During the Cold War, the chief of a British intelligence code-breaking section falls in love with a new employee and shields an old co-worker accused of Communist affiliations from the wrath... Read allDuring the Cold War, the chief of a British intelligence code-breaking section falls in love with a new employee and shields an old co-worker accused of Communist affiliations from the wrath of the security branch.During the Cold War, the chief of a British intelligence code-breaking section falls in love with a new employee and shields an old co-worker accused of Communist affiliations from the wrath of the security branch.
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaOriginally planned as a reunion between the writer (Leo Marks) and the director (Michael Powell) of Peeping Tom (1960), this was inspired by Marks' own wartime career as an ace code-breaker. However, the notoriety of "Peeping Tom" made it hard to get the project off the ground. Powell became connected with American producer Herbert Brodkin during the making of the television series Espionage (1963), and hoped that Brodkin's interest would get this movie made. When it finally was, he and Marks were replaced. Powell had to be content with a producing credit, while Marks was credited solely with the story.
- Quotes
Miss Elliott: [answering the phone] Abbey nine seven double three...
Rebecca Howard: Is there someone there called, Sebastian... oh... Sebastian someone?
Miss Elliott: Mister Sebastian...
Rebecca Howard: I met him in Oxford in the spring and he offered me a job
Miss Elliott: Hold on
Sebastian: [to Sebastian] A girl who says you offered her a job... in the spring
Sebastian: In the spring?
Miss Elliott: At Oxford
Sebastian: Ah! Licence number 66-0-F-Y-H
[he picks up the handset]
Sebastian: Let me smother you in jewels and furs; let me whisk you to Monte in my Mercedes...
Rebecca Howard: What?
Sebastian: ...Let me teach you the meaning of desire
Rebecca Howard: Sounds a bit old-fashioned to me
Sebastian: Yeah, well it is rather an old-fashioned business
Rebecca Howard: What do you do?
Sebastian: [to Miss Elliott] what do we do?
Miss Elliott: [picks up handset] This is Mister Sebastian's personal assistant. We are a more-or-less sane and respectable department of the Civil Service, appearances notwithstanding. Would you like me to arrange an interview?
Rebecca Howard: Civil Service? Good God! No thank you very much
Miss Elliott: [to Sebastian] Well, you've lost her. Is she any good?
Sebastian: Don't know. Can't tell.
Miss Elliott: You've been doing rather a lot of this stuff recently
Sebastian: A lot of what stuff?
Miss Elliott: Gaily irresponsible stuff. This fart-arsing about. It's time you took a proper holiday
This movie is cute without being hilarious. Everyone is good natured, even the authorities who are not good natured. Among its virtues are the lanky, leggy Susannah York, all soft, pink, blond, and utterly beautiful. She looks dusted in talcum powder. Then there is the officious Dirk Bogarde, in his dark suit and umbrella, who hires her as a code breaker for some intelligence apparat in England. York is a whiz at it too, although her talent doesn't impress Bogarde that much. York sees Bogarde as a challenge and sets out to liberate him. It couldn't have been too hard. He had nowhere to go but up, and this is the London of "Blow Up," tastefully psychedelic.
The bossy Bogarde keeps a loose woman, Janet Munro, on the side but York soon seduces him and finds he is reluctantly but undeniably distracted from his blue notebook. It's a bad idea for Bogarde to be mixed up with Susannah York. I should have been mixed up with Susannah York instead of him. Somewhere in the background of all this is Sir John Gielgud, good as ever, simultaneously charming and disdainful, wearing a carefully pressed suit and what appears to be a Crescent tie. He's a delight but I believe his school tie should be Westminster, not Crescent.
Anyway it turns more serious as the Russians enter the picture, and the Americans too. Bogarde is assigned a big decoding job involving a Russian satellite. An incredibly young Donald Sutherland cheerfully plays a recording of the first Russian satellite ever. He claims it's sending Morse code but it's not. I was a radioman in the Coast Guard at the time and had to copy the signals. The thing just went beep beep beep.
Spies manage to lace Bogarde's champagne at one point with acid but it all ends happily. Bogarde also appeared in "Modesty Blaise" somewhere around this time. It made no more sense than "Sebastian" but was probably more fun. It had Bogarde stretched out on the sand, dying of thirst, and moaning, "Champagne . . . champagne." "Sebastian" isn't that absurd.
- rmax304823
- Jun 26, 2016
- How long is Sebastian?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Der mysteriöse Mr. Sebastian
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $1,250,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 40 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1