenName for Howard Fast). The film stars Creator/GregoryPeck, Diane Baker, Creator/WalterMatthau and Kevin [=McCarthy=].

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: Willard (Creator/GeorgeKennedy) and Lester (Jack Weston), the two assassins working for the Major who get the most screen time. They also work together a lot.

''Mirage'' is a 1965 [[FilmNoir noir]] {{thriller}} directed by Edward Dmytryk, [[FilmOfTheBook based on]] the novel ''Fallen Angel'' by Walter Ericson (a pen name for Howard Fast). The film stars Creator/GregoryPeck, Diane Baker, Creator/WalterMatthau and Kevin [=McCarthy=].

Peck plays David Stillwell, a cost accountant--or is he? His memory suddenly becomes mixed up, starting from the moment when Unidyne headquarters, the office building he works at, has a power blackout--which happens just before WealthyPhilanthropist Charles Stewart Calvin (Walter Abel) plunges to his doom from an upper floor. David is bewildered that he can't recall even simple particulars of his job, and places he does remember don't exist. Believing he has some type of amnesia, he tries to backtrack what happened before the blackout. Aided by rookie detective Ted Caselle (Matthau) and confused by Shela (Baker), a woman he doesn't recognize but who claims to be an old girlfriend, David tries to make sense of the inconsistent facts.

Meanwhile, people around David are being murdered--and he may well be next. He's being stalked by hitmen working for a powerful, mysterious figure called "The Major" (Leif Erickson). Shela says that David has something the Major wants, but he can't remember either the Major (who is allegedly his boss) or what the sought-after item is. And Calvin's death has something to do with the mystery. Can David regain his memory before he becomes the next victim?

* LineOfSightName: David unconsciously picks the profession of a cost accountant as his job because that's what he compared himself with shortly before the traumatic incident. [[spoiler:As David says to Calvin: "Those people aren't even ants to [the Major]--they're articles of commerce! That man computes human life in terms of dollars and cents. He’s made you his prize salesman, and I’m the cost accountant trying to cut down his overhead with what you and he call 'progress!'"]]

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: When Lester is holding David hostage, he makes himself at home in the apartment by watching ProfessionalWrestling. As the two men fight, the camera shows the TV screen--then turns to David (who presumably took tips from the wrestlers) standing over the defeated Lester.

* ATragedyOfImpulsiveness: The plot centers around one. [[spoiler:When David learns that his hero Charles Calvin, a supposed peace activist, is working with the Major on the potentially dangerous anti-radiation formula, they have a fateful argument which ends with David burning the formula's only copy and throwing it out Charles' open office window. Charles leans too far out the window to retrieve the paper and falls to his death--and David's resulting shock, trauma and guilt trigger his amnesia.]]

* TheShrink: Dr. Augustus J. Broden (Robert H. Harris), the psychiatrist David consults for help.
** DoctorJerk: Broden turns out to be an abrasive {{Jerkass}} who throws David out of his office.

* TokenMinority: Lt. Franken (Hari Rhodes), the police offer David seeks help from, is the only non-white character with a speaking role in the entire film.

* RussianRoulette: Used on David to force him to write down his formula. [[spoiler:Shela intervenes before the third bullet can be fired.]]

''Mirage'' is a 1965 [[FilmNoir noir]] {{thriller}} directed by Edward Dmytryk, [[FilmOfTheBook based on]] the novel ''Fallen Angel'' by Howard Fast. The film stars Creator/GregoryPeck, Diane Baker, Creator/WalterMatthau and Kevin [=McCarthy=].

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: Willard (George Kennedy) and Lester (Jack Weston), the two assassins working for the Major who get the most screen time. They also work together a lot.

** Later, David uses a special key to get to the Major's office on the otherwise inaccessible 65th floor.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:David]] has two moments like this, the first when [[spoiler:he realizes that his formula would make nuclear war easier]], and the second when [[spoiler:Charles Calvin falls to his death while trying to retrieve the formula when David destroys it, although he eventually realizes that it wasn't his fault.]] Both are important to the overall plot.

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: When Lester is holding David hostage, he makes himself at home in the apartment by watching ProfessionalWrestling. When the two men fight, the camera shows the TV screen--then turns to David (who presumably took tips from the wrestlers) standing over the defeated Lester.

* DrivenToSuicide: A newspaper headline says that Calvin's death is an apparent suicide, and a background character also assumes that this is the cuse ("If I had the guts to step out that window, I'd have the guts to go on living"). [[spoiler:It's not true.]]

* RussianRoulette: Used on David to force him to write down his formula. Shela intercepts before the third bullet can be fired.

* TrashTheSet: After [[spoiler:finding Caselle lying strangled on his desk]], David has a HeroicBSOD and subsequently trashes Caselle's office.

* BaitAndSwitchGunshot: During the RussianRoulette scene, as we expect Willard to pull the trigger on David for the third time, we hear a shot and see the baddie collapse. Then the camera shows Shela as she holds the smoking gun.

-->[[spoiler:'''Charles:''']] Is that what you want to see, David? Human beings? Come here, David. Look at them. ''(Gestures at a New York City street)'' Do they look like human beings, or ants? You're quite right, David, they are statistics. But I didn’t do it to them. [[NeverMyFault I’m not responsible.]]
* DestinationDefenestration: Charles Calvin's death is an accidental example.
* DrivenToSuicide: A newspaper headline says that Calvin's death is an apparent suicide, and a background character also assumes that this is the cause ("If I had the guts to step out that window, I'd have the guts to go on living"). [[spoiler:It's not true.]]

* HeelFaceTurn: Josephson undergoes one in the movie's climax when he turns against his boss, Major Crawford. David's RousingSpeech while he's dithering helps: "Commit, Josephson! If you're not committed to anything, ''you're just taking up space!''"

* OnceMoreWithClarity: On several occasions, David has flashbacks to a scene of two men standing in a park under a tree. It's only at his second visit to Broden that he grasps the full context. [[spoiler:It was himself and Charles Calvin discussing the impact of his formula in front of his working place, the radiation lab in California.]]

* IdentityAmnesia: David suffers from amnesia brought on by a traumatic event which he cannot remember and hence tries to, uncover. He even hires a PrivateDetective to help him find out who he is really is.

* IdentityAmnesia: David suffers from amnesia brought on by a traumatic event which he cannot remember and hence tries to uncover. He even hires a PrivateDetective to help him find out who he is really is.

Peck stars as David Stillwell, a cost accountant--or is he? His memory suddenly becomes mixed up, starting from the moment when Unidyne headquarters, the office building he works at, has a power blackout--which happens just before WealthyPhilanthropist Charles Stewart Calvin (Walter Abel) plunges to his doom from an upper floor. David is bewildered that he can't recall even simple particulars of his job, and places he does remember don't exist. Believing he has some type of amnesia, he tries to backtrack what happened before the blackout. Aided by rookie detective Ted Caselle (Matthau) and confused by Shela (Baker), a woman he doesn't recognize but who claims to be an old girlfriend, David tries to make sense of the inconsistent facts.

* FollowTheLeader[=/=]SpiritualSuccessor: Creator/{{Universal}} made ''Mirage'' as a followup to their recent hit ''Film/{{Charade}}''. Besides having a screenwriter (Peter Stone), two actors (Walter Matthau and George Kennedy) and a snappy OneWordTitle in common, the two films are both {{Thriller}}s with plenty of {{Plot Twist}}s and a MayDecemberRomance between a middle-aged hero and his younger LoveInterest. A year later, ''Mirage'' got its own follow-up with ''Film/{{Arabesque}}'', which re-united Stone with Gregory Peck. And of course, all three films owe much to the works of Creator/AlfredHitchcock.
** DarkerAndEdgier: However, the murders and other violence in ''Mirage'' are treated more seriously, and the stakes (when they're finally revealed) turn out to be much higher.

* DrivenToSuicide: A newspaper hedline says that Calvin's death is an apparent suicide, and a background character also assumes that this is the cause ("If I had the guts to step out that window, I'd have the guts to go on living"). [[spoiler:It's not true.]]