Today was the hardest yet in my attempt to learn something new every day. I spent an hour reading about urban legends in search of an interesting fact, only to discover that 99% of urban legends are made up, which really isn't much of a revelation. I also stumbled upon a website where a group of people are actually learning something new every day as well, which, rather than filling me with a sense of belonging, instead made me feel even more deflated. The first effort that I stumbled upon was that 'vending machines kill more people than sharks'.
Now I'm no academic, and most of my research is, rather shamefully, done via Google, but even the briefest delve into the subject showed me that there really is no information to back this claim up. I'm aware that I have probably already learnt a couple of things that are totally untrue, but that's part of the ongoing plan; the idea is that, as new information gets thin on the ground (which, to be fair, appears to already be happening) I will go back over what I've learned, and contact some 'experts' with the view to proving/disproving my learnings thus far. To be honest, I don't think that other lot are taking it all that seriously.
Anyway, following this disappointment I was left basically staring into the endless white nothingness of the Google search page, trying to think what I could possibly type that would bring a dazzling revelation before my eyes. I tried 'tell me something I don't know' but that led me into a maze of world-weary scientific articles and then attempted, um, 'not a lot of people know that'. Then I began to wonder. Did Michael Caine ever actually say that? It then occurred to me that Caine has a baffling number of other questionable quotes, which I have grouped thus: ones I think he said (at least approximately) - 'you're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!' and 'hold on lads, I've got an idea'; and ones I don't think he said - 'my name is Michael Caine' and 'stop throwing those bloody spears at me'.
Going on the theory that the majority of famous quotes appear to have never been said by the person they are attributed to, I decided that it probably wasn't true. And, lo and behold, I was right:
The phrase 'not a lot of people know that' was coined by Peter Sellers when he impersonated Michael Caine during an appearance on Parkinson.
From here on, the plot thickens somewhat. Now, my original question was whether Michael Caine said it, and the answer is... sort of. He did say 'not many people know that' in Educating Rita, but apparently as an in-joke; The Sun online (I feel dirty) claim that it features in Alfie as 'and not many people know this', but I have actually seen Alfie and don't remember it appearing (the only line I can remember: 'Ere, she's in beautiful condition').
In addition, I can remember buying a trivia book purportedly 'written' by Michael Caine, entitled 'Not Many People Know That', for 10p at a bring-and-buy sale. I remember thinking that on paper, this book was a winner, filled as it was with things that not a lot of people knew. However, I was dubious as to Caine's involvement, as the fact that he may have once said 'not a lot of people know that' in a film didn't really demonstrate expertees in unearthing little-known trivia. How wrong I was. The Sellers quote is based on the fact that Caine does indeed have a thirst for fact, and would often quote verbatim from the Guinness Book of Records. Whatever, he still didn't write that book. Michael Caine's other contributions to the world of literature include 'And Not Many People Know This Either!' (yes it's a spin-off) and a series of biographies, entitled 'What's It All About?', 'Raising Caine', '70 Not Out' and, er, 'Michael Caine: the Autobiography'. So in summary, Caine has had FOUR biographies, and not one of them is entitled either 'Not a Lot of People Know That' OR 'My Name is Michael Caine'. He needs to sack his ghost writer.
So, quite a web of intrigue around a single quote. The Sellers theory is by no means a certainty, but as of now it's the one I personally believe, as it is mentioned in the most places, and the quote is also attributed to Peter Sellers in the form of an answer phone message. As for whether he uttered those other Caineisms: 'doors' - yes; 'idea' - nearly; 'my name' - yes, although I can't find where, apart from in the Madness song, um, 'Michael Caine'; and finally 'spears' - nope. Now that's research. And one more thing to round off an entry so time-consuming and labyrinthine I feel like I might actually turn into Michael Caine myself:
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