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{{short description|1971 British film by Mike Hodges}}
{{about|the 1971 film}}
{{good article}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Get Carter
| image          = Get Carter poster.jpg
| alt            = A promotional poster featuring Michael Caine as Jack Carter on the phone with a cigarette in his mouth.
| caption        = Original UK [[film poster]] by [[Arnaldo Putzu]]
| director       = [[Mike Hodges]]
| producer       = [[Michael Klinger (producer)|Michael Klinger]]
| screenplay     = Mike Hodges
| based_on       = {{based on|''[[Jack's Return Home]]''<br>(1970 novel)|[[Ted Lewis (writer)|Ted Lewis]]}}
| starring       = {{plainlist|
* [[Michael Caine]]
* [[Ian Hendry]]
* [[John Osborne]]
* [[Britt Ekland]]}}
| music          = [[Roy Budd]]
| cinematography = [[Wolfgang Suschitzky]]
| editing        = John Trumper
| studio         = [[MGM-British Studios]]
| distributor    = [[EMI Films#MGM-EMI|MGM-EMI Distributors]]
| released       = {{Film date|df=y|1971|02|03|[[Los Angeles]]|1971|03|10|United Kingdom}}
| runtime        = 112 minutes
| country        = United Kingdom
| language       = English
| budget         = £750,000<ref name="Mayer-2003">{{cite book |last=Mayer |first=Geoff |title=Guide to British Cinema (Reference Guides to the World's Cinema) |year=2003 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-313-30307-4 |page=149 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7FOX_OWDyHEC&q=get+carter+budget+mgm&pg=PA149 |access-date=6 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170414084049/https://books.google.com/books?id=7FOX_OWDyHEC&pg=PA149&lpg=PA149&dq=get+carter+budget+mgm&source=bl&ots=_GllJg6-Vf&sig=TmxbwR9-vwMG6Br8rrA92aoosS0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7pJCT_iLNsP08QPw5JGGCA&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=get%20carter%20budget%20mgm&f=false |archive-date=14 April 2017 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name=Klinger/>
}}
'''''Get Carter''''' is a 1971 British [[gangster film|gangster]] [[thriller film]], written and directed by [[Mike Hodges]] in his [[directorial debut]] and starring [[Michael Caine]], [[Ian Hendry]], [[John Osborne]], [[Britt Ekland]] and [[Bryan Mosley]].<ref name="BFIsearch">{{Cite web |title=Get Carter |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150029474 |access-date=27 August 2024 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}</ref> Based on [[Ted Lewis (writer)|Ted Lewis]]'s 1970 novel ''[[Jack's Return Home]]'', the film follows the eponymous Jack Carter (Caine), a London [[gangster]] who returns to his hometown in [[North East England]] after his brother's death. Suspecting foul play, and with vengeance on his mind, he investigates and interrogates, regaining a feel for the city and its hardened-criminal element.

Producer [[Michael Klinger (producer)|Michael Klinger]] optioned Lewis's novel shortly after its publication and made a deal with the ailing [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] (MGM) to finance and release the film, making ''Get Carter'' the last project to be approved by the studio's [[MGM-British Studios|Borehamwood division]] before its closure. The production went from novel to finished film in 10 months, with [[principal photography]] taking place from July to September 1970 in and around [[Newcastle upon Tyne]], [[Gateshead]] and [[County Durham]]. Hodges, Klinger and Caine intended to create a more realistic portrayal of violence and [[criminal behaviour]] than had previously been seen in British films: Caine, who also served as an uncredited co-producer, incorporated aspects of criminal acquaintances into his characterisation of Carter, while Hodges conducted research into the criminal underworld of Newcastle, in particular the [[one-armed bandit murder]]. [[Cinematographer]] [[Wolfgang Suschitzky]] worked with Hodges to give scenes a naturalistic feel, drawing heavily on their backgrounds in [[documentary film]]s.

Turning a respectable profit upon its initial UK release, ''Get Carter'' initially attracted mixed reviews. Critics grudgingly appreciated the film's technical achievements and Caine's performance while criticising the complex plot, violence and amorality, in particular Carter's apparent lack of remorse for his actions.<ref name="Mayer-2003"/> American critics were generally more enthusiastic, but the film languished on the [[drive-in]] circuit, while MGM focused its resources on producing ''[[Hit Man (1972 film)|Hit Man]]'', a 1972 [[blaxploitation]]-themed [[remake]] of the film.

''Get Carter'' eventually garnered a [[cult following]], and further endorsements from directors such as [[Quentin Tarantino]] and [[Guy Ritchie]] led to the film being critically re-evaluated,<ref name="Crossan-09-12-2009">{{cite news |last=Crossan |first=Rob |title=Defining Moment: 'Get Carter' rewrites the gangster movie, March 1971 |url=https://www.ft.com/content/25adefe8-9c0f-11de-b214-00144feabdc0 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021232318/https://www.ft.com/content/25adefe8-9c0f-11de-b214-00144feabdc0 |archive-date=21 October 2016 |url-access=subscription |access-date=16 March 2012 |newspaper=Financial Times Magazine |date=12 September 2009 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> with its depiction of class structure and life in 1970s Britain and [[Roy Budd]]'s minimalist [[jazz]] score receiving considerable praise.<ref name=AFI /> In 1999, ''Get Carter'' was ranked 16th on the [[BFI Top 100 British films]] of the 20th century; five years later, a survey of British film critics in ''[[Total Film]]'' magazine chose it as the greatest British film of all time.<ref name="03-10-2004">{{cite news |title=''Get Carter'' tops British film poll |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/3711460.stm |access-date=6 April 2012 |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=3 October 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060515044118/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/3711460.stm |archive-date=15 May 2006 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref> A poorly received remake also titled ''[[Get Carter (2000 film)|Get Carter]]'' was released in 2000, with [[Sylvester Stallone]] portraying Jack Carter and Caine in a supporting role.

==Plot==
[[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]]-born [[gangster]] Jack Carter has lived in [[London]] for years in the employ of [[organised crime]] bosses Gerald and Sid Fletcher. Jack is having an affair with Gerald's girlfriend Anna and plans to escape with her to South America, but he must first return to Newcastle and [[Gateshead]] to attend the funeral of his brother, Frank, who died in a purported drink-driving accident. Jack's bosses warn him not to stir up trouble, as they are friendly with the Newcastle mob. Unsatisfied with the official explanation, Jack investigates for himself. At the funeral, Jack meets his teenage niece Doreen and Frank's evasive mistress, Margaret.

Jack goes to [[Newcastle Racecourse]], seeking his old acquaintance Albert Swift for information about his brother's death, but Swift evades him. Jack encounters another old associate, Eric Paice, who refuses to tell Jack who is employing him as a chauffeur. Tailing Eric leads Jack to the [[country house]] of crime boss Cyril Kinnear. Jack confronts Kinnear but learns little from him; he also meets a glamorous drunken woman, Glenda. As Jack leaves, Eric warns him against damaging relations between Kinnear and the Fletchers. Back in Newcastle, Jack is threatened by henchmen who want him to leave town, but he fights them off, capturing and interrogating one to find out who wants him gone. He is told the name "Brumby."

Jack knows Cliff Brumby as a businessman with controlling interests in local seaside [[amusement arcade]]s. Visiting his house, Jack discovers Brumby knows nothing about him and, believing he has been set up, he leaves. The next morning, two of Jack's London colleagues – Con McCarthy and Peter the Dutchman – arrive, sent by the Fletchers to take him back, but he escapes. Jack meets Margaret to talk about Frank, but the Fletchers' men are waiting and pursue him. He is rescued by Glenda, who takes him in her [[Sunbeam Alpine]] sports car to meet Brumby at his new restaurant development at the top of a [[multi-storey car park]]. Brumby identifies Kinnear as being behind Frank's death, also explaining that Kinnear is trying to take over Brumby's business. He offers Jack £5,000 to kill the crime boss, which he refuses.

Jack has sex with Glenda at her flat, where he finds and watches a [[pornographic film]] called "Teacher's Pet," in which Doreen is forced to have sex with Albert. The other participants in the film are Glenda and Margaret. Jack becomes enraged and pushes Glenda's head underwater as she is taking a bath. She tells him the film was Kinnear's and that she thinks Doreen was pulled into the production by Eric. Forcing Glenda into the [[Trunk (automobile)|boot]] of her own car, Jack drives off to find Albert.

Jack tracks down Albert, who confesses he told Brumby that Doreen was Frank's daughter. Brumby showed Frank the film to incite him to call the police on Kinnear, so Eric and two of his men arranged Frank's death. Having extracted this information, Jack fatally stabs Albert. Jack is attacked by the London gangsters and Eric, who has informed Fletcher of Jack and Anna's affair. In the ensuing shootout, Jack kills Peter. As Eric and Con escape, they push the sports car into the river, unaware that Glenda is in the boot. Returning to the car park, Jack finds and beats Brumby before throwing him to his death. He then posts the film to the [[Scotland Yard]] vice squad.

Jack abducts Margaret. He telephones Kinnear (who is in the middle of a wild party at his home), telling him that he has the film, and makes a deal for Kinnear to give him Eric in exchange for his silence. Kinnear agrees, sending Eric to an agreed location; however, he subsequently phones an associate. Jack drives Margaret to the grounds of Kinnear's estate, kills her with a fatal injection and leaves her body there. He then calls the police to raid Kinnear's party and the police arrest Kinnear for Margaret's murder.

Jack chases Eric along a beach. He forces Eric to drink a bottle of whisky as Eric had done to Frank, and beats him to death with his shotgun, disposing of the body with a coal conveyor. Having avenged Frank and Doreen, Jack walks along the shoreline, where he is shot dead from a distance by Kinnear's associate.

==Cast==
* [[Michael Caine]] as Jack Carter. [[Mike Hodges]] wrote the screenplay with Ian Hendry in mind for Carter, but learned that [[Michael Klinger (producer)|Michael Klinger]] had already signed up Caine for the role.<ref name=SC27>{{cite book |last=Chibnall |first=Steve |title=Get Carter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b3uW92r5gB0C&pg=PA27 |url-status=live|publisher=I.B.Tauris |date=July 2003 |access-date=5 May 2012 |page=27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224134004/https://books.google.com/books?id=b3uW92r5gB0C&pg=PA27 |archive-date=24 February 2017 |isbn=9781860649103 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> With the backing of a major studio, Klinger was keen to secure a big name for the lead, and Caine was very prominent at the time, having starred in ''[[Alfie (1966 film)|Alfie]]'', ''[[The Italian Job]]'' and ''[[The Ipcress File (film)|The Ipcress File]]''. Hodges was surprised that a star of Caine's stature would want to play such a thoroughly unlikeable person as Carter. Giving his reasons for wanting to be involved with the film, the actor said "One of the reasons I wanted to make that picture was my background. In English movies, gangsters were either stupid or funny. I wanted to show that they're neither. Gangsters are not stupid, and they're certainly not very funny". He identified with Carter as a memory of his [[working-class]] upbringing, having friends and family members who were involved in crime<ref name="Journal">{{cite journal |last=Wells |first=Jonathan |title='Get Carter' at 50: The inside story of a British gangster classic |url=https://www.thegentlemansjournal.com/article/get-carter-at-50-inside-story-british-gangster-classic-michael-caine/ |journal=Gentleman's Journal |date=February 2021 |access-date=24 June 2021 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> and felt Carter represented a path his life might have taken under different circumstances: "Carter is the dead-end product of my own environment, my childhood; I know him well. He is the ghost of Michael Caine".<ref name="Freedland-2000">{{cite book |last=Freedland |first=Michael |title=Michael Caine: A Biography |year=2000 |publisher=Orion |isbn=978-0-7528-3472-6 |page=213}}</ref> He made subtle changes to Hodges's depiction of Carter in the script, cut out pleasantries and gave him a cold, hard edge; closer to Lewis's original envisioning of the character.<ref name=SC27/> Although he is not credited as such in the film, Caine has been acknowledged in retrospect as a co-producer.<ref name=AFI>{{cite web|title=Get Carter, AFI Catalog of feature films|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=54265|work=AFI Catalog|publisher=AFI|access-date=14 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228205750/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=54265|archive-date=28 December 2013|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> By a strange coincidence, Caine's [[stand-in]] on the film was a man called Jack Carter.<ref name=SC27/>
* [[Ian Hendry]] as Eric Paice. Hendry had previously been cast by producer Klinger in [[Roman Polanski]]'s ''[[Repulsion (film)|Repulsion]]'', and was Hodges's first choice to play Carter, but by 1970 his career was rapidly declining. Hendry's [[alcoholism]]<ref name=SC29>{{cite book |last=Chibnall |first=Steve |title=Get Carter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b3uW92r5gB0C&pg=PA29 |url-status=live |publisher=I.B.Tauris |date=July 2003 |page=29 |access-date=5 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111200357/http://books.google.com/books?id=b3uW92r5gB0C&pg=PA29 |archive-date=11 January 2014 |isbn=9781860649103 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> and poor physical condition<ref>Chibnall, 2003 p. 86</ref> were apparent on set in [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]], and his envy at the success of his contemporary Caine was exacerbated by his drinking. Hodges was concerned that the character's physical exertion at the film's climax may have been too much for Hendry, and so he arranged for it to be the first sequence shot as a precaution, so that he would not have to re-shoot the rest of the film if it were necessary to replace Hendry. Hodges and Caine used his animosity towards Caine to their advantage to create extra tension in the scenes between Carter and Paice.<ref>Chibnall, pp. 37–38</ref>
* [[John Osborne]] as Cyril Kinnear, Jack's main adversary. Osborne, a famous playwright, was an unusual choice of actor; he was suggested by Hodges's agent.<ref name="Collings-30-12-2010">{{cite web|last=Collings|first=Mark|title=Did You Ever Meet Elvis? Get Carter director Mike Hodges on meeting Caine, Ali and Kubrick|url=http://www.sabotagetimes.com/people/did-you-ever-meet-elvis-get-carter-director-mike-hodges-on-meeting-caine-ali-and-kubrick/|work=Jack mag archives, Sabotage Times, 30 December 2010|publisher=Sabotage Times|access-date=14 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111231205407/http://www.sabotagetimes.com/people/did-you-ever-meet-elvis-get-carter-director-mike-hodges-on-meeting-caine-ali-and-kubrick/|archive-date=31 December 2011|url-status=usurped|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The writer enjoyed the change, and saw it as a way to erase the image in the public's mind of him as an [[Angry young men|angry young man]].<ref name=SC29/> Osborne had never played card games before and practised poker before the shoot to lend realism to the gambling scene. Osborne's portrayal was a contrast to the description in [[Ted Lewis (writer)|Ted Lewis]]'s novel ''[[Jack's Return Home]]'' of Kinnear as an uncultured, corpulent [[spiv]], giving him an urbane and relaxed demeanour, his delivery being so relaxed and quiet that it was difficult for the [[Production sound mixer|sound recordist]] to pick up, but Hodges liked the "menace in that quietness".<ref>{{cite web |last=Collings |first=Mark |title=Did You Ever Meet Elvis? Get Carter director Mike Hodges on meeting Caine, Ali and Kubrick |url=http://www.sabotagetimes.com/people/did-you-ever-meet-elvis-get-carter-director-mike-hodges-on-meeting-caine-ali-and-kubrick/|work=Jack mag archives, Sabotage Times, 30 December 2010|publisher=Sabotage Times|access-date=14 February 2012|quote=Hodges: "The sound man comes up to me and says, "John's too quiet". And I said, "He's come to me like that and that's how I want him". So if you watch that scene I just get closer and closer with the camera to capture that quietness. John was great, there was a lot of menace in that quietness. He made a great villain".|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111231205407/http://www.sabotagetimes.com/people/did-you-ever-meet-elvis-get-carter-director-mike-hodges-on-meeting-caine-ali-and-kubrick/|archive-date=31 December 2011|url-status=usurped|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
* [[Britt Ekland]] as Anna. Ekland was cast as the leading lady of the film, as she was a prominent [[sex symbol]] of the time and would have already been familiar to US audiences through her work in ''[[The Night They Raided Minsky's]]'' and ''[[Stiletto (1969 film)|Stiletto]]''. Accordingly, her minor role in the film was overemphasised in the publicity. Ekland was afraid of becoming typecast, having already played two [[gangster's moll]]s before ''Carter'' in ''Stiletto'' and ''[[Machine Gun McCain]]''.<ref name=SC29/> She was also reluctant to take the part as she did not want to take her clothes off; however, she had financial problems at the time as a result of bad investment decisions by her accountant. She was later happy that she had been involved with the project.<ref name=shortlist>{{cite magazine |title=Get Carter: 40th Anniversary 112 minutes that revolutionised the gangster film |url=http://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/films/get-carter-40th-anniversary |url-status=live |magazine=[[ShortList]] |year=2012 |access-date=6 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325204434/http://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/films/get-carter-40th-anniversary |archive-date=25 March 2012 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>
* [[Bryan Mosley]] as Cliff Brumby. [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]] executives initially wanted [[Telly Savalas]] for the part of the "big man", but were impressed by ''[[Coronation Street]]'' actor Mosley's performance in fight scenes in ''[[Far from the Madding Crowd (1967 film)|Far from The Madding Crowd]]''.<ref name="Gidney-127-2000">{{cite book |last=Gidney |first=Chris |title=Street Life: The Bryan Mosley Story |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |year=2000 |page=127 |isbn=978-0-00-274082-1}}</ref> A devout [[Roman Catholic]], Mosley was concerned about taking part in such a violent film with depictions of [[criminal behaviour]], and consulted his priest over the moral implications.<ref name="Gidney-129-2000">{{cite book |last=Gidney |first=Chris |title=Street Life: The Bryan Mosley Story |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2000 |page=129 |quote=After reading the script the priest returned with his conclusion; "I was pretty astounded when he said it was a pretty good [[morality play]]! The tone of the piece, although violent, did not condone such actions, indeed even condemned them. I was relieved and at peace with the decision to go ahead" |isbn=978-0-00-274082-1}}</ref>
* [[George Sewell]] as Con McCarty. Sewell was the man who introduced [[Barbara Windsor]] to [[Charlie Kray]]. He grew up in working-class [[Hoxton]] and had come to acting late when, in 1959, he joined [[Joan Littlewood]]'s [[Theatre Workshop]]. A well-known face on British television in the 1960s, his sandblasted features and shifty, haunted looks made him ideal for playing villainous characters or hard-bitten detectives. He seemed ideally cast as a [[London]] gangster colleague of Carter's. After ''Carter'', Sewell became more known for playing policemen rather than villains.<ref name=SC29/><ref name="telegraph, 2007">{{cite news |title=George Sewell, Obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1547656/George-Sewell.html |access-date=14 February 2012 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=5 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111109213852/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1547656/George-Sewell.html |archive-date=9 November 2011 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref>
* [[Tony Beckley]] as Peter the Dutchman. Lewis depicted Peter as a misogynistic homosexual in his novel; these elements were not emphasised in the film, although the character is flamboyant and [[Camp (style)|camp]]. Beckley had developed a specialism of playing sadistic criminals, so his part in ''Carter'' was somewhat similar to his role of "Camp Freddy" alongside Caine in ''The Italian Job''.<ref name="Collings-30-12-2010"/>
* [[Glynn Edwards]] as Albert Swift. Like Sewell, Edwards was an apprentice of Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop who had come to acting in his 30s. He had previously appeared alongside Caine in ''[[Zulu (1964 film)|Zulu]]'' and ''The Ipcress File''. After the film Edwards found work as a [[character actor]] and appeared regularly in the TV show ''[[Minder (TV series)|Minder]]''.<ref>Chibnall, p. 33</ref>
* [[Alun Armstrong]] as Keith Lacey. This was Armstrong's screen debut. The themes of ''Get Carter'' echo to a certain extent those of Armstrong's better-known role 25 years later in BBC drama ''[[Our Friends in the North]]''. He wrote a letter to MGM when he learned it was making the film in Newcastle, and he was invited to meet director Mike Hodges, who wanted to cast local actors.<ref>Mitchell, Wendy, [http://www.screendaily.com/home/blog/get-armstrong/5025258.article "Get Armstrong"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121009103905/http://www.screendaily.com/home/blog/get-armstrong/5025258.article |date=9 October 2012}}, ''Screen Daily'', 23 March 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2011.</ref>
* [[Bernard Hepton]] as Thorpe. [[Bradford]]-born Hepton was cast by Hodges as Kinnear's nervous messenger.
* [[Petra Markham]] as Doreen Carter. Petra Markham was a 24-year-old experienced theatre actress when she was asked to play the role of Carter's 16-year-old niece. Her appearance in only four scenes in the film meant she could balance the film work with appearing at the [[Royal Court Theatre|Royal Court]] and her role in the television series ''[[Albert and Victoria]]''. She went on to play the unfortunate [[Rose Chapman (EastEnders)|Rose Chapman]] in ''[[EastEnders]]''.<ref>Chibnall, p. 32</ref>
* [[Geraldine Moffat]] as Glenda. Moffatt was an experienced actress who had trained at the [[Bristol Old Vic Theatre School]]. She attracted Hodges's attention not just for her good looks but for her work on [[Alun Owen]]'s [[television plays]] ''Stella'' and ''Doreen''.<ref name="Chibnall 31">Chibnall, p. 31</ref>
* Dorothy White as Margaret. White had a successful career as a television actress and was particularly well known for ''[[Z-Cars]]'', but the part of Margaret was her first credited cinematic role (the only other being a part in the 1955 film ''[[Touch and Go (1955 film)|Touch & Go]]''). She had previously worked with Mike Hodges on the television play ''Suspect''.<ref name="Chibnall 31" /> 
* [[Rosemarie Dunham]] as Edna Garfoot, Carter's landlady. Although she had appeared in ''[[The Avengers (TV series)|The Avengers]]'' and ''[[A Family at War]]'' on television, this was [[Scotland|Scottish]]-born Dunham's film debut.
* [[John Bindon]] as Sid Fletcher. He was the son of a London cab driver who was discovered by [[Ken Loach]] in a pub. As a young man Bindon had been in and out of [[borstal]], and spent most of his adult life associating with criminals, so he was ideally suited to play a [[Organized crime|gangland]] boss, despite being young, having intimate knowledge of that world. In the late 1970s his career suffered as he became entangled in accusations of [[protection racketeering]] in [[Fulham]] and was acquitted of murder at the [[Old Bailey]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Hoare |first=Philip |title=Obituary: John Bindon |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-john-bindon-1502412.html |work=[[The Independent]] |date=6 November 1993 |access-date=4 June 2021}}</ref>
* [[Terence Rigby]] as Gerald Fletcher, one of the London crime boss brothers. Rigby was another actor Hodges cast from his familiarity in television police drama.<ref name="Chibnall 34">Chibnall, p. 34</ref>

Mike Hodges recruited a band of experienced character actors to play the small supporting roles. [[Godfrey Quigley]] was cast as Eddie Appleyard, a colleague of Frank Carter's. [[Kevin Brennan (actor)|Kevin Brennan]] appears as Harry the card-player. [[Ben Aris]], who plays one of the architects, had previously appeared in such films as ''[[if....]]'', ''[[The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968 film)|The Charge of the Light Brigade]]'' and ''[[Hamlet (1969 film)|Hamlet]]''.<ref name="Chibnall 34" />

Carl Howard's character of the assassin, "J", is only identified by the initial on his ring, in his only film role, and an appropriate mystery surrounds his real identity. His name does not appear on the credits of some prints. Mike Hodges explained that Howard was an extra in his TV film ''Rumour'', and the director gave him a line to say, but another extra was wrongly credited. Hodges promised he would make it up to him and cast him in ''Carter'', but his name was missed off some of the original prints. If you look closely, the assassin also appears briefly in the same train compartment as Jack approaches Newcastle. When the film credits were printed in the ''[[Radio Times]]'' and ''[[TV Times]]'', Howard was also trimmed. Hodges said in 2002 that "Carl and credits don't seem destined for each other".<ref name="Chibnall, p. 35">Chibnall, p. 35</ref>

==Production==
===Development===
In the late 1960s, a relaxation in [[Film censorship#United Kingdom|film censorship]] produced an increase in dark, uncompromising films, with many directors pushing the boundaries of acceptability. ''Get Carter'' was a film that explored this freedom.<ref name="Good, 03-20-2011">{{cite web |last=Good |first=Oliver |title=The crime-genre game-changer Get Carter turns 40. Mar 20, 2011 |url=http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/film/the-crime-genre-game-changer-get-carter-turns-40 |work=The National |date=20 March 2011 |publisher=Abu Dhabai Media |access-date=10 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110321142159/http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/film/the-crime-genre-game-changer-get-carter-turns-40 |archive-date=21 March 2011 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref> The project went from concept to finished film in just 10 months.<ref name=Klinger/>

In 1969, producer Michael Klinger devised plans for a gangster film to capitalise on public interest in the British criminal underworld after the [[Kray Twins]]' convictions. Klinger was invited to view a first print of [[Pete Walker (director)|Peter Walker]]'s ''[[Man of Violence]]'' (1969) and was unimpressed, telling the director "I'm going to make a gangster film, but it's going to cost a lot more than this and it's going to be better".<ref name="Chibnall, p. 21">Chibnall, p. 21</ref>
After searching many publishers for material to adapt into a film, Klinger purchased the rights to Ted Lewis's novel ''Jack's Return Home''. Andrew Spicer has written that "he [Klinger] sensed its potential to imbue the British crime thriller with the realism and violence of its American counterparts".<ref name="Spicer-2009">{{cite web|last=Spicer|first=Andrew|title=The Creative Producer – The Michael Klinger Papers|url=http://michaelklingerpapers.uwe.ac.uk/pub2.htm|work=Andrew Spicer, University of the West of England: The Creative Producer – The Michael Klinger Papers; • Paper Given at the University of Stirling Conference, Archives and Auteurs – Filmmakers and their Archives, 2–4 September 2009|publisher=uwe|access-date=20 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224213626/http://michaelklingerpapers.uwe.ac.uk/pub2.htm|archive-date=24 February 2012}}</ref>

Klinger had been approached in 1969 by another producer, [[Nat Cohen]], to make films for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).<ref>Steve Chibnall, Robert Murphy (eds.) [https://books.google.com/books?id=reNDwJexhgEC&pg=PA128 ''British Crime Cinema''], London: Routledge, 1999, p.128</ref> In financial trouble and shutting down its British operations, MGM was in the process of closing [[MGM-British Studios|its British studios]] at [[Borehamwood]]<ref name="Murphy-1999">{{cite book|last=Murphy|first=Robert|title=British Crime Cinema (British Popular Cinema) |year=1999 |publisher=Routledge |location=UK |isbn=978-0-415-16870-0|page=128|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_--Ebdp6mwAC&q=michael%20klinger%20mgm&pg=PA128|author2=Steve Chibnall}}</ref> and was looking to make smaller-budget films to turn a profit. At this time Klinger's friend [[Robert Littman]] had been appointed head of MGM Europe and so Klinger took his proposal to him.<ref name="litt">{{cite magazine|date=1 August 2025|access-date=1 August 2025|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-film-moguls-robert-littman/|magazine=Filmink|title=Forgotten Film Moguls: Robert Littman}}</ref><ref name="Chibnall, p. 21">Chibnall, p. 21</ref>"<ref name="four">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-moguls-nat-cohen-part-four-cohen-vs-bryan-forbes-1969-71/|magazine=Filmink|access-date=24 January 2025|date=24 January 2025|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|title=Forgotten British Moguls – Nat Cohen Part Four: Cohen vs Bryan Forbes (1969-71)}}</ref>

MGM agreed to a reasonable but below-average budget of 750,000 (there is some dispute as to whether this figure refers to dollars or pounds)<ref name=Klinger>{{cite web|last=Klinger|first=Tony|title=Interview with Mike Hodges|url=http://michaelklingerpapers.uwe.ac.uk/mhodges.htm|work=The Michael Klinger Papers|publisher=University of West England|access-date=10 March 2012|author2=Andrew Spicer|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227132534/http://michaelklingerpapers.uwe.ac.uk/mhodges.htm|archive-date=27 December 2013|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> for the production.<ref name="Mayer-2007">{{cite book|last=Mayer|first=Geoff|title=Encyclopedia of film noir|year=2007|publisher=Greenwood Press |location=England |isbn=978-0-313-33306-4|page=195|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RsBHnZoyO4kC&q=michael%20klinger%20mgm&pg=PA195}}</ref> Within months of agreeing to the deal MGM had pulled out of the UK.<ref name="Chibnall, p. 21">Chibnall, p. 21</ref> Klinger had seen Mike Hodges's television film ''Suspect'' (1969) and immediately decided he was the ideal candidate to direct his new project.<ref name="Chibnall, p. 21"/> Hodges had also previously worked on current affairs programme ''[[World in Action]]'', the arts programme ''Tempo'' and a 1968 children's television serial, ''[[The Tyrant King]]'', and all these past experiences informed his approach to his film debut.<ref name="Williams-2006">{{cite journal|last=Williams|first=Tony|title=Great Directors: Mike Hodges|journal=Senses of Cinema|year=2006|issue=40|url=http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2006/great-directors/hodges/|access-date=11 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311063229/http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2006/great-directors/hodges/|archive-date=11 March 2012|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Klinger contacted Hodges on 27 January 1970 with a copy of ''Jack's Return Home'' and contracted him<ref name=Jakubowski>{{cite web|last=Jakubowski|first=Maxim|title=A Conversation with Writer/Director Mike Hodges|url=http://www.mulhollandbooks.com/2010/11/01/an-interview-with-writerdirector-mike-hodges/|work=Mulholland Books|date=November 2010|access-date=9 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308124745/http://www.mulhollandbooks.com/2010/11/01/an-interview-with-writerdirector-mike-hodges/|archive-date=8 March 2012|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> to write and direct the film, paying him a flat fee of £7,000 (£135,700 in 2024) for his services.<ref name="Brooks-2003"/> Hodges's original working title for the film was ''Carter's The Name''.<ref name=SC23>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b3uW92r5gB0C&pg=PA23 |title=Get Carter |page=23 |first=Steve |last=Chibnall |publisher=I.B.Tauris |date=July 2003 |access-date=5 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224140241/https://books.google.com/books?id=b3uW92r5gB0C&pg=PA23 |archive-date=24 February 2017 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all |isbn=9781860649103}}</ref> Steve Chibnall writes: "his treatment retained the essential structure of Lewis's novel with its strong narrative drive, but introduced some minor changes to characterisation and more fundamental alterations to [[narratology]]".<ref name=SC23/> Given that Ted Lewis had not specified where his novel was set, Hodges felt free to relocate the story<ref name="Hodges-26-07-2010">{{cite news|last=Hodges|first=Mike|title=Mike Hodges: A concrete monstrosity, but it was perfect for my film|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/mike-hodges-a-concrete-monstrosity-but-it-was-perfect-for-my-film-2035420.html|access-date=25 February 2012|newspaper=The Independent|date=26 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100730120749/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/mike-hodges-a-concrete-monstrosity-but-it-was-perfect-for-my-film-2035420.html|archive-date=30 July 2010|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> to a place he was familiar with, considering [[Grimsby]], [[Lowestoft]], [[Kingston upon Hull|Hull]] and [[North Shields]]<ref name=Klinger/> before deciding on Newcastle upon Tyne. Hodges said he was influenced in his writing by the works of [[Raymond Chandler]] and [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] [[B-movies]] such as ''[[Kiss Me Deadly]]'', because they showed "how to use the crime story as an autopsy on society's ills".<ref name=Jakubowski/> He did not, however, employ a traditional [[film noir|noir]] technique of using a voiceover to expose the character's inner feelings.<ref name=SC23/> He also dispensed with flashbacks to Carter's youth featured in the novel which explored his relationship with his brother Frank, streamlining the plot to a linear narrative spanning a single weekend. As Chibnall writes: {{blockquote|The immediate consequence was the loss of the insights into Carter's motivations provided by his memories of boyhood and his relationships with brother Frank and delinquent gang leader Albert Swift. Also lost was the backstory of Carter's dealings with Eric Paice during their time as rival gangsters in London, in particular, Eric's violent treatment of Carter's lover Audrey (Anna in the screenplay) the memory of which fuels Carter's hatred.<ref name=SC23/>}}

The significance of the [[double-barrelled shotgun]] as Carter's choice of weapon (which in the novel symbolises family ties and Carter's memories of more innocent times hunting with his brother) was lost in the film adaptation.

Carter's killing of Brumby<ref>Chibnall, 2003, p. 81</ref> and his own assassination were further alterations from the novel, emphasising the film's parallels with [[revenge tragedy]]<ref name=SC23/> and Carter's role as what Geoff Mayer calls "the [[Moral agency|moral agent]] [...] a "[[knight]]" forced to dispense his own sense of justice in a corrupt world".<ref name="Mayer-2007"/> However, in his DVD commentary Hodges implies that he did not see Carter as morally any more justified than those he kills, and his death is intended to present his actions to the audience as morally bankrupt and futile: "I wanted him to be dealt with in exactly the same way he dealt with other people. Now that's a sort of Christian ethic in a way [...] That was a prerequisite of the film for me, that the hitman should go [click] and that's it".<ref>Chibnall, 2003, p. 88</ref> Hodges's decision to kill off Carter was initially protested by MGM executives, as they wanted the character to survive in the event that the film proved successful enough to warrant a [[sequel]].<ref name=AFI />

===Casting===
There was pressure from MGM to have more big-name American stars in the film, which was successfully resisted by Hodges. As well as Telly Savalas, names posited by Klinger and studio executives were [[Joan Collins]], and someone Hodges described as "the Canadian lead actress in TV's ''[[Peyton Place (TV series)|Peyton Place]]''", which is likely a reference to [[Barbara Parkins]].<ref name="Klinger" /> The production also utilised a large number of extras, most of whom were locals who just happened to be on scene when filming was happening. Others were sourced from local casting company Beverley Artistes, which sent everyone registered with it for auditions, one of these being Denea Wilde, who was cast as the pub singer. Several of the company's actors were also in background shots in the film including the casino, streets, bars and the police raid scene.<ref name="BBC-carter-march 2011">{{cite news |date=11 March 2011 |title=Get Carter celebrates its 40th anniversary |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/tyne/hi/front_page/newsid_9421000/9421191.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031003242/http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/tyne/hi/front_page/newsid_9421000/9421191.stm |archive-date=31 October 2012 |access-date=20 February 2012 |publisher=BBC News |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

===Pre-production===
[[File:TrinityCentre02 crop.jpg|thumb|left|Trinity Square car park, with Brumby's rooftop cafe, was demolished in 2010.]]
Locations along the east coast of England had been scouted by Hodges and Klinger in the spring of 1970, to find a landscape that suggested a "hard, deprived background".<ref name="BBC-carter-march 2011"/> Newcastle was selected after Hodges's first choice of Hull proved to be unsuitable.<ref name="BBC-carter-march 2011"/><ref name=SC23/> Hodges thoroughly researched the local Newcastle crime scene, adapting the script to make use of settings and incorporating elements of his research into the story.<ref name=Jakubowski/> His background at ''World in Action'' had made him accustomed to making films based on hard investigation and this informed his approach to ''Get Carter''.<ref name=Klinger/><ref name="Williams-2006"/> One of the first locations which attracted Hodges's attention was the [[Trinity Square, Gateshead|Trinity Square]] multi-storey car park, which dominated the centre of [[Gateshead]]. To Hodges, the car park and the cast iron [[Newcastle upon Tyne#Water|bridges over the Tyne]], "seemed to capture the nature of Jack Carter himself".<ref name="Hodges-26-07-2010"/> The car park embodies one of the film's more subtle themes, which is the destruction of an old cityscape and its rebuilding in line with modern [[Brutalist architecture|Brutalism]].<ref name="Harris-03-03-2011">{{cite news |last=Harris |first=John |author-link=John Harris (critic) |title=Get Carter: In search of lost Tyne |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/mar/03/get-carter-40th-anniversary |url-status=live |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=3 March 2011 |access-date=27 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104210352/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/mar/03/get-carter-40th-anniversary |archive-date=4 November 2013 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Hodges described how wandering alone through the upper structure, he realised how the different levels could be used to reveal the hunter, Carter, and the hunted, Brumby, simultaneously but without either being aware of the other – adding to the suspense.<ref name="Hodges-26-07-2010"/> The shopping centre and car park were closed in early 2008 and demolished in late 2010.<ref name="26-06-2010">{{cite news|title=Demolition of Gateshead Get Carter car park starts|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-10759090|access-date=3 April 2012|publisher=BBC News|date=26 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319185431/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-10759090|archive-date=19 March 2012|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

[[File:Beechcroft, Broomside Lane - awaiting demolition. - geograph.org.uk - 463508.jpg|thumb|right|Beechcroft, Broomside Lane, [[County Durham]], the location of Cliff Brumby's house, awaiting demolition in 2007. Beechcroft stood derelict for many years and was finally demolished in December 2008,<ref name="Mckay-12-2008">{{cite news |last=Mckay |first=Neil |title=Carter house gets the bullet |url=http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2008/12/19/carter-house-gets-the-bullet-61634-22510159/ |access-date=1 March 2012 |newspaper=The Journal |date=19 December 2008}}</ref> despite a campaign to preserve it as a tourist attraction.<ref name="11-01-2007">{{cite news |title=The fight for Get Carter house |url=http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/1116059.the_fight_for_get_carter_house/ |access-date=26 February 2012 |newspaper=[[The Northern Echo]] |date=11 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515214426/http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/1116059.the_fight_for_get_carter_house/ |archive-date=15 May 2012 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref>]]

The location for Cyril Kinnear's house, Dryderdale Hall, near [[Hamsterley, Bishop Auckland]], provided a real-life connection with organised crime.<ref name="01-04-2010">{{cite news |title=''Get Carter'' mansion up for sale |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7325054.stm |access-date=3 April 2012 |publisher=BBC News |date=1 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123070743/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7325054.stm |archive-date=23 November 2008 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref> It was the recently vacated country house of [[North East England|North East]] [[Slot machine|fruit machine]] businessman Vince Landa, who had fled the country in 1969 after the murder of his right-hand man Angus Sibbett, the so-called [[one-armed bandit murder]]. Many believed the crime was part of a failed attempt by the Kray twins to gain control of the Newcastle underworld.<ref name="angus-innocent">{{cite web |title=Michael Luvaglio / Dennis Stafford 12 years in prison, released on licence in 1979 |url=http://www.innocent.org.uk/cases/staffordluvaglio/luvaglio_stafford.pdf |work=Innocent.org |publisher=Innocent |access-date=26 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924035103/http://www.innocent.org.uk/cases/staffordluvaglio/luvaglio_stafford.pdf |archive-date=24 September 2015 |url-status=usurped |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Michael Klinger and the MGM publicity spokesman dismissed the use of the location as mere coincidence; however, Hodges was aware of the significance of the house and chose it deliberately.<ref name=Jakubowski/> Steve Chibnall writes "It proved a perfect location, wreaking{{sic}} of authenticity and full of useful details such as the cowboys and Indians wallpaper [...] the African shield and crossed spears on the wall of the crime lord's living room".<ref name="Chibnall, p. 57"/> The Landa case also is referenced at the start of the film with a shot of a newspaper bearing the headline "Gaming Wars".<ref name="BBC28May2002">{{cite news |last=Wilson |first=Bill |title=Chequered career of 'human rights' convict |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2012084.stm |access-date=26 February 2012 |publisher=BBC News |date=28 May 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040414061901/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2012084.stm|archive-date=14 April 2004 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Other locations in Newcastle and Gateshead, [[Northumberland]] and [[County Durham]] were also used.<ref name=locations>{{cite web |title=Film Locations for Get Carter |url=http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/g/getcarter.html |work=The Worldwide Guide To Movie Locations |access-date=27 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226190628/http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/g/getcarter.html |archive-date=26 February 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name=ferry>{{cite web |title=Walker/Wallsend – Hebburn Ferry |url=http://www.bridgesonthetyne.co.uk/walker.html |work=Bridges on the Tyne |publisher=Bridges on the Tyne 2006 |access-date=20 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323124343/http://www.bridgesonthetyne.co.uk/walker.html |archive-date=23 March 2012 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

===Filming===
Principal photography took place in the North East between 17 July and 15 September 1970.<ref name="Chibnall, p. 35"/> Hodges favoured the use of [[Long-focus lens|long focal length lenses]] (as he had used previously on ''Rumour'') in many scenes to create a naturalistic documentary feel, especially in crowd scenes.<ref name="Williams-2006"/> The film was shot in [[Metrocolor]],<ref name=AFI/> which was MGM's trade name for films processed at its [[Eastman Color|Eastmancolor]] [[Film laboratory|laboratory]]. This lab processed [[Kodak]]'s [[Eastman Color Negative]], so it is most likely the film was shot on this stock.<ref name="Hanson-1952">{{cite journal |last=Hanson |first=Wesley T. Jr. |title= Color Negative and Color Positive Film for Motion Picture Use. |journal=Journal of the SMPTE |date=March 1952 |volume=58 |issue=3 |pages=223–238|doi=10.5594/J05041 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Pomerance |first=Murray |title=Notes on Some Limits of Technicolor: The Antonioni Case |journal=Senses of Cinema |year=2009 |issue=53 |url=http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2009/feature-articles/notes-on-some-limits-of-technicolor-the-antonioni-case/ |access-date=16 March 2012 |author-link=Murray Pomerance |editor1-first=Caputo |editor1-last=Rolando |publisher=Senses of Cinema Inc |location=Australia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325022502/http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2009/feature-articles/notes-on-some-limits-of-technicolor-the-antonioni-case/ |archive-date=25 March 2012 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Asked to comment on what he was aiming for in the look of the film, cinematographer Wolfgang Suschitzky said "The camera work on it [...] it was very influenced by Mike Hodges who has a very good eye for setups and he of course conferred with his operator and myself, but he influenced all of us, and much of the good look is due to him, I confess. My main task was lighting on location, very moderately, and waiting for the right daylight and setting the exposure on the lens".<ref name="donat-06-08-2009">{{cite web |last=Donat |first=Misha |title=Wolfgang Suschitzky: "Get Carter" with Mike Hodges and Michael Caine |url=http://www.webofstories.com/play/22808?o=MS |work=Web of stories 06 August 2009 |publisher=webofstories |access-date=21 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120411143905/http://www.webofstories.com/play/22808?o=MS |archive-date=11 April 2012 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref> In the first week of shooting in Newcastle, the [[ACTT]] called the crew out on a one-day strike.<ref name="Cairns-04-10-2010">{{cite web |last=Cairns |first=David |title=An interview with Mike Hodges, April 10, 2010|url=http://www.britmovie.co.uk/2010/04/10/an-interview-with-mike-hodges/ |work=Britmovie.com |publisher=britmovie.co.uk |access-date=9 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722143359/http://www.britmovie.co.uk/2010/04/10/an-interview-with-mike-hodges/ |archive-date=22 July 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}}</ref> At the advice of [[Richard Lester]], Hodges and his assistant director stayed at a separate hotel to the rest of the cast and crew, which enabled him to have some respite from the production after the shooting day was done.<ref>{{cite web |last=Thomas |first=Lou |date=10 March 2021 |title=50 years of Get Carter: A new interview with director Mike Hodges |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/interviews/get-carter-mike-hodges |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310125300/https://www.bfi.org.uk/interviews/get-carter-mike-hodges |archive-date=10 March 2021 |website=[[British Film Institute|BFI]] |location=London |access-date=11 March 2025}}</ref> Klinger was present on set for much of the film shoot. However, Hodges said he encountered very little interference from the producer. At one point Klinger and Caine asked if Hodges might work in a "chase sequence", but he persuaded them that it would draw too many comparisons with ''[[Bullitt]]''<ref name=Klinger/> (a chase sequence between Carter and the London gangsters is mentioned in the shooting script).<ref>Chibnall, 2003, p. 80</ref> Hodges tried to rehearse the racecourse scene between Caine and Hendry in their hotel the night before shooting, but "Hendry's drunken and resentful state forced Hodges to abandon [the] attempt".<ref>Chibnall, 2003, p. 56</ref> Hodges described Caine as "a complete dream to work with".<ref name=Cox/> Caine only lost his temper once on set, during the very tense and emotional day filming in Glenda's flat, when the [[focus puller]] ruined his first [[take]]. Caine apologised immediately.<ref name=SC27/>

The most complicated scene to shoot was Kinnear's game of cards. There are four simultaneous conversations, with a lot of plot exposition and the introduction of two important characters, Kinnear and Glenda. The technical complexity was compounded by the variation in light coming through the windows, and Osborne's whispered delivery<ref name="Chibnall, p. 57">Chibnall, p. 57</ref> which made microphone placement difficult. Hodges moved the camera and the [[Boom operator (media)|boom]] closer to Osborne as the scene progressed.<ref name="Collings-30-12-2010"/> Chibnall says that Hodges regretted not rehearsing the scene more thoroughly.<ref name="Chibnall, p. 57"/>

[[File:Site of aerial conveyor, Blackhall Colliery - geograph.org.uk - 1610042.jpg|thumb|left|The location of the closing scene of the film, [[Blackhall Colliery#Blackhall beach|Blackhall Beach]] near [[Hartlepool]]]]
[[File:North Blyth, Base of North Side Staithes - geograph.org.uk - 1743242.jpg|thumb|right|Base of the North Side coal staithes, [[North Blyth]], Northumberland. Near the film's conclusion, Carter chases Paice along these. The tops of the staithes as they appear in the film have been demolished; only the base of the structure remains.]]

In shooting the scene in which Carter throws Brumby to his death from the multi-storey car park, Hodges used four shots: one of the pair struggling high up on the stairs; one from the lowest level of the stairwell where Caine actually threw Bryan Mosley over the side onto mattresses; one shot of a dummy falling; and one of the body of Brumby on top of a crushed car.<ref name="Hodges-26-07-2010"/>

Carter's climactic pursuit of Eric used an amalgamation of two locations spaced {{convert|35|mi|km}} apart: [[Blyth, Northumberland|Blyth staithes]] and [[Blackhall Colliery#Blackhall beach|Blackhall Beach near Blackhall Colliery]].<ref name="telegraphbeach">[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/08/23/bfbeaches123.xml&page=3 "The 50 best beach scenes in the movies"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912063249/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=%2Farts%2F2008%2F08%2F23%2Fbfbeaches123.xml&page=3 |date=12 September 2008}}, ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', 23 August 2008</ref><ref name="NrthEcho,28-08-2000">{{cite news |title=Hoping to get Caine for coastal spectacle|url=http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/archive/2000/08/28/The+North+East+Archive/7131798.Hoping_to_get_Caine_for_coastal_spectacle/ |access-date=24 February 2012 |newspaper=The Northern Echo |date=28 August 2000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227133654/http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/archive/2000/08/28/The+North+East+Archive/7131798.Hoping_to_get_Caine_for_coastal_spectacle/ |archive-date=27 December 2013 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref> The chase scene was shot in reverse, with Hodges filming Eric's death scene first because of Hendry's poor condition, Hodges being worried that he would be too out of breath to play the death scene after running. Hodges chose the beach for its bleak, dark atmosphere but when he returned to shoot the scene he found it bathed in bright sunshine, unsuitable for the sombre conclusion he was hoping for. He waited hours until the sun began setting to capture the overcast shadowy lighting seen in the film.<ref>Chibnall, 2003, p. 86</ref> The film shows the beach black with coal spoilings, dumped there by the mine's conveyor system. The conveyor, a common sight on the East Durham coast, was known locally as The Flight. In the early 2000s, £10 million was spent removing these conveyors and the concrete towers, and cleaning tonnes of [[Coal refuse|coal waste]] from the beaches of East Durham. The cleaning programme was known as Turning the Tide.<ref name="Nelson-02-16-2002">{{cite news |last=Nelson |first=Richard |title=Northern revival |url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2002/feb/16/walkingholidays.unitedkingdom.guardiansaturdaytravelsection |access-date=24 February 2012 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=16 February 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228053040/http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2002/feb/16/walkingholidays.unitedkingdom.guardiansaturdaytravelsection |archive-date=28 December 2013 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

===Post-production===
Klinger was a hands-on producer who remained present throughout shooting and in post-production. He suggested Hodges use John Trumper as editor. Hodges said that he and Trumper argued and disagreed constantly, but he still thought he was a "brilliant, brilliant editor" and was "very grateful to him for [...] how much he contributed". Sound editing and dubbing was done by Jim Atkinson, whom Hodges described as "so obsessive about the job". He gave Hodges multiple possibilities of how the sound could be dubbed, and explored every angle. Klinger was worried that the debut director might be overwhelmed with too many options, but Hodges said he and Atkinson got on very well.<ref name=Klinger/>

As Carter drives away from the flats, with Glenda in the boot of the car, the tyres make a screeching sound. This was later sampled by [[Vangelis]], who used it on the 1981 title track of the [[Jon and Vangelis]] album''[[The Friends of Mr Cairo]]''.

===Music===
The majority of the film's music was composed by [[Roy Budd]], a jazz pianist and composer, who had previously worked on soundtracks for ''[[Soldier Blue]]'' and ''[[Flight of the Doves]]''. Aside from its score, Budd also composed three songs: "Looking For Someone", "Love Is A Four Letter Word" (with lyrics by Jack Fishman) and "Hallucinations".<ref name=AFI/> The theme (otherwise known as "Carter Takes a Train"), the best-known piece from the film, was played by Budd and the other members of his jazz trio, [[Jeff Clyne]] ([[double bass]]) and [[Chris Karan]] ([[percussion]]), and was recorded on a budget of £450 (£8,700 in 2024). The musicians recorded the soundtrack live, direct to picture, playing along with the film.<ref name="Johnson-1999">{{cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Phil |title=Film Music |journal=[[New Statesman]] |date=5 March 1999 |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/199903050039 |access-date=14 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706054304/http://www.newstatesman.com/199903050039 |archive-date=6 July 2008 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref> To save time and money Budd did not use overdubs, simultaneously playing a real [[harpsichord]], a [[Wurlitzer electric piano]] and a [[Piano|grand piano]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bryce |first=Allan |title=A Conversation with Roy Budd |journal=Soundtrack Magazine |year=1984 |volume=3 |issue=11 |url=http://www.runmovies.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=77:roy-budd-a-talented-and-likeable-man-&catid=35:interviews |access-date=1 March 2012 |editor1-first=Luc |editor1-last=Van de Ven}}</ref><ref>''Get Carter'' DVD, Warner Archive, 2000</ref> Budd described the experience as "uncomfortable, but it sounded pleasant". The theme tune features the sounds of the character's train journey from London to Newcastle.

The theme was released as a 7" vinyl single by [[Pye Records]] in 1971, titled simply "Carter" and backed with "Plaything", another piece composed for the soundtrack. Original copies of the record are much sought after by collectors and sell for around £100.<ref>{{cite web |title=ROY BUDD CARTER GET CARTER UK SOUNDTRACK 7" SINGLE PYE MICHAEL CAINE COVER NM |url=http://www.popsike.com/ROY-BUDD-CARTER-GET-CARTER-UK-SOUNDTRACK-7-SINGLE-PYE-MICHAEL-CAINE-COVER-NM/310350106840.html |publisher=popsike |access-date=1 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227135336/http://www.popsike.com/ROY-BUDD-CARTER-GET-CARTER-UK-SOUNDTRACK-7-SINGLE-PYE-MICHAEL-CAINE-COVER-NM/310350106840.html |archive-date=27 December 2013 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref> The soundtrack—including pieces not used in the film—was originally only available in its entirety in Japan, where it was released on [[Odeon Records]].<ref name=italiansoundtrack>{{cite web|title=Soundtracks from other Countries >> Japanese Soundtracks: Get Carter cover|url=http://www.italiansoundtracks.com/soundtracks/japanese/japgetcarter.html|work=Italian SOundtracks. com|publisher=italian soundtracks|access-date=4 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131229105027/http://www.italiansoundtracks.com/soundtracks/japanese/japgetcarter.html|archive-date=29 December 2013|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> It was released in the UK in 1998 by the Cinephile label, a subsidiary of [[Castle Communications]]. In 2012, the theme was included on the [[Soul Jazz Records]] compilation ''British TV, Film and Library Composers''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Soul Jazz collect TV Sound and Image on new compilation: Jonny Trunk assists|url=http://www.factmag.com/2012/06/18/soul-jazz-collect-tv-sound-and-image-on-new-compilation-jonny-trunk-naturally-assists/|work=Fact.com|date=18 June 2012|publisher=The Vinyl Factory|access-date=15 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120629184847/http://www.factmag.com/2012/06/18/soul-jazz-collect-tv-sound-and-image-on-new-compilation-jonny-trunk-naturally-assists/|archive-date=29 June 2012|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

The film includes other music which is not included on the soundtrack LP. The music playing in the nightclub scene is an uptempo cover of the 1969 [[Willie Mitchell (musician)|Willie Mitchell]] tune "30-60-90" performed live by the Jack Hawkins Showband, which was the resident band at the Oxford Galleries night club.<ref name=billboard>{{cite web |title=Willie Mitchell 30-60-90 |url={{BillboardURLbyName|artist=willie mitchell|chart=all}} |work=Billboard.com: Charts |publisher=Rovi Corporation |access-date=28 February 2012}}</ref> The pub singer, played by Denea Wilde, performs a cover of "[[How About You?]]" by [[Burton Lane]] and [[Ralph Freed]],<ref name=AFI/> a song more associated with glamorous Hollywood films than the backrooms of Newcastle pubs. The [[Pelaw]] Hussars, a local [[juvenile jazz band]] and [[Majorette (dancer)|majorette]] troupe, also appear and perform two numbers, "[[When The Saints Go Marching In]]" and "[[Auld Lang Syne]]".<ref name=AFI/>

==Release==
===Theatrical===
[[File:Get Carter bus advertisement.jpg|thumb|right|A London [[AEC Routemaster]] bus bearing promotional posters for ''Get Carter''.]]
The world premiere for ''Get Carter'' was held in Los Angeles on 3 February 1971.<ref name=AFI/> The film finally opened for general release across the UK on 10 March 1971 and in the US on 18 March, where it was rated [[X rating#United States|'X']] for violence and female nudity, meaning it was for adults only.<ref name=Erickson>{{cite news |last=Erickson |first=Hal |title=Get Carter- Trailer |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/92874/Get-Carter/overview# |access-date=16 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120522065112/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/92874/Get-Carter/overview |archive-date=22 May 2012 |url-status=dead |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=[[The New York Times]] |author-link=Hal Erickson (author) |date=2012 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> It was later reclassified as [[Motion Picture Association of America film rating system|'R']], meaning children under the age of 17 had to be accompanied by an adult.<ref name=AFI/> A censored version was released in West Germany on 6 August 1971, with a running time nine minutes shorter than the original. Michael Klinger was involved in promotion of the film in the UK, using the experience from his background as a distributor to conduct a strong advertising campaign. [[Teaser poster]]s for the film appeared on the front of buses across London, featuring the tagline "Caine is Carter".<ref name=Klinger/>

The original [[Film poster#United Kingdom|British quad poster]] with artwork by [[Arnaldo Putzu]], in common with many film posters, has aspects or images that differ from the finished screen version. Carter is depicted wearing a gaudy floral jacket, as opposed to the dark raincoat and mohair suit he wears in the film. Asked in 2006, Putzu could not remember his artistic rationale for painting the floral jacket, but said he was painting a lot of flowers in designs at that time.<ref name="Branaghan-2007">{{cite web |last=Branaghan |first=Sim |title=Transcript of 'British Film Posters' podcast, Talk given in August 2007 at the Walker Art Gallery |url=http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/podcasts/transcripts/british_film_posters.asp |work=Liverpool Museums British Film Posters |publisher=National Museums Liverpool |access-date=27 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008035228/http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/podcasts/transcripts/british_film_posters.asp |archive-date=8 October 2012 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Chibnall describes the [[flower power]] imagery as "what seems like a desperate and misguided attempt to suggest the hipness of a genre which had largely fallen out of favour".<ref>Chibnall, p. 90</ref> However, movie poster expert Sim Branaghan liked its eccentricity, calling it was "that kind of quirkiness you wouldn't get these days".<ref name="Branaghan-2007"/> [[Jonny Trunk]] of [[Trunk Records]]—a long-time aficionado of the film and its history—has observed that the floral pattern of Carter's jacket is taken from the distinctive pillow and matching sheet design from the bed in the scene where Britt Ekland writhes naked whilst on the phone to Jack. The poster also places Carter's shotgun in Eric's hands, and features a grappling man and woman who seem to belong to a different film.<ref>Chibnall, p. 133, footnote 1</ref> Promotional shots and poster artwork exist from the film showing Carter holding a [[pump-action shotgun]]; in the finished film, the only shotgun used by Carter is a double-barrelled shotgun, which Carter finds on top of his brother Frank's wardrobe.

MGM sold distribution rights to the film in the U.S. to its future subsidiary [[United Artists]], which promoted it poorly, amidst worries the cockney dialogue in the opening scene would be unintelligible to U.S. audiences. The film's release was delayed while parts of the film were redubbed, with no great improvement.<ref name="BFI-06-11-1999"/> In the process of redubbing the opening, the version of the film with the original dialogue was lost. For years the version shown on British television was the redubbed American cut.<ref name="BFI-06-11-1999">{{cite news |title=Entertainment Get Carter: Original and best |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/365620.stm |url-status=live |publisher=BBC News |date=11 June 1999 |access-date=16 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040607215937/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/365620.stm |archive-date=7 June 2004 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> UA placed the film on the declining [[Drive-in theater|drive-in movie circuit]],<ref name="Mayer-2003"/> where it played at the bottom of a [[Double feature|double bill]] with ''[[Dirty Dingus Magee]]'', a [[Star vehicle|vehicle]] for [[Frank Sinatra]].<ref name="Kornbluth-2005">{{cite web |last=Kornbluth |first=Jesse |title=Get Carter directed by Mike Hodges |url=http://headbutler.com/movies/drama/get-carter|work=Head Butler, 2005|publisher=Head Butler, Inc.|access-date=16 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129220533/http://headbutler.com/movies/drama/get-carter|archive-date=29 November 2010|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Monahan|first=William|title=Top 5 British Crime and Suspense Films from the '60s and '70s|journal=Slate|date=11 November 2011|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2011/11/11/william_monahan_picks_his_favorite_british_crime_films.html|access-date=16 March 2012|author-link=William Monahan|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318113129/http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2011/11/11/william_monahan_picks_his_favorite_british_crime_films.html|archive-date=18 March 2012|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Michael Klinger complained in 1974 to president of UA [[Eric Pleskow]] about the lacklustre promotion of ''Carter'', and tried to get him to relinquish the U.S. rights to the film so that Klinger could find a better distributor.<ref name="uwe-klinger">{{cite web|last=Klinger|first=Michael|title=Promotion problems in America for 'Get Carter' and 'Pulp'|url=http://michaelklingerpapers.uwe.ac.uk/docs1/getcarter.pdf|work=The Michael Klinger Papers: DocumentsThe University of West England website|publisher=uwe.ac.uk|access-date=20 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130908205337/http://michaelklingerpapers.uwe.ac.uk/docs1/getcarter.pdf|archive-date=8 September 2013|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

The film did not encounter many censorship problems, although the scene where Carter knifes Albert Swift caused concern for the censor [[John Trevelyan (censor)|John Trevelyan]].<ref>Chibnall, 2003, p. 76</ref> In South Africa the censor cut out Britt Ekland's phone sex scene, shortening her already brief role; her name was still left on the poster, leaving filmgoers to wonder why she was advertised as appearing.<ref name="Chibnall, p. 61">Chibnall, p. 61</ref>

A resurgence of critical and public interest in the film in the 1990s led to the [[British Film Institute]] (BFI) releasing a new print of the film in 1999. It worked with Hodges to restore the film, with Hodges sourcing another set of negatives of the original opening, which were found in the archives of the BBC. The team then [[Film splicer|spliced]] the beginning segment onto a high-quality print of the film.<ref name="BFI-06-11-1999"/> The reissue premiered at the [[National Film Theatre]]<ref>{{cite web |last=Film |first=Total |title=Get Carter BFI reissue review |url=http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/cinema/get-carter |work=Total Film 1999 |publisher=Future Publishing, Ltd. |access-date=16 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110317022826/http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/cinema/get-carter |archive-date=17 March 2011 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref> and went on general release on 11 June 1999, showing at the [[Tyneside Cinema]] in Newcastle.<ref name="BFI-06-11-1999"/>

On 16 March 2022, the BFI announced that they would be partnering with [[Warner Bros.]] and [[Warner Bros. Home Entertainment]] for a re-release of the film at the [[BFI Southbank]] as part of their retrospective program ''Return of the Outsider: The Films of Mike Hodges'', which ran from May 1 to May 31 and included various in-person events such as "Mike Hodges in Conversation" on May 3; this was followed by a wide release in British and Irish cinemas on 27 May. This release utilised a new 4K restoration of the film's original camera negative, which was approved by Hodges.<ref name="2022 rerelease">{{cite web |title=BFI brings Get Carter back to big and small screens |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/news/get-carter-re-release-michael-caine |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] |access-date=5 May 2022 |date=16 May 2011 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

===Home media===
Chibnall has established that the film was shown on [[LWT]] in 1976 and 1980 "in a [[Expurgation|bowdlerised]] version" (which edited out Britt Ekland's phone sex scene)<ref name="Chibnall, p. 61"/> and once on [[Westward Television]] and on [[ITV Granada|Granada]] in August 1981, but it was not shown nationally and in its entirety until a [[Watershed (broadcasting)|post-watershed]] BBC broadcast in 1986.<ref name="Chibnall, p. 99">Chibnall, p. 99</ref> It was finally released on home media in 1993 by MGM/UA as part of its "Elite Collection". Chibnall says "There was no advertising to suggest a significant event had occurred. It was simply a part of the long process of exploiting MGM's back catalogue in the run-up to Christmas". Despite this, the release was given a five-star review in ''[[Empire (film magazine)|Empire]]'', where it was described as "one of the best British films of the 70s". Chibnall notes "it did not, however, find a place in ''Empire''{{'}}s top fifty videos of the year".<ref name="Chibnall, p. 99"/>

Warner Bros. reissued the film in a special edition on DVD in October 2000 in its original [[1.85:1]] [[aspect ratio (image)|aspect ratio]]. Extras included three trailers; the international trailer, an introduction by Michael Caine to the people of Newcastle, and a third featuring Roy Budd playing the opening theme. This format was also used in a 2001 VHS set released by Warner, which included ''Bullitt'' and ''[[Shaft (1971 film)|Shaft]]''. Also included on the DVD was [[Audio commentary (DVD)|commentary]] from Caine, Hodges and Suschitzky, constructed from separate interviews with the three. The soundtrack was presented in [[Monaural|1.0 mono]] [[Dolby Digital]].<ref name=Haflidason>{{cite web |last=Haflidason |first=Almar |title=Get Carter DVD review (2000) |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2000/10/17/get_carter_1971_dvd_review.shtml |work=BBCi Films review |publisher=BBC |access-date=18 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925050747/http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2000/10/17/get_carter_1971_dvd_review.shtml |archive-date=25 September 2015 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

The film was bundled in the 2008 "Movies That Matter – 70's Classics" DVD set with ''[[Deliverance]]'' and ''[[Dog Day Afternoon]]''.<ref name="movies that matter">{{cite web |title=Movies That Matter 70s Classics |url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Movies-That-Matter-70s-Classics/dp/B001CP4VIO/ref=sr_1_4?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1331734112&sr=1-4 |work=Amazon.com-Film & TV |access-date=14 March 2012}}</ref> It is available from the [[Warner Archive Collection]] as a Made on Demand (MOD) [[DVD recordable|DVD-R]] or a download, with the same extras as the 2000 release, although with only two trailers and this time in [[1.85:1#16:9|16:9]] ratio.<ref name="Warner-mod">{{cite web |title=Search results for Get Carter |url=http://www.wbshop.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-WB-Site/default/Search-Show?q=get+carter+%281971%29 |work=Warner Web Shop |publisher=Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. |access-date=14 March 2012 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

''Get Carter'' was released on [[Blu-ray Disc]] by Warner on April 22, 2014; this release features the same extras as the special edition DVD, but due to a manufacturing error, American pressings of the disc utilize the dubbed American version of the opening sequence instead of the original audio. This change was carried over to the initial British pressings of the disc, but was later reversed following public backlash; later British pressings sold by outlets such as [[Amazon (company)|Amazon UK]] feature the original audio track.<ref name="Savant">{{cite web |title=Get Carter: Warner Archive Collection Blu-ray |url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s4464cart.html |work=DVD Savant |publisher=[[DVD Talk]] |access-date=2 June 2021}}</ref>

BFI Video released its 4K restoration of ''Get Carter'' on August 1, 2022 on standard and [[Ultra HD Blu-ray]];<ref name="2022 rerelease"/> the two-disc sets include the special features of earlier home media releases of the film, as well as a new audio commentary with critics [[Kim Newman]] and [[Barry Forshaw]], an isolated music track, interviews with Hodges, Trunk Records founder Jonny Trunk, actress Petra Markham and Michael Klinger's son [[Tony Klinger|Tony]], [[Philip Trevelyan]]'s 1966 documentary film ''The Ship Hotel, Tyne Main'', a booklet containing various essays on the film and other paraphernalia, postcards and a double-sided poster for both the restoration and a replication of the original UK poster art.<ref name="BFI shop">{{cite web |title= Get Carter: 4K Ultra HD Edition (UHD + Blu-ray)|url=https://shop.bfi.org.uk/get-carter-4k-ultra-hd-edition.html|publisher=BFI Video |access-date=5 May 2022 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

==Reception==
===Critical response===
[[File:Get-carter-trailer-two.jpg|thumb|Jack's pursuit of Eric as seen in the film's trailer]]

On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film has an approval rating of 85% based on 40 reviews, with an average rating of 7.50/10; the site's critical consensus reads "Darkly entertaining and tightly wound, ''Get Carter'' is a gritty revenge story done right".<ref name="rotten-tomatoes">{{cite web|title=Get Carter (1971)|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1076721-get_carter/|work=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=4 November 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120228182453/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1076721-get_carter/|archive-date=28 February 2012|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> {{Metacritic film prose|1=80|2=15}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Get Carter |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/get-carter-1971/ |access-date=6 September 2025 |website=Metacritic}}</ref> In 2003, Steve Chibnall observed a large gender imbalance in voting on the film up to April 2002, with less than 6% of votes cast (where the voters gave their gender) by women (53 out of 947). He also noticed a substantial increase in women voting on the film in the eight months leading up to April 2002.<ref name="Chibnall, p. 92"/>

Describing the initial critical response to the film, Steve Chibnall wrote "Initial critical vilification or indifference establishes the conditions in which a cult can flourish. ''Get Carter'' had to make do with ambivalence".<ref>Chibnall, p. 91</ref> He thought the general stance of British critics "was to admire the film's power and professionalism while condemning its amorality and excessive violence".<ref name="Chibnall, p. 92">Chibnall, p. 92</ref> Geoff Mayer observed that "Mainstream critics at the time were dismayed by the film's complex plotting and Carter's lack of remorse".<ref name="mayer195">{{cite book|last=Mayer|first=Geoff|title=Encyclopedia of Film Noir|year=2007|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=England|isbn=978-0-313-33306-4|page=195|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RsBHnZoyO4kC&q=get+carter+budget+mgm&pg=PA195 |author2=McDonnell, Brian|access-date=20 February 2012}}</ref> In ''[[Sight and Sound]]'', [[Tom Milne]] said the film was well-constructed and had good characterisation, but lacked the mystery and charisma of the earlier American crime films it attempted to emulate. He found Carter's motivations were inconsistent, either being an avenging angel or an "authentic post-permissive anti-hero, revelling in the casual sadism".<ref name="BFI-gangsters">{{cite web|title=Gangsters: Get Carter|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/filmtvinfo/publications/16+/pdf/gangsters.pdf|work=16+ source guides: Gangsters (2002)|publisher=BFI|access-date=24 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120105175543/http://www.bfi.org.uk/filmtvinfo/publications/16+/pdf/gangsters.pdf|archive-date=5 January 2012|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="tom milne">{{cite journal|last=Milne|first=Tom|title=Get Carter|journal=Sight & Sound|date=Spring 1971|volume=40|issue=2|page=107}}</ref>

In contrast, [[Nigel Andrews]] found the characters to be clichéd archetypes of the criminal underworld, such as the "homosexual chauffeur, bloated tycoon, glamorous mistress", describing the film as "perfunctory".<ref name="Andrews-1971">{{cite journal |last=Andrews |first=Nigel |title=Get Carter |journal=Monthly Film Bulletin |date=April 1971 |volume=38 |issue=447 |page=73}}</ref>
Richard Weaver in ''[[Films and Filming]]'' praised the realism of the film, describing it as "crime at its most blatant",<ref name="BFI-gangsters" /><ref name="Weaver-05-1971">{{cite journal|last=Weaver|first=Richard|journal=Films and Filming|title=Get Carter|date=May 1971|volume=17|issue=8|page=88}}</ref> while [[George Melly]] writing in ''[[The Observer]]'' confessed to vicarious enjoyment of it, but admitted it was "like a bottle of neat gin swallowed before breakfast. It's intoxicating all right, but it'll do you no good".<ref name="Murphy">{{cite book |last1=Murphy |first1=Robert |title=British Crime Cinema |year=1999 |publisher=Routledge |location=England |isbn=0-415-16870-8 |page=132 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_--Ebdp6mwAC&q=get%20carter%20drive-in%20mgm&pg=RA1-PA132 |edition=2nd |last2=Chibnall |first2=Steve |access-date=6 March 2012}}</ref>

Steve Chibnall writes that "America was rather more used to hard-boiled storytelling" and that reviewers there were "more prepared than British criticism to treat ''Get Carter'' as a serious work",<ref name="Ch93">Chibnall, p. 93</ref> [[Pauline Kael]] admiring its "calculated soullessness"<ref name="Quart-XXXVII">{{cite journal|last=Quart|first=Leonard|title=FROM THE ARCHIVES: Get Carter|journal=Cineaste|year=2011|volume=XXXVII|issue=1|url=http://www.cineaste.com/articles/from-the-archives-emget-carterem|access-date=20 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204200859/http://www.cineaste.com/articles/from-the-archives-emget-carterem|archive-date=4 February 2012|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> and wondering if it signalled a "new genre of virtuoso viciousness".<ref name=Kael>{{cite web|last=Kael|first=Pauline|title=Get Carter 1971|url=http://www.geocities.ws/paulinekaelreviews/g2.html|work=Pauline Kael film reviews|access-date=23 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225154115/http://www.geocities.ws/paulinekaelreviews/g2.html|archive-date=25 February 2012|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> US publication ''[[Box Office (magazine)|Box Office]]'' gave a cautiously approving review, describing the film as "nasty, violent and sexy all at once". It predicted that "It should please in the action market, but won't win any laurels for Caine although his portrayal of the vicious anti-hero impresses".<ref>{{cite journal|title=Get Carter (1971)|journal=BoxOffice|date=18 March 1971|url=http://www.boxofficemagazine.com/reviews/2008-08-get-carter-1971|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130121020409/http://www.boxofficemagazine.com/reviews/2008-08-get-carter-1971|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 January 2013|author=Box Office Staff}}</ref> The reviewer also opined that "Tighter editing would help considerably". [[Roger Ebert]] was less reserved in his praise, writing that "the movie has a sure touch". He noted the "proletarian detail" of the film which is "unusual in a British detective movie. Usually we get all flash and no humanity, lots of fancy camera tricks but no feel for the criminal strata of society".<ref name=Ebert>{{cite news|last=Ebert|first=Roger|title=Get Carter|date=March 15, 1971|url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19710315/REVIEWS/103150301|work=Roger Ebert.com|publisher=Chicago Sun Times|access-date=23 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204180240/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19710315%2FREVIEWS%2F103150301|archive-date=4 February 2012|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Of Caine's performance he wrote, "The character created by Caine is particularly interesting. He's tough and ruthless, but very quiet and charged with a terrible irony". [[Judith Crist]] in ''[[New York (magazine)|New York]]'' magazine gave a glowing review, saying "Michael Caine is superb, suave and sexy" and describing the film as "a hard, mean and satisfying zinger of the old tough-tec school done in frank contemporary terms".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Crist |first=Judith |title=Movies Around Town |journal=New York Magazine |volume=10 |issue=4 |page=11 |date=8 March 1971 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6-ICAAAAMBAJ&q=get%20carter%20jack%20hawkins&pg=PA11 |access-date=28 February 2012 |editor1-first=Ruth |editor1-last=Gilbert}}</ref> ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' also praised the film, saying it "not only maintains interest but conveys with rare artistry, restraint and clarity the many brutal, sordid and gamy plot turns".<ref name=Variety>{{cite journal|author=Variety Staff|title=Get Carter|journal=Variety|date=31 December 1970|url=https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117791235?refcatid=31|access-date=23 February 2012}}</ref> However, [[Jay Cocks]] writing in ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' was disparaging, calling the film "a doggedly nasty piece of business" and comparing it unfavourably to ''[[Point Blank (1967 film)|Point Blank]]''.<ref name="Cocks-time">{{cite magazine|last=Cocks|first=Jay|title=Cinema: North Toward Homicide|magazine=Time|date=22 March 1971|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,904945,00.html|access-date=23 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303095008/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,904945,00.html|archive-date=3 March 2012|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The film appeared on several US critics' lists of best films of the year.<ref name="uwe-klinger"/>

In Michael Klinger's ''[[The Guardian]]'' obituary in 1989, [[Derek Malcolm]] remembered the film as "one of the most formidable British thrillers of its time".<ref name="Malcolm-1989">{{cite news|last=Malcolm|first=Derek|title=Michael Klinger: Always his own man|url=http://michaelklingerpapers.uwe.ac.uk/docs1/obit3.pdf|access-date=20 February 2012|newspaper=The Guardian|date=20 September 1989|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130908205440/http://michaelklingerpapers.uwe.ac.uk/docs1/obit3.pdf|archive-date=8 September 2013|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

===Box office===
''Get Carter'' was a financial success, and according to Steve Chibnall its box office takings were "very respectable". On its opening week at [[ABC2 Shaftesbury Avenue|ABC2]] cinema at [[Shaftesbury Avenue]], London, it broke the house record, taking £8,188. It out-performed ''[[Up Pompeii (film)|Up Pompeii]]'', which was showing in the larger ABC1. It also performed strongly when moved to the ABCs in [[Edgware, London, England|Edgware]] and [[Fulham Road]]. On its general release in the North of England, Chibnall notes it had a "very strong first week", before an unseasonal heatwave damaged cinema attendance. Chibnall writes that "Interestingly, although [the film's] downbeat and unsentimental tone is now thought to express the mood of its times, the mass cinema audience preferred ''[[Love Story (1970 film)|Love Story]]'' ([[Arthur Hiller]] 1970), which remained the most popular film in Britain throughout ''Get Carter'''s run".<ref name="Ch93"/> It was the sixth-most popular "general release" movie at the British box office in 1971.<ref>Peter Waymark. "Richard Burton top draw in British cinemas". Times [London, England] 30 Dec. 1971: 2. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 11 July 2012.</ref>

===Accolades===
At the time of its release, the only recognition the film received was a [[25th British Academy Film Awards|1972 BAFTA Awards]] nomination for Ian Hendry as [[25th British Academy Film Awards#Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]].<ref name="mayer195"/> In 1999, ''Get Carter'' was ranked 16th on the [[BFI Top 100 British films]] of the 20th century; five years later, a survey of British film critics in ''[[Total Film]]'' magazine chose it as the greatest British film of all time.<ref name="03-10-2004"/> In 2008 the film was placed at 225 on ''Empire''{{'}}s 500 Best Movies of All Time list, which was selected by over 10,000 ''Empire'' readers, 150 filmmakers and 50 film critics.<ref name="Empire-2008">{{cite web |title=300-201 |url=https://www.empireonline.com/500/39.asp |work=Empire's 500 Best Movies of All Time |publisher=Empire |access-date=21 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222200944/http://www.empireonline.com/500/39.asp |archive-date=22 February 2012 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref> In October 2010 the critics from ''The Guardian'' newspaper placed the film on their list of "Greatest Films of All Time", placing it at number 7 in the 25 greatest crime films.<ref name="Rogers-22-10-2010">{{cite news|last=Rogers|first=Simon|title=The greatest films of all time: download the data|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/oct/16/greatest-films-of-all-time|access-date=23 February 2012|newspaper=The Guardian|date=22 October 2010|author2=Malone, Theresa|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130801135333/http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/oct/16/greatest-films-of-all-time|archive-date=1 August 2013|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In the accompanying poll conducted amongst ''Guardian'' readers, it was voted fifth.<ref name="rankings-17-10-2010">{{cite news |title=The crime 25: do you agree with our rankings? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/poll/2010/oct/17/crime-25-poll |access-date=23 February 2012 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=17 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228060844/http://www.theguardian.com/film/poll/2010/oct/17/crime-25-poll |archive-date=28 December 2013|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In 2011 [[Time Out (magazine)|''Time Out London'']] placed the film at 32 in its [[Time Out 100 best British films|100 Best British Films list]], which was selected by a panel of 150 film industry experts.<ref name="ALD-timeout">{{cite web|last=Lee Davies|first=Adam|title=100 Best British Films: Get Carter|url=https://www.timeout.com/london/feature/855/100-best-british-films-the-list/7|work=Time Out London|publisher=Time Out Group and Time Out Digital|access-date=28 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120221025453/http://www.timeout.com/london/feature/855/100-best-british-films-the-list/7|archive-date=21 February 2012|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

==Remakes==

=== ''Hit Man'' (1972) ===
{{main article|Hit Man (1972 film)}}
In 1972, MGM released the [[blaxploitation]] film ''Hit Man'', written and directed by [[George Armitage]] and produced by [[Gene Corman]]; the film's credits identify Lewis's ''Jack's Return Home'' as its basis. This was the second time that Corman had produced a blaxploitation film based on a novel that had previously been adapted for film, following ''[[Cool Breeze (film)|Cool Breeze]]'' (1972), the fourth adaptation of [[W. R. Burnett]]'s ''[[The Asphalt Jungle]]''.<ref name="AFIHitMan">{{cite web |title=Hit Man (1972) |url=http://catalog.afi.com/Film/54592-HIT-MAN |work=AFI Catalog |publisher=AFI |access-date=2 June 2021 }}</ref> However, Hodges and critics have identified ''Hit Man'' as a [[remake]] of ''Get Carter'', transposing the action from Newcastle to [[Los Angeles]]. The film stars [[Bernie Casey]] as Tyrone Tackett, the story's counterpart to Jack Carter, while Glenda is reimagined as Gozelda, a "sultry skin flick star" portrayed by [[Pam Grier]].<ref name="Triplow-2017">{{cite book |last=Triplow|first=Nick|title=Getting Carter: Ted Lewis and the Birth of Brit Noir|year=2017 |publisher=Oldcastle Books |location=UK |isbn=9781843448839 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Y0wDwAAQBAJ&dq=hit+man+1972+get+carter&pg=PT160}}</ref> 

Armitage revealed that he had not seen ''Get Carter'' at the time he worked on the film, and that Corman had given him an untitled copy of Hodges's script, asking him to rewrite it in an African-American context; he did not learn that the film was based on ''Get Carter'' until he was informed by his agent.<ref name="one">{{cite web |url=http://www.money-into-light.com/search/label/Interview%3A%20GEORGE%20ARMITAGE%20%28PART%201%20OF%203%29 |website=Money Into Light |title=Interview with George Armitage - Part One}}</ref><ref name="filmcomment">{{cite web |date=April 28, 2015 |author=Nick Pinkerton |url=https://www.filmcomment.com/blog/interview-george-armitage/ |title=Interview with George Armitage |work=Film Comment |access-date=September 11, 2021}}</ref> While the films share several plot details and treatments, such as a sniper aiming at Carter/Tackett on a rocky beach,<ref name="Chibnall-94-2003">{{cite book |last=Chibnall |first=Steve |title=Get Carter: The British Film Guide 6 |year=2003 |publisher=I.B. Taurus |location=UK |isbn=978-1-86064-910-3 |page=94 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b3uW92r5gB0C&pg=PA26}}</ref> ''Hit Man'' includes several divergences from ''Get Carter'', including a scene in which Gozelda is mauled to death by tigers,<ref name="Triplow-2017" /> and does not end with the main character's death.<ref name="AFIHitMan" /> 

Hodges and Klinger were incensed by MGM's decision to remake the film, as they considered ''Hit Man'' inferior to ''Get Carter''; Lewis later claimed that he never received any royalties from ''Hit Man''.<ref name="Triplow-2017" /><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gwXhDwAAQBAJ&dq=hit+man+1972+get+carter&pg=PT112|title=The Man Who Got Carter: Michael Klinger, Independent Production and the British Film Industry, 1960–1980|first1=Andrew|last1=Spicer|first2=A. T.|last2=McKenna|date=24 October 2013|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=9780857723093|accessdate=20 August 2022|via=Google Books}}</ref> The film was released by Warner Archive Collection as a MOD DVD-R on May 4, 2010.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hit Man|url=https://www.oldies.com/product-view/8072FD.html|website=Oldies.com|access-date=20 August 2022}}</ref>

=== ''Get Carter'' (2000) ===
{{main article|Get Carter (2000 film)}}
Warner Bros., which holds the rights to the pre-1986 MGM library, produced another remake of ''Get Carter'' in 2000 under the same title, starring [[Sylvester Stallone]] as Jack Carter. Originally announced in 1997, [[Tarsem Singh]] and [[Samuel Bayer]] were considered to direct the film before [[Stephen Kay]] signed on, with [[David McKenna (writer)|David McKenna]] writing the script.<ref>{{cite web |last=Karon |first=Paul |title=McKenna gets 'Carter' for WB |url=https://variety.com/1997/film/news/mckenna-gets-carter-for-wb-1116675332/ |work=Variety |date=October 24, 1997 |access-date=March 28, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Petrikin |first=Chris |title=Musicvid helmer Bayer may 'Get Carter' & Sly |url=https://variety.com/1999/film/news/musicvid-helmer-bayer-may-get-carter-sly-1117502718/ |work=Variety |date=June 3, 1999 |access-date=March 28, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Petrikin |first=Chris |title=Kay gets 'Carter' to helm Stallone |url=https://variety.com/1999/film/news/kay-gets-carter-to-helm-stallone-1117744322/ |work=Variety |date=July 29, 1999 |access-date=March 28, 2022}}</ref> As with ''Hit Man'', the film credited Ted Lewis's ''Jack's Return Home'' as its source, not Hodges's film, and again it contains scenes that are directly borrowed from the original, such as the opening train ride.<ref name="Mitchell-10-7-2000">{{cite news |last=Mitchell |first=Elvis |title=Movie Review Get Carter (2000) FILM REVIEW; Slimline Stallone, With a Bruising Touch and a Gentle Mutter |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=980CE5DE153CF934A35753C1A9669C8B63&partner=Rotten%20Tomatoes |access-date=22 February 2012 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=7 October 2000}}</ref> It also uses a [[remix]] of [[Roy Budd]]'s original theme ("Carter Takes a Train"), arranged by [[Tyler Bates]]. Michael Caine appears as Cliff Brumby, in what [[Elvis Mitchell]] described as "a role that will increase regard for the original", speculating that "maybe that was his intention".<ref name="Mitchell-10-7-2000"/> [[Mickey Rourke]] plays the villain Cyrus (instead of 'Eric') Paice. 

The remake was compared unfavourably to the original by the majority of reviewers.<ref>{{cite web |title=Get Carter 2000 critics reviews |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1100569-get_carter/reviews/?sort=rotten |work=Get Carter |publisher=Flixster, Inc. |access-date=22 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131229042917/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1100569-get_carter/reviews/?sort=rotten |archive-date=29 December 2013 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="metacritic">{{cite web |title=Get Carter critic reviews |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/get-carter/critic-reviews |work=Metacritic |access-date=22 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140416201338/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/get-carter/critic-reviews |archive-date=16 April 2014 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref> The consensus opinion of critics on Rotten Tomatoes was that it was "a remake that doesn't approach the standard of the original, ''Get Carter'' will likely leave viewers confused and unsatisfied. Also, reviews are mixed concerning Stallone's acting".<ref>{{cite web|title=Get Carter (2000)|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1100569-get_carter|work=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=20 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419023646/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1100569-get_carter/|archive-date=19 April 2012|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> It was so badly received on its US release that Warner Bros. decided not to give it a UK theatrical release, anticipating the film would be savaged by British critics and fans.<ref name="Chibnall-110-2003">{{cite book |last=Chibnall |first=Steve |title=Get Carter: The British Film Guide 6 |year=2003 |publisher=I.B. Taurus |location=UK |isbn=978-1-86064-910-3 |page=110 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b3uW92r5gB0C&q=casting+carter+steve+chibnall&pg=PA26}}</ref> Elvis Mitchell in ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote "it's so minimally plotted that not only does it lack subtext or context, but it also may be the world's first movie without even a [[Text (literary theory)|text]]".<ref name="Mitchell-10-7-2000" /> Mike Hodges said in 2003 he had still not seen the remake, but was informed by a friend that it was "unspeakable". His son brought him a DVD of the film back from Hong Kong and he tried to watch it, but the [[DVD region code|region format]] was incompatible "so we put it in the dustbin".<ref name="Brooks-2003">{{cite news |last=Brooks |first=Xan |title=So macho: interview with Mike Hodges |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2003/aug/15/edinburghfilmfestival2003.edinburghfilmfestival |newspaper=The Guardian |date=15 August 2003 |access-date=16 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002205752/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2003/aug/15/edinburghfilmfestival2003.edinburghfilmfestival |archive-date=2 October 2013 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref> 

The film was voted the worst remake of all time in 2004 by users of British DVD rental website ScreenSelect (precursor of [[Lovefilm]]).<ref name="worst remake">{{cite news |title=Get Carter is 'worst film remake' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/3969245.stm |access-date=22 February 2012 |publisher=BBC News |date=31 October 2004}}</ref> On 13 February 2001, the remake was released on [[DVD region code#1|Region 1]] DVD by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.<ref>{{cite web |title=Get Carter (2000) |url=https://www.dvdsreleasedates.com/movies/3102/Get-Carter-(2000).html |website=DVDs ReleaseDates |access-date=20 August 2022}}</ref>

==Legacy==
Tom Cox writes that many British filmmakers "have stolen from Hodges without matching the cold, realistic kick" of ''Get Carter''.<ref name=Cox>{{cite news |last=Cox |first=Tom |title=Get Hodges |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/1999/may/28/features.tomcox |access-date=21 February 2012 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=28 May 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140430013245/http://www.theguardian.com/film/1999/may/28/features.tomcox |archive-date=30 April 2014 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Films such as ''[[The Long Good Friday]]'', ''[[Face (1997 film)|Face]]'' and ''[[Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels]]'' borrow from the film's blueprint. [[Steven Soderbergh]]'s 1999 film ''[[The Limey]]'' is a homage to ''Get Carter'' and other British gangster films, and contains similar plot elements and themes of revenge, family and corruption. Soderbergh said he envisioned ''The Limey'' as "''Get Carter'' made by [[Alain Resnais]]".<ref name="Palmer-2011">{{cite book |last=Palmer |first=R. Barton |title=The Philosophy of Stephen Soderbergh |year=2011 |publisher=[[University Press of Kentucky]] |location=USA |isbn=978-0-8131-2662-3 |pages=69–70 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JLEIC9E4YAkC&q=the+limey+get+carter&pg=PA69 |access-date=13 February 2012}}</ref> [[Shane Meadows]]' film ''[[Dead Man's Shoes (2004 film)|Dead Man's Shoes]]'' has also drawn comparisons to ''Get Carter'', being similarly a revenge gangster story set around a provincial English town.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dead Man's Shoes 2004 |url=https://www.empireonline.com/500/8.asp |work=Empire's 500 Greatest Movies of All Time, Empire Magazine |access-date=16 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119170317/http://www.empireonline.com/500/8.asp |archive-date=19 January 2012 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Bennett |first=Ray |title=Dead Man's Shoes at the Venice International Film Festival |work=Hollywood Reporter |date=9 September 2004}}</ref> The production team of the television series ''[[Life on Mars (UK TV series)|Life on Mars]]'' also cited ''Get Carter'' as one of their influences for the programme.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2005/12_december/08/mars_life.shtml|access-date=25 June 2021 |title=A sign of the times: How the Seventies were brought back to life |publisher=BBC |date=12 August 2005}}</ref>

The film's music also enjoyed its own resurgence in popularity, for it tapped into a 1990s interest in vintage film soundtracks. [[Portishead (band)|Portishead]]'s [[Adrian Utley]] explained that they found the music to ''Get Carter'' inspiring because "it was done quickly and cheaply with only a few instruments, and it had to be intensely creative to disguise its limitations".<ref name="Johnson-1999"/> [[The Human League]] 1981 album ''[[Dare (album)|Dare]]'' contains a track covering the ''Get Carter'' theme, although it was only a version of the sparse [[leitmotif]] that opens and closes the film as opposed to the full-blooded [[jazz]] piece that accompanies the train journey. [[Stereolab]] also covers Roy Budd's theme on their 1998 compilation album ''[[Aluminum Tunes]]'', although they call their version "Get Carter", as opposed to its proper title, "Main Theme (Carter Takes A Train)". This Stereolab version was subsequently used as a sample in the song "Got Carter" by 76. The Finnish [[Rock music|rock]] band [[Laika & the Cosmonauts]] cover the film's theme on their 1995 album ''[[The Amazing Colossal Band]]''. BB Davis & the Red Orchidstra released a version of the film's title theme in 1999. [[Jah Wobble]] produced a [[dub version|dub]] cover version of the theme tune in 2009.<ref name="Honigmann-2009">{{cite news|last=David|first=Honigmann|title=Jah Wobble: Get Carter|url=https://www.ft.com/content/1f00e250-e461-11de-a0ea-00144feab49a|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210231223/https://www.ft.com/content/1f00e250-e461-11de-a0ea-00144feab49a#axzz1mN4vKr7q|archive-date=10 December 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|access-date=14 February 2012|newspaper=[[Financial Times]]|date=23 December 2009|quote=This is an arrangement of Roy Budd's theme from the 1971 British gangster film, arranged for Wobble's Chinese Dub orchestra. This is a modern Britain, far removed from Mike Hodges’ monochrome, where tablas patter like rattling trams and Wobble's deep bass rumbles underneath, while the melody is carried on serengi.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Jah Wobble- Get Carter|url=http://jp.juno.co.uk/products/get-carter/371180-01/|work=Juno Records|publisher=juno|access-date=14 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131229104407/http://jp.juno.co.uk/products/get-carter/371180-01/|archive-date=29 December 2013|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Wobble had long been a fan of the bassline of the track, saying in a 2004 interview with ''[[The Independent]]'' that "There are some bass lines that contain the whole mystery of creation within them".<ref name="Wobble, 2004">{{cite news|last=Wobble|first=Jah|title=Jah Wobble: Ten Best Dub Tracks|url=http://www.fodderstompf.com/ARCHIVES/INTERVIEWS/wobdub.html|access-date=14 February 2012|newspaper=The Independent|date=13 August 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120613195329/http://www.fodderstompf.com/ARCHIVES/INTERVIEWS/wobdub.html|archive-date=13 June 2012|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[BFI Top 100 British films]]
*[[List of cult films]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

;Bibliography
* Steve Chibnall: ''Get Carter''. British Film Guides #6. I.B. Taurus, 2003, {{ISBN|978-1-86064-910-3}}.

==Further reading==
* Steve Chibnall & Robert Murphy: ''British Crime Cinema'', Routledge, 1999, {{ISBN|978-0-415-16870-0}}
* Steven Paul Davies: ''Get Carter And Beyond: The Cinema Of Mike Hodges'', Batsford, 2003, {{ISBN|0-7134-8790-9}}
* Douglas Keesey: ''Neo-Noir: Contemporary Film Noir From Chinatown to The Dark Knight'' Kamera Books, 2010, {{ISBN|978-1-84243-311-9}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0067128}}
* {{TCMDb title|2341}}
* {{AFI film|54265}}

{{Mike Hodges}}
{{Jack's Return Home}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1970s British films]]
[[Category:1971 crime thriller films]]
[[Category:1970s English-language films]]
[[Category:1971 directorial debut films]]
[[Category:1971 films]]
[[Category:British crime thriller films]]
[[Category:British films about revenge]]
[[Category:British gangster films]]
[[Category:British neo-noir films]]
[[Category:EMI Films films]]
[[Category:English-language crime thriller films]]
[[Category:Films about dysfunctional families]]
[[Category:Films about murderers]]
[[Category:Films based on British novels]]
[[Category:Films directed by Mike Hodges]]
[[Category:Films scored by Roy Budd]]
[[Category:Films set in Newcastle upon Tyne]]
[[Category:Films shot at EMI-Elstree Studios]]
[[Category:Films shot in County Durham]]
[[Category:Films shot in Northumberland]]
[[Category:Jack Carter]]
[[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films]]