The Spanish Prisoner

Details

Release year: 1997

Storyline

A corporate engineer develops a lucrative secret process for a company but doesn't know who to trust when the higher-ups seemingly want to steal it from him.

Top credits

Did you know

• Mamet wrote the part of Jimmy Dell specifically for Steve Martin in order to take full advantage from the comic playing against type. He was one of the first to recognize that Martin, renowned for his manic energy, possessed a deep well of seriousness which allowed Martin to portray his character as calm and in charge, which in turn made him appear menacing.

• When he is hung over, George Lang says, "I put a thief in my mouth to steal my brains." The line is a close paraphrase of one from Shakespeare's "Othello": "I would not put a thief in my mouth to steal my brains."

• David Mamet cast Steve Martin in an atypically villainous role after seeing him perform in Waiting for Godot on stage. He felt instinctively that comedians can make very strong dramatic actors as Jackie Gleason proved in The Hustler (1961) and Jerry Lewis did in The King of Comedy (1982).

Box Office

Gross (Domestic): $9,593,903

Opening Weekend (Domestic): $124,011 (1998-04-05)

User reviews

Technical specs

Sound mix

Dolby SR

Aspect ratio

1.85 : 1

Color

Color

FAQ

• Who is the apprehensive looking woman with blond hair in the subway car? She doesn't seem to be listed. She reminds me a little of Nancy Allen who was in Blow Out several years before The Spanish Prisoner.