lunchtime_obooze It's very hard to know what to write about this.Take a seasoned director of taut spy thrillers (Terence Young, responsible for Dr No and From Russia With Love) and pair him with an experienced second-unit chief (Peter Hunt).Take three of the most talented actors of modern times (Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine and Charles Gray).Take a roman a clef about Kim Philby and a fictional return to Britain post-defection and make it in 1983 when spy thrillers were still relevant in a Cold War context.You'd think you'd have a pretty good film. Sadly, you don't.This film is terrible. A lumpen script and corny story is weighed down by an unsympathetic lead (is Michael Caine a goodie or a baddie?), wild overacting from Laurence Olivier (who was far too old to play a spy chief) and confusing plot points (Charles Gray's character has a wig...only Gray has a perfect head of hair and looks ridiculous with his bald cap on).Young clearly slept through the film instead of directing it and the script/plot is very hard to follow. I saw it last night for the second time and it's almost like both versions were cut but in different places...I'm pretty convinced that a third watching wouldn't help. For those who haven't seen it, don't even bother with the first watching. Truly truly awful.

Antonio (noodles-13) Michael Caine and Sir Laurence Olivier are involved in this routine movie (probably rent was due and the fellows were late on payment) which is completely useless. A former British spy who betrayed his own country is sent back from Russia on a mission. But suddenly (well, not so suddenly) the story twists to an unexpected (well, not so unexpected) ending. No actor seems to be interested in what is happening and the Italian dub (above all Olivier) is rather poor. The plot makes little sense and . If you look for a spy movie with Michael Caine, watch "The Ipcress File" or "The fourth protocol",instead. They would be a very much better choice.

Ian Scott I got this movie on DVD from the front of some monthly magazine. As so it only cost me about £3 That was £3 wasted then. In fact I disliked this movie so much I threw the dvd away (kept the box in case a different box breaks).I normally enjoy Caine movies but this seemed so stop-startish. Things went very slowly, then some random tension for no reason only to be cleared up quickly. Hopefully, someone will find the disc I threw out and put it to some decent use, like as a coaster. Poor movie.

gridoon The direction is antiquated (long, boring conversations between two people in underlit offices, as the camera switches from a close-up of one person to a close-up of the other, and so on), and the script is confusing (though it clears up a bit on the second viewing). However, the film is saved EXCLUSIVELY by its cast, and especially by the star chemistry between Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier; the few scenes they share together are the best in the film. Caine pulls off a terrific Russian accent, too. (**)