20 Things You Somehow Missed In The Prestige
19. Ahead Of Its Time
During two sequences in the film, both Cutter (Sir Michael Caine) and Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) use small playing cards stuck to the underside of beer glasses to communicate with each other.
One of the difficulties with these scenes is that, on both occasions, the characters are seen drinking from Nonic pint glasses, which were introduced in the 1960s as a method of ensuring that pint glasses did not get chipped or cracked in dishwashers. Given that The Prestige is set in the 1890s, the film therefore presents London pubs as being massively ahead of their time.
However, if these scenes are viewed in the right context, film buffs could choose to regard them as subtle nods to Sir Michael's earlier film career and particularly his breakout starring roles in such classic 1960s films as Zulu (1964), The Ipcress File (1965), and Alfie (1966). That might be a bit of a stretch though.
Had the film used more age-appropriate china beer mugs, the concept of either Cutter or Angier being able to see the playing cards stuck on the underside would have been impossible.