Review of Master Stroke

"Master Stroke" begins as a caper movie, continues as a secret agent yarn, and ends up as a combination of the above. While not a great piece of cinema by any means, and running a bit too long, it is carried along by a complicated story with lots of twists and double-twists. Usually when four screenwriters are involved in writing a script it is a bad sign, but in this case the story hangs together and is easy to follow. Richard Harrison and Adolfo Celi lead a solid cast, while the amazingly beautiful Margaret Lee has a peripheral role (but does get to shoot a couple of bad guys). The film is also quite violent by 1960's standards (which means nothing more than a PG-13 today). **1/2 out of 4.