Prettier-than-James-Dean wannabe Christopher Jones (from WILD IN THE STREETS as per our poster) and Pia Degermark (from ELVIRA MADIGAN; a film no one’s actually seen but which fans of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 tire of hearing about) are a couple kids on the run after Jones’s international spy mission tanks toward the end of this fumbled adaptation of a lesser John le Carré novel. Under writer/director John Pierson (with a ‘Mod’ film technique more applique than organic), you’re never sure what’s it all about after an undercover agent dies in Finland & a roll of secret film goes missing. For reasons both unexplained and inadequate, recent Eastern Block defector Jones is tasked & trained to sneak back across the border to figure things out and report back. (I think.) Or is he just being set up by various rival agencies on both sides of the East/West divide for a politically convenient fall? Maybe Jones could shed light on that as well. Considering the unusual clarity in recent le Carré adaptations like THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD/’65 and THE DEADLY AFFAIR/’67 , this is a big step back. Purposeful obfuscation is one thing, but this is just too confusing. It lowered filmdom’s interest in le Carré for a decade; till Alec Guinness renewed the brand in TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY/’79. Here, with a strong-on-paper cast, only young Anthony Hopkins, still new to film, makes a connection. Otherwise, disappointing.
WATCH THIS, NOT THAT/LINK: As mentioned above, SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD (holding up well) or the underrated DEADLY AFFAIR. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-deadly-affair-1966.html
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