Michael Caine labelled 1971 classic ‘the most disappointing film I ever made’ | Films | Entertainment

Michael Caine has an incredible back catalogue of films to be proud of, spanning the decades.

But there is one that left him seriously disappointed because of the reaction it received.

The movie in question is 1971’s The Last Valley, in which Caine stars as a mercenary leader during the Thirty Years’ War of the 17th century.

Based on the novel of the same name, the acting legend’s Captain and Omar Sharif’s teacher discover a German valley untouched by the conflict, as they collaborate to preserve peace and harmony there.

In his authorised biography 70 not out, Caine lamented The Last Valley as “the most disappointing picture I ever made. Disappointing not from the finished picture, but the reaction to it. It is a performance of which I’m particularly proud, one of the best performances I ever gave, as a matter of fact. For a start, it was anti-religious war at the time of Northern Ireland. I did the film to show what I felt about all the religions. But it meant absolutely nothing to the public, the critics were extremely unkind, and it was a terrible thing for me because everybody was sure it would be a big hit — and so was I.”

In The Elephant to Hollywood, Caine wrote: “I knew pretty well as soon as we finished filming that it wasn’t going to work at the box office.” The Last Valley was a bomb making $1.28 million worldwide on a budget of $6.25 million and didn’t impress the critics at the time.

Caine added in his What’s It all About memoir: “I liked this film very much but it was not a success, due mainly I think to problems of timing. We were in the midst of the Vietnam War, and here was a story about the Hundred Year War in Germany, set in the Middle Ages.”

Nevertheless, the film has aged well. The Last Valley is in IMDb’s Top 10 classic Michael Caine films of the ’60s and ’70s, as ranked by film fans.