Summary

• Almería nightmare motivated Sir Michael Caine's strict no-work clause for terrible movie locations.
• Classic actor's autobiography recounts horrible filming experiences like "Play Dirty" production in Almería.
• Caine broke his own bad movie rule freezing himself in Alaska for awful Steven Seagal film in the '90s.

Sir Michael Caine is one of the most respected actors ever to star in films, and his autobiography depicts a dreadful movie shooting experience that led to a personal contract rule in his career. To modern audiences, Michael Caine can be recognized best as one of Christopher Nolan's most frequent collaborators, having played vital roles in iconic movies like The Dark Knight, Interstellar, and Inception. However, the 91-year-old actor has worked in the industry since 1950, appearing in over 130 films before announcing his retirement in 2023.

While the British actor has had hits in the 21st century, many of Michael Caine's best movies date back to the 1960s and '70s, including classics like The Man Who Would Be King and The Italian Job. His timeless work as a character actor and star has solidified him as one of the greatest actors of all time, though every great actor has their duds. For Sir Michael Caine, the 1969 war film Play Dirty was one of those duds, as it was released to a mixed response and was regarded as a terrible filming experience.

Michael Caine's Play Dirty Inspired A Clause In His Movie Contracts

The Play Dirty Production Was So Bad He Added A Contract Clause To Not Work In Almería

Play Dirty was a World War II adventure movie that followed Caine as Captain Douglas, an oil executive turned soldier who leads a team to destroy a Nazi fuel depot in North Africa. The film was shot in Almería, Spain, which was apparently such an awful experience that Caine added a clause to his future movie contracts stating he would not work there again. Vowing to never work in an entire region is a serious claim, and his detailed account in his autobiography Raising Caine explains why:

"There are six sand dunes in Almeria... We'd all come round the hill chasing Rommel's tanks - and there's horse shit all over the desert and a stagecoach in the other directions being chased by Indians. The other film units were forever wiping out tank tracks to get their westerns and we were forever shovelling up horse shit and wiping out hoof prints to get our El Alamein."

He further explained the absurd situation in his autobiography What It's All About..., adding, "Sometimes people ask me why films cost so much, and I have often been tempted to tell them these stories. Unbelievable they may seem, but I swear they are all true." There have been plenty of great movies with horrific productions, including all-time classics like Apocalypse Now and Star Wars, but it seems more worth it when the end result is a fantastic work of art.

The 1990s Action Movie That Made Him Break His Rule (And Why)

The '90s Saw Michael Caine In A Desperate Slump, Causing Him To Break His Bad Movie Rule

Michael Caine never returned to Almería, but he did establish "the cardinal rules of bad movies: if you're going to do a bad movie, at least do it in a great location." In an excerpt for Daily Mail, Caine chronicled a slump in his career while he awaited a good script. He eventually caved on a lousy Steven Seagal script for the movie On Deadly Ground, where he declared that he broke his rule by shooting a bad movie in a poor filming location, freezing himself in Alaska for the '90s action movie.

Sources: Daily Mail