While recently chatting up Sleuth, Michael Caine also found time to touch upon The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated sequel to Batman Begins. “I’ve seen all the Batman (movies), and I think by a long way Christian is the best Batman I’ve ever seen,” says Caine. “He’s certainly the best actor — a wonderful actor, as he’s proven in Yuma now,
and (even) The Machinist.”

“Batman Begins I thought was the best Batman ever,” Caine continues, “and this one will
be better. And the big surprise out of this one… although it’s called The Dark Knight, with a
K-N, [is] the Joker. There you’ve got the shadow of Jack Nicholson
looming over you, which is incredible performance. But we’ve got Heath
Ledger, who’s gone in a completely and terrifyingly different direction. He’s
extraordinary, he’ll be the big surprise. He’ll frighten the life out
of you. He did me, the first time I saw him, because we did a rehearsal on the
first day, and we hadn’t met or anything, and he had to come up on an elevator
to Batman’s home. And I think I’m letting friends in, but instead he’s killed
them all and he’s coming up in the lift. So on the first rehearsal, he’s coming
up, and he has like seven dwarves with him — like Snow White, only it’s not
like that. When the bloody door opened on the lift, he came tearing out, and I
forgot every line I had.”