Not unentertaining, but blurred and bizarre. A bewildered Alec Guinness malfunctions in the middle of an off-centre international cast mixture with very little mutual rapport. The relationship between Guinness and his screen daughter Milly was a misalliance. For most of the film I thought she was being played by Britt Ekland. She seemed to have a funny accent. I never figured out what had happened to Alec's screen wife. Next was Burl Ives, blown in from Illinois via Prussia, having seen service in the German army in WWI. This would have been an achievement, since he wasn't born until 1909. I never really understood who shot him, or why. The hyper-gorgeous Maureen O'Hara appeared to be seriously misplaced as a secretary spy from London, and it was difficult to tell what she saw in Guinness, with whom she had no chemistry and whose general ineptness was only too obvious. Although it could also be interpreted, at a stretch, as supremely subtle subterfuge.
Then we had Noel Coward, with his clipped tones, whose brisk and dapper presence stood out like a sore thumb in the sleazy purlieus of Havana. The most memorable comic part of this film was when, in the interests of security, he shut the al fresco door. I've remembered that scene for the last ten years at least. But if this was a comedy, then it was one of the oddest, with three unfunny assassinations, including an attempted poisoning in full daylight at the European Traders Lunch. Which side was the head waiter, Le Mesurier, on, I wonder ? One of the deaths was of a totally innocent air pilot we'd only glimpsed, a hapless victim of Alec's blundering falsehoods, which he got clean away with. Another victim was bundled up and dropped in the gutter outside the vacuum cleaner shop. I don't know what that was supposed to achieve. Who was the enemy, anyway ? It must have been the Russians; it always was in this era. Extraordinary to read that Castro actually attended some of the film's shooting.
The most sympathetic character was the police captain, known as the red vulture, who only tortured people by mutual agreement. In the end he mercifully deported Guinness and his daughter back to London, where they were given their just deserts. Milly was finally seen fondling a white Jaguar. A curious send-up of the phony spy set-up, fully fit to compete with the one who came in from the cold.
Then we had Noel Coward, with his clipped tones, whose brisk and dapper presence stood out like a sore thumb in the sleazy purlieus of Havana. The most memorable comic part of this film was when, in the interests of security, he shut the al fresco door. I've remembered that scene for the last ten years at least. But if this was a comedy, then it was one of the oddest, with three unfunny assassinations, including an attempted poisoning in full daylight at the European Traders Lunch. Which side was the head waiter, Le Mesurier, on, I wonder ? One of the deaths was of a totally innocent air pilot we'd only glimpsed, a hapless victim of Alec's blundering falsehoods, which he got clean away with. Another victim was bundled up and dropped in the gutter outside the vacuum cleaner shop. I don't know what that was supposed to achieve. Who was the enemy, anyway ? It must have been the Russians; it always was in this era. Extraordinary to read that Castro actually attended some of the film's shooting.
The most sympathetic character was the police captain, known as the red vulture, who only tortured people by mutual agreement. In the end he mercifully deported Guinness and his daughter back to London, where they were given their just deserts. Milly was finally seen fondling a white Jaguar. A curious send-up of the phony spy set-up, fully fit to compete with the one who came in from the cold.