It was somewhat of a feature of the late 1960s to make bleak and world weary spy movies. This film is in this mould.
The 1960s, for want of a better word, "vomited" knock-off spy thrillers in the wake of the success of the James Bond films with Sean Connery. Such titles included: Daniel Mann's Our Man Flint (1965) Ralph Thomas's Deadlier Than The Male (1967) and David Miller's Hammerhead (1968), to name but a few.
Very entertaining late 60's Cold War romp through Britain and Germany. Excellent realism (Russian agent heroin user who longs for home simultaneously with the next hit!
"I do believe that you two would have got on well together," Tom Courtenay as a stuffy and cautious, cold-blooded British agent named Gaitiss tells Mia Farrow's flaky model Caroline after she beds Laurence Harvey, a far more sympathetic agent that we think is named Alexander Eberlin. "You haven't got a past, and he hasn't got a future.
This is the last film directed by Anthony Mann, whose 'Raw Deal' (1948) was the perfect noir film, and who was a man of immense talent. But he died while shooting this, and Larry Harvey finished the job.
Laurence Harvey is assigned to kill a KGB agent who's killed several British agents. But, when he's informed of the man's codename, he panics—because it's actually his codename.
This is the last movie by a man who gave some of the best westerns ever made.After "Cimarron" (1960) ,he went to make epics ,the first of which ("El Cid" ) stands as his most sustained work in the sixties.
Mia Farrow made this one about the same time as Rosemary's Baby...this one is MUCH more low key...
I won't go into much detail as I don't disagree with many of the negative comments cast here, but overall this is an eminently watchable film- I've seen it perhaps 6 times. I like the quirky off balance, alternating dark and light nature (but then again I loved Fay Grim and other flawed gems).
_1.jpg)
