Stewart Granger's last foray into the spy genre opens with a stripper act where a bullfight film is projected onto a girl's body as she seductively removes her clothing. I can't help but see this as a metaphor for the general attitude of the film in treating women as appliances, or worse. Of Granger's three spy films made in the 60's (the other two being Red Dragon and Target For Killing), this is the most violent and misogynist.
The film wants to be a morality play but the lack of conviction for such things shows through too often to be taken seriously. It's a pretty tight little espionage thriller but the hidden agendas of the filmmakers make it clear we're in the hands of the less capable. What could have been a cynical look at the meaninglessness of politics at this level, and it certainly tries to be that, the film instead reveals itself as a showcase of redneck attitudes and poor judgment. Adding insult to injury is the fact the score by no less than Piero Umiliani is not up to the standard we have come to expect.
The film wants to be a morality play but the lack of conviction for such things shows through too often to be taken seriously. It's a pretty tight little espionage thriller but the hidden agendas of the filmmakers make it clear we're in the hands of the less capable. What could have been a cynical look at the meaninglessness of politics at this level, and it certainly tries to be that, the film instead reveals itself as a showcase of redneck attitudes and poor judgment. Adding insult to injury is the fact the score by no less than Piero Umiliani is not up to the standard we have come to expect.