MovieChat Forums > Sleuth (1972) Discussion > Red jacket and hat

Red jacket and hat

posted 19 years ago by UserToBeAnnounced
26 replies | jump to latest

*****SPOILERS AHEAD******
Why did Milo Tindle (Michael Caine) take the red jacket and hat out of the closet and put it on the coat rack. Is it something I missed, does it have any significance, or mean nothing at all. At first I thought he placed it there on purpose.... why? Because it was a new game. He anticipated Andrew Wyke's reaction and put blanks in the ammo box. When Wyke attempts to shoot him, he is unwittingly using blanks and Milo pretends to be shot with fake blood in mouth etc. With the red coat placed where it was, Wyke would not notice lack of blood, thinking it would end up on the coat and not noticeable. Milo really did call police to arrest Wyke for the previous crime and possibly attempted murder. Milo is still alive and game over. Guess I'm just thinking too much. Either way - anyone know why he purposely took out the red jacket and placed it where he did. I only saw the movie once was unable to review that scene.

[–] hero-de-celluloid 19 years ago

Interesting question and posibility...coincidence it was a blood red jacket??

[–] veiko-vaatmann 17 years ago

It was probably all a game. The red jacket is to obvious to be disregarded as something trivial. It makes the ending more ambivalent and open to interpretation, but not clear-cut by any means. For as you remember Wyke loads the revolver himself and the blanks are very easily recognizable.
But the jacket certainly made the ending for me. It was the annoying thought after the movie, that something is not at all right, not as it seems.

[–] JacquesDemy 17 years ago

Yes, I agree that it is just a trivial thing. Milo wanted to create another dummy in the house, and the red dummy later was showed several times with shots of other dummys or toys. The red color may imply the game has become really "bloody" and the death in the end. Another possible implication to death is the scene that Milo put the clown's head on that skelton. Milo's final death is clear and real, a little stupid and sad though, smart young man like him should make sure Andrew can't get any real bullets this time.

[–] sanniti 17 years ago

I noticed him taking the red coat and putting it on the coat stand(?). At the time I thought he was doing that so he could take it back with him later to Margeurite. Maybe that's want he really intended to do but STILL it bothers me. The movie is so "tight" not a nuance goes out of place. And then this coat. I'm still thinking there's got to be a better reason than just for its symbolic red.

[–] JacquesDemy 17 years ago

Actually the red coat and cap were on the coat rack in the first half of the movie. When Milo entered the house, it immedieately attracted his attention. He watched the coat until Andrew interrupted him. But for unknown reason, when Milo came back two days later, it was hung inside the closet. Probably it implies Milo is a gay who likes wearing drag? ;-) He indeed tried wearing a drag in the basement, right? Or probably it is just a symbol representing himself or his presence(Red is also the color of his Porsche). Anyway, It should have some special meaning, I hope there is a better expalnation about it.

[–] unkka 17 years ago

The dummie-theory is good! It might also be that the film was shortened and a scene was cut.

[–] sydsilver 17 years ago

Wait a second... I am not sure if I am just slow, but I am a little lost on the ending. No one I have talked with caught on that the "bullets" were blanks in the final scene, and that Milo was alive. If he was, and the game was complete, why would he need to talk in such a short, gasping manner? Where can I confirm this?

[–] JacquesDemy 17 years ago

It is just part of his/her explanation for the red coat. He/she probably got misled because they didn't show blood(or a hole) on Milo's back. But I believe the bullet was real and Milo was killed.

[–] martyfrommiami 17 years ago

At the end Milo is definitely DEAD folks.

And the red "jacket" isn't a jacket at all...What Milo hangs up are a red RAINCOAT and RAIN HAT.

As to why he hangs them up...who knows?

[–] supersaw 17 years ago

However there is another thing that no one has mentioned that has been overlooked.
When Doppler drops in after the first game we see a pan of the garden and Milo's red MG buried in the bushes. Now, Milo never refers to the car while he's playing Doppler nor is there any reason for the car to be there as Milo was allowed to go home after the initial game.

As previously mentioned this movie is way too intricate to just have huge details like that without any significance.

[–] DoctorStrangelove 17 years ago

Maybe...

... Milo hid his car in the bushes to implicate Wyke in his own death - on the off chance Wyke actually DID kill him? (Which he did.)

... the raincoat and hat were used by Milo the day before when he dug the grave and left on the rack in connection with the same reason I mentioned above? (But Wyke had put them away when he returned, so Milo had to replace them on the rack.)

Last seen:
Red River - 8/10

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] muffleface (97) 8 months ago

I think showing Milos car hidden in the bushes is another red herring for the audience to originally think that Milo was dead and Andrew had hidden it before the big reveal with Doppler

[–] glenponder 16 years ago

Ive also seen this film many times but only noticed the raincoat scene last night.
maybe the raincoat and hat were mentioned earlier in the film and the scene was cut from the film.
I like to think Milo wasnt killed at the end.Surely when he was placing the shoe and stocking etc he would have come across the box of bullets and replaced them with blanks.

[–] glenponder 16 years ago

ah errm just noticed someones already said the exact same thing

[–] gingerboy 16 years ago

They're possibly just to show a total circle. Tindle wanted to leave Wyke's life and house the same way it was when he entered it. The story is (obviously) originally written as a play, and theatre generally has a great deal more symbolism and subtleties than film.

Saying this, I have however been thinking about Tindle's last words,

"Andrew... Don't forget, be sure and tell them it was just a bloody game."

Now the way this line is said, sounds to me like it is a repetition of a line said earlier in the film (probably said by Wyke) however I can't remember if it was or not. BUT, it almost sounds like Tindle WANTS Wyke to get away with it... Which could mean he put the raincoat there to, firstly, mask the blood, but also make it easy for Wyke to clean it up.

I honestly don't like that explanation, because I much prefer the fact that in death, Tindle has truly won, and (as we saw from earlier in the film) all the previous generations of Tindles have been losers and it "stops with him".

Perhaps dying and knowing that he has beaten Wyke is the only way he can truly feel he's won.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] mnbush 11 years ago

This red raincoat and hat reminded me immediately of Don't Look Now, another film being shot at about this same time. The red slicker was worn by the protagonists' daughter when she drown. Later the father sees a small running figure with the same coat who he pursues throughout the film in hopes that it is his daughter, alive after all.

Coincidence? or significant to Sleuth?

[–] MikeDuncan11 11 years ago

The coat really stuck with me too and I think there might be a good reason for that.

The coat we see, with the hat is what we in Britain might call a 'Mack'. A person who traditionally wears a mack would be a fisherman (albeit a yellow one) and the coat is red....so I don't think it's a huge leap of faith to just see this as a classic 'Red Herring'.

I like the way it opens up the scene to interpretation about whether he is actually dead or not (we see him fall on the coat, and we only see blood around his face and hands) but it seems to fit the red herring thing a bit too perfectly.

[–] seanhantz 11 years ago

The red raincoat and hat are meant to represent Marguerite. Once Milo confesses that he killed her, the absence of the coat becomes significant. At the end, the coat is back out on display to signify that she's still alive.

Oh, so that's what an invisible barrier looks like - Fidgit

[–] aleach26 9 years ago

Milo killed (or claimed to) Thea, not Marguerite...

[–] jspjdmurray 10 years ago

More input on the red jacket and hat, hinting that it was maybe important:

From an interview with director Joseph Mankiewicz, speaking about arranging the props: "Can anyone understand the presence of Marguerite's red coat?"
http://books.google.com/books?id=scIks6TovMEC&pg=PA131&lpg=PA1 31&dq=sleuth+film+red+coat&source=bl&ots=84MahafJOp&si g=9BI97XG7292R43vtgeU_hUCfvcs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=2w8rVJH0K4nLPZ X5gPgO&ved=0CEsQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=sleuth%20film%20red%20coat& amp;f=false