Brit-born, American-raised spy John Shay (Peppard) is dismayed when his undercover operation in Germany goes belly up. On suspension by his superiors, he begins to sense there is a double agent in the mix and believes it is Adam Booth (Keith Michell), a top agent loved by the brass who also happens to be married to Shay's ex Sarah (Joan Collins). The further he digs, the more Shay is convinced that Booth is feeding info to the Russians.
Steeped in a far more realistic world of espionage than the Bond series, this George Peppard vehicle is semi-dull and semi-great. The first hour relies too much on Peppard getting stern talks from his superiors. It doesn't help matters that Shay is quite a chauvinist, shown treating Sarah and current squeeze Polly (Judy Geeson) terribly. Peppard certainly has an on screen presence though. The last 45-minutes redeem the film with a memorable twist (which is, sadly, undermined by a coda that one should ignore if cynical like me) and some great location shooting in Turkey and Greece. Charles Gray (Blofeld in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER) plays one of Shay's superiors.
Steeped in a far more realistic world of espionage than the Bond series, this George Peppard vehicle is semi-dull and semi-great. The first hour relies too much on Peppard getting stern talks from his superiors. It doesn't help matters that Shay is quite a chauvinist, shown treating Sarah and current squeeze Polly (Judy Geeson) terribly. Peppard certainly has an on screen presence though. The last 45-minutes redeem the film with a memorable twist (which is, sadly, undermined by a coda that one should ignore if cynical like me) and some great location shooting in Turkey and Greece. Charles Gray (Blofeld in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER) plays one of Shay's superiors.