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Too much of everything

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Laurence Harvey is assigned to kill a KGB agent who's killed several British agents. But, when he's informed of the man's codename, he panics—because it's actually his codename. He's a double agent! He spends the rest of the movie trying to protect his identity and escape back to Russia without any of his British co-workers suspecting his disloyalty. Along the way, he meets free-spirit Mia Farrow and has a passionless affair with her.I like Laurence Harvey, and I love Mia Farrow, but I was bored to tears with this movie. I could lay blame on the script, pace, or acting, but it's probably a combination of all three. I didn't understand the characters, the pace was uneven, and the acting felt tired. Laurence Harvey never acted like he was truly afraid to be discovered, and if his only motivation was to make it out of the country alive, why even bother with Mia Farrow? It made him even more unlikable to me, since he obviously had no feelings for her. If you have any interest in seeing this movie, pop in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold or any James Bond flick instead.

Dour spy film full of ambiance and interesting scenes, filmed on location in London and Berlin, in color, with an interesting story about a Russian spy who has been infiltrated into the British spying agency for eighteen years and wants to go back home. The twist is that he's done such a good job for the Russians, that the British want him killed. The added twist is that we're led to believe that they (the British) don't know about him (his true identity), and send him to Berlin to kill the Russian mole (himself). Who better to play the part than the intense Laurence Harvey? Combine him with Per Oscarsson as his Russian contact, the two of them both homesick and tired of the existential life of a spy, and both doomed, and you get a pretty brooding picture. Harvey's romance with Mia Farrow doesn't add much, but attempts to put him in some kind of human warmth out of the cold and danger of the spy world. If the film is pretentious, it's because of the Cold War world of espionage that it seeks to portray, Sartre existentialism with touches of Kafka, as well as swinging 60's jet set James Bond scenes, such as a great scene at the German Grand Prix, featuring Tom Courtenay with a rifle disguised as a cane, and the sophisticated and elegant opening theme written by Quincy Jones.

I loved Laurence Harvey in THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE. This is also a good performance. The spy stuff and his relationship with the character played by Tom Courtenay are interesting. Also interesting is the young Peter Cook in a "straight" role ( well sort of). Harvey brought such an air of sadness and despair to this kind of role ( much like his doomed brainwashed pawn in MC). I recall a scene where he is asked about his mother's death ( I believe) and he cannot remember how he felt. The life and emotion were drained out of him to create the perfect double agent. This kind of film was popular in the 60's as an antidote to James Bond and his clones. Others include THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD and THE DEADLY AFFAIR. The great Anthony Mann started this film and was replaced by Harvey when Mann died.

While the story is admittedly somewhat confusing, this is definitely not the disaster that Maltin et al. would have you believe it is. It's got some plot issues, and is in fact a bit baffling by the end, but these weaknesses are far outweighed by the sleek mid-60's visuals, the cool location shots of Berlin, and the whole spy-in-an-atmosphere-of-paranoia-and-dread vibe (ie., like the Prisoner). Definitely worth a rent if you're into spy movies and/or paranoia.p.s. the ever so mod and swinging soundtrack music is by Quincy Jones!