When Eight Bells Toll (1971) User Reviews

Another film up to the McLean action standard

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 19 April 2013]

With only a couple of exceptions I've never been disappointed in film adaptions of Alastair McLean's work. As some authors are difficult to translate to the screen, McLean's action novels seem to be ready made for adaption. Just look at some of his work, The Guns Of Navarone, Breakheart Pass, Where Eagles Dare, Ice Station Zebra. I've loved all of them and When Eight Bells Toll came out it joins the list albeit in a more minor vein.

This film gave a young Anthony Hopkins a chance to be an action hero. His character has more of a rebellious streak than James Bond ever did, but he gets results. His assignment is to get to the bottom of a series of ship hijackings, the last one was a freighter carrying a fortune in gold bullion. He's teamed with Corin Redgrave who takes a more cerebral approach to crime fighting.

That however leaves Redgrave dead and Hopkins looking to take down who did it. He himself is almost killed when a helicopter he was in was shot down. All the action takes place in and around the islands of Northern Scotland where the locals seem to be helping the bad guys. And in McLean tradition, just who are the bad guys.

In most of McLean's work there is always a twist or two and which side the players are on is a mystery through much of the film. When Eight Bells Toll is no exception.

Robert Morley plays the spymaster supervisor of Hopkins and is less avuncular than usual. Jack Hawkins is a Greek shipping tycoon with a young trophy wife. As we know Hawkins had lost his voice box to cancer and his last eight or so years he was dubbed. Whoever dubbed him sounded to me remarkably like Alec Guinness.

When Eight Bells Toll is not as good as some of the other McLean inspired films I mentioned before. But it's still a pretty good action film.

Likable and entertaining

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 17 August 2010]

While When Eight Bells Toll is not a masterpiece in my eyes, I myself would hardly call it a dud. Perhaps a little too short, and I do agree that some of the fight scenes leave you wanting more and some scenes such as the wooden boat exploding do make you raise your eyebrows as if to say "just why did they do that?", however there is a huge amount to redeem it.

I have to say When Eight Bells Toll is likable and entertaining for what it is. It has superb location shooting and a rousing score. It has an interesting and exciting plot, brisk pacing, decent direction and sharp and cynical dialogue. It also has the great Anthony Hopkins playing a role atypical to any other he's played. No-nonsense and a hero in a sense, Calvert as a character is very entertaining and likable and Hopkins is exactly that too. Even better is Robert Morley who provides a deliciously comic turn as Calvert's spy-master, while Nathalie Delon is beautiful and luscious as the lovely Charlotte.

Overall, an entertaining film. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Anthony Hopkins deals out death in the Scottish Highlands and foils a ruthless plot in this scenic, slightly confusing thriller

[Terrell-4 · 7/10 · 27 January 2008]

Even at 34 Anthony Hopkins made an unlikely hero for a rousing adventure thriller such as When Eight Bells Toll, based on the book by Alistair Maclean. Hopkins face looks so young, with even a hint of cherubic baby fat. His height and build are only average. And 36 years later it's hard to erase the knowledge of the future Hannibal Lecter, James Stevens, Henry Wilcox and Titus Andronicus, or for that matter much of the dreck he's been appearing in these last few years.

Still, Hopkins carries off the role of Commander Philip Calvert, an agent for British Naval Intelligence, with aplomb. First, Hopkins can act. He's completely assured in a role which sometimes calls for the suspension of belief. His voice is quick and confident. He knows how to underplay. Second, he's physically quick. The role calls for a lot of clambering up and down cliffs, running up staircases and along paths, swimming in a scuba outfit and engaging bad guys in fistfights. There are enough medium shots to see that Hopkins is doing a great deal of the action himself. Third, he's intelligent and gives an intelligent performance.

Why is Calvert doing all this stuff? Because gold bullion is being pirated from ships off the coast of Scotland's western highlands. Calvert, tough, disrespectful of authority, as unintimidated by Naval bureaucracy as he is by killers, is sent in undercover to investigate. What he finds, aided by a young Naval helper (and we know the fate that always awaits young helpers), involves Sir Anthony Skouras (Jack Hawkins), a very rich tycoon on a plush yacht anchored in a stormy loch, Charlotte (Nathalie Delon), introduced as Sir Anthony's young wife, and Lord Charnley (Derek Bond), who appears to be Sir Anthony's great and good friend. Occasionally checking in with Calvert is his boss in London, a fat and seemingly complaisant spymaster called Uncle Albert (Robert Morley). When Calvert, suspicions aroused, requests that Sir Anthony be vetted, Uncle Albert is deeply offended. "He's a member of my club! He's on the wine committee!" In an amusing plot development, Uncle Albert winds up coming to the loch to find out what's really going on. Since by now Calvert's young sidekick (played by a young Corin Redgrave) is no longer with us, Uncle Albert winds up doing a bit of careful violence. Considering Morley's corpulence and often officious roles he usually played, it was a pleasure witnessing his cautious but ready steadfastness.

The search for the gold and for the mastermind takes Philip Calvert through some of Scotland's mistiest, coldest-looking and rockiest sea-swept scenery, from a desolate cemetery and a desperate fight with two goons to deep under water in a scuba outfit and into the bowels of a deliberately sunken ship and another desperate fight, this time with a goon in a diving suit. There's even a flaming helicopter crash into the cold, murky loch waters. Calvert eventually puzzles out the murderous scheme, but not before there are plot twists, turns and roundabouts. Along the way, Calvert deals out death by shooting and knifing, by throwing overboard, by neck cracking, by underwater acetylene torch and even by crossbow. Calvert is not a man to find yourself between him and his objective.

When Eight Bells Toll isn't a great adventure thriller, but within its own limits it's entertaining. Those limits are the same as in most of the many other adventure thrillers by Maclean...headlong plots that don't stop for anything, regular intervals of vivid violence and escapes, unexpected betrayals, loose ends that stay loose, a certain level of confusion about what exactly is happening, minimal significant female involvement and no sex. He wrote the screenplay for this one and often worked on the screenplays for the movies made from his books. Think Ice Station Zebra, The Guns of Navarone, Where Eagles Dare and quite a few others. Personally, I still like his first, HMS Ulysses, published in 1955. He cranked out nearly a book a year until he died in 1987. The last 20 or so, in my opinion, were little more than recycled quickies, predictable and uninteresting.

The one disquieting and poignant note is watching Jack Hawkins, a first-rate actor, as Sir Anthony Skouras. Hawkins was a beefy man with a distinctive, raspy voice. He smoked 60 cigarettes a day at one time. In 1965 surgeons removed his larynx because of cancer. He no longer could speak. Hawkins continued to act until his death in 1973. Charles Gray, a character actor and friend of Hawkins, usually dubbed his voice. Gray provides Hawkins' voice in When Eight Bells Toll.

Eight Bells still strikes the right tone

[FilmFlaneur · 1 July 2004]

In 1971 Diamonds Are Forever was released, marking the end of Connery in the role of the world's favourite secret agent. A two-year hiatus would ensure before Roger Moore assumed the mantle, and to a mixed response from fans. In the meantime When Eight Bells Toll was released, scripted by Alistair MacLean from his own novel, and gave audiences a chance to see a different actor in a similarly adventurous role. Whether or not it was intended as an action 'calling card' for the young star (whose fourth film it was) Eight Bells certainly owes a lot of its inspiration to the 007 series, not least in that its hero Philip Calvert (Anthony Hopkins) is tough, naval officer, a "professional bastard," used to killing in the course of duty, working undercover against some widespread criminal combine. "Under conditions of extreme pressure" we are told, the surly Calvert is "unique". His adventures however, are less so. From Russia With Love (1963) is one visual influence: the helicopter which brings Calvert to his initial briefing drops him off before a building with a distinctive white façade which echoes Rosa Klebb's landing to inspect assassin Robert Shaw, while both films feature the shooting down of one of the same vehicles with a rifle. Elsewhere Calvert's white boat recalls that of Emilio Largo in Thunderball (1965), while the presence of large quantities of bullion at risk brings to mind the acquisitive obsession of Auric Goldfinger.

Eight Bells even has its very own 'M' in the form of Robert Morley, whose crusty 'Uncle Arthur' is a cross between the part famously personified by Bernard Lee and rotund 'Mother' from British TV's The Avengers. The present film also features a memorable sub-Barry score by John Stott, who also worked on Peeping Tom (1960) as well as TV's Dallas and Dynasty. Stott's swaggering larger-than-life theme perfectly suits the matter in hand, and is one of the most striking elements in the opening sequence, the dramatic position of which reminds one of those standalone openings which head up so many Bond movies.

That's not to say that When Eight Bells Toll is so derivative as to be un-enjoyable. Director Etienne Périer made this film, then Zeppelin (1971), in quick succession before disappearing back to France where he is still active, mainly in TV. This is the better of his two British productions: a brisk, no nonsense affair that benefits greatly from a strong cast and some excellent location work. It differs too in that, unlike most of the Bond series, its hero has no gimmicks to fall back on to save his skin. As Calvert punches and struggles against a range of adversaries, he does so without the benefit of the ejector seats and rocket belts which larger budgeted agents found so essential. Bond is a public schoolboy, who is by profession a lucky, sexually rapacious thug. Calvert has no such privileged background, and is viewed by his superior with some disdain as a "bloody fellow... north of England grammar school, working his way through life..." Of course the central irony of the film is that the main villain of the piece is exactly the sort of person that Uncle Arthur welcomes onto the wine committee of his club with open arms, while the insubordinate and independent Calvert proves an essential part of the operation's success.

Calvert's closest friend - and the only genuine relationship he maintains during the film, is Hunslett (Corin Redgrave), a bespectacled intelligence man whose faces a somewhat predictable demise. There's an interesting tone to his early scenes with the hero and friend of over 10 years, as they share onboard accommodation. Codenamed 'Caroline' by London control, Hunslett and Calvert are almost like a married couple, making each other drinks or dressing wounds - a warmth of companionship in contrast to the suspiciously hostile relationship exhibited by Sir Anthony Skouras and his young wife Charlotte. The discovery of Hunslett's body, unexpectedly pulled up with the boat's anchor, provides one of the film's most striking moments, while his disappearance from the scene allows the reassuring display of Calvert's sexuality as he somewhat peremptorily beds Charlotte.

Eight Bells hardly wastes a scene and apparently reflects the dramatic efficiency of the original book. The frequently adapted MacLean was on a roll at this time, having seen his work made into such successful projects as the early Guns Of Navarone (1961), then Ice Station Zebra and Where Eagles Dare (both 1968). The year before had come a near disaster with the problem-beset Puppet On A Chain (1970), but the present film makes a return to a standard of excitement that admirers of the novelist had come to expect. The film shows some sign of tightening up: once or twice Morley's scenes start rather abruptly as if dialogue has been excised, and some of the villainous minor characters are strangely silent throughout (it is odd, for instance, that such a fine supporting actor such as Peter Arne should appear without speaking). Jack Hawkins, struggling with the throat cancer that eventual killed him three years later, makes for a rather pasty-faced Greek millionaire, and Charles Grey may well have dubbed his lines. The only element of glamour in the film comes in the form of Nathalie Delon, who does a game enough job in a role that at one point requires her to take a dip in the freezing waters off Torbay. Her scenes with Hopkins are adequate, but this is a film that has little time for the sexual shenanigans of Bond, (in fact she has to directly proposition the hero while there is no bedroom scene) saving Charlotte's best scene for that at the very end of the film. The sexiest images in the film are stuck on the walls in the shark fisherman's hut, balefully eyed by Calvert, and even the eventual appearance of Charlotte in long white socks and shirt does little to raise the temperature.

With some fine airborne photography as Calvert searches the Scottish coastline for ships as well as some effective settings in and around Torbay harbor, Eight Bells is a film which manages to be very atmospheric on what must have been a modest budget. The cold realism such an approach brings to the story helps it immensely. Hopkins turns in a fine performance as the single-minded Calvert, made even more resonant when one remembers the notoriously hard living the actor was famous for at the time. Those who have only seen Hopkins in later years as the most famous celluloid serial killer will be in interested in this unmannered early role.

Among other highlights is Morley's fussily upper-crusted Uncle Arthur, whose eventual, grudging acceptance of his wayward officer is convincing - and he even makes a fair pass at waving a gun and defending the boat with a timely use of an open hatch. Seen today, the film remains very entertaining while the lack of self-parody and cynicism, common to contemporary action cinema is refreshing.

Not bad, not bad, not good enough.

[doire · 7/10 · 31 January 2002]

A not bad interpretation of an interesting book by thriller writer Alistair Maclean, who has also written the screenplay in this instance. If this adaptation has anything going for it, it must surely be that it at least attempts to keep to the essential essence of the original novel, which was quite a page-turner. So many adaptations based on books by Maclean have been apparently destroyed in the writing or re-writing stage that little sense remains of the original concept. The thrill is often removed from the thriller. The essence of these books have often been hacked to pieces in an attempt to transform them into something cinematic. When things go wrong, it´s Maclean´s name that gets dragged through the mud!. Were this film to be made today, I believe it could be made much better, but still, it is an enjoyable romp made more enjoyable by the pairing of Anthony Hopkins with the luscious Nathalie Delon. Recommended.

Very bond-ish and a proper biscuit from 1971

[OJT · 6/10 · 15 July 2013]

Having trouble in engaging myself in the start of this movie, being a dramatization of the Alistair MacLean novel, it soon grew on me. The funny understatements back at the headquarters I immediately started loving.

On the cover of this Norwegian edition DVD it's stated that MacLean has had18 of his novels made into films. I think this a successful adaption, though over shone by "The guns of Navarone" and "Where eagles dare". That said, it's a pity that his most exiting novel "Night without end" from 1959. Shurely it would be a great film to make even today.

This is very like an 70'ies James Bond-film, where we meet Anthony Hopkins as an agent, not very unlike James Bond. There's even a Bond-girl. He is sent up to a rural part of coastal Scotland, MacLeans native country, to investigate why there are so many ships getting lost up there. He gets to find himself not very well welcome.

I think Robert Morley is magnificent in his role as Uncle Arthur, and so is Anthony Hopkins as agent Philip Calvert, which have naturally bad manners, according to his boss, being born to a lesser class. Uncle Arthur's Lines are hilarious, and much wittier than his equals in James Bond-movies.

Agent Calvert kills off bad guys like puppets on a chain (!), and the film keeps the mystery for a long time, making the ride an interesting one. This tells me Hopkins could have been a great Bond.

The film is very time typical of early 70'ies, and it's a lovely coast and salty water film. You literary smell the salty sea water. It gets more entertaining and exciting as the film proceeds, and I think that it's a great period piece to watch.

Recommended for those enjoying classics!

Bond on a low budget

[winner55 · 7/10 · 19 May 2007]

Recently, I've been commenting on films I haven't seen for years. At my age, It just seems about right to remark films that left decided impressions on me, many years ago.

As one reviewer remarked, this film was released shortly after Sean Connery's last appearance in the original James Bond series, with "Diamonds Are forever". I know of more than one friend who finds "DAF" an entertaining film. I was appalled when I first saw it and I am still appalled, a truly wretched film, and prophetic of the dip in class in the Bond films represented by Roger Moore.

So I was utterly delighted when I saw this film in an old movie-house in my home town a short while later. The experience was so pleasurable, I still remember that it was a snowy night, but not too cold; I remember the original poster advertising the film; and I remember that I felt personally disappointed that so few others were in the audience - the film disappeared within a week.

Hopkins' performance especially made the film memorable. I can still see his walk, how he carried a machine-gun, and his wry, somewhat jaded smile.

Everything about the film is "Bond on a low budget"; and the fact that MacLean actually wrote the script tells me that this was probably intentional - the Bond films, after all, had borrowed heavily from earlier films based on Maclean novels, while at the same time effectively burying them - "The Guns of Navarone" is well-remembered, but only brought out of mothballs for the Turner Movie Channel every now and again, but everyone owns a copy of "Goldfinger".

Yet it is this quality - which I recognized at once on initial viewing - that endeared the film for me forever - Producer Albert Brocolli had turned Bond into a clown; MacLean returned my hero to me as I always imagined him.

I think that says something positive about this one.

Boat James Boat. For all your underwater espionage!

[Coventry · 6/10 · 31 July 2011]

Meet Alistair MacLean's Philip Calvert. He's the Scottish response to Ian Fleming's James Bond and particularly specializes in secret agent assignments at the Irish sea and off the Scottish East coast. Apart from their areas of expertise, Calvert and Bond have quite a few things in common. They're both reckless adventurers with an attitude problem and an aversion towards authority. They're both good with the ladies and don't mind randomly killing a handful of nameless bad guys. Calvert is send out to investigate the disappearances of entire vessels carrying gold bullion. It seems like there's a well-organized crime network active in area, run by an international shipping magnate and relentless enough to kill whoever tries to interfere. "When Eight Bells Toll" is a very decent and entertaining action/adventure movie, just don't expect the same dazzling tempo, ingenious gimmicks or impressive stunts as you would in an actual James Bond film. This is a totally unpretentious action flick with a strong lead performance from Anthony Hopkins (even though he doesn't really have the action hero allures) and various terrific choices of location. The film benefices from excellent photography, courtesy of Arthur Ibbetson, and several of the extended suspense sequences keep you literally on the edge of your seat, like for example the drowning helicopter and the finale inside a watery cave.

Action packed rival to James Bond set in the Scottish Highlands

[mwilson1976 · 5/10 · 1 April 2019]

Anthony Hopkins stars in this 1971 action film directed by Étienne Périer, and based on Alistair MacLean's 1965 novel of the same name. It was supposed to be the first in a series set to rival the James Bond movies, but the film's poor box office receipts scuppered this plan, a pity because it's pretty good. Hopkins plays Philip Calvert, a tough navy secret service agent called in to track down gold bullion smugglers operating out of the sleepy port town of Torbay in the Scottish Highlands. He poses as a marine biologist and encounters hostile locals and a friendly group of shark fishermen who end up helping him on his mission. Jack Hawkins (who's voice is dubbed) plays a Cypriot tycoon and shipping magnate with a yacht called Shangri-La, who everybody suspects is the ringleader of the pirates. Robert Morley is Uncle Arthur, Calverts boss. MacLean elected to adapt his novel for the cinema himself, and the story is very close to the source text, keeping a lot of the same witty dialogue. Hopkins was better known as a stage actor at this point in his career and turned down the role at first because he was worried about being an action star. Bond film stunt arranger Bob Simmons helped him overcome his reservations though, putting him on a diet and getting him to slim down to become a convincing Royal Naval officer trained as a commando and frogman.

" You can't be a real Bastard? It's what I do best! "

[thinker1691 · 7/10 · 25 December 2013]

The surprising writer who wrote this stirring action film is none other than Alstair Maclean and was later directed by Etienne Perier. What will be surprising is the selected star of the movie, Anthony Hopkins. That's right, SIR Anthony Hopkins. He plays Philip Calvert, a Royal Navy Officer who fits right in every element selected. For instance, he's at home underwater, in Scuba tanks, flying about in Helicopters, steering yachts or confront thugs with guns, knives or harpoons. His commanding officer is Robert Morley who'd like more respect from his rebellious underling, but receives little. The Maclean story has him trailing a group of vicious modern day pirates who will stop at nothing to secure a stolen shipment of Gold Bullion. The movie is fraught with exciting gunfire scenes, high explosions, physical confrontations, shootings, and innocent killings, many stem from the novel. In almost a Bond type film, Sir Calvert does encourage the audience to think of our hero as a spy. Unusual for Hopkin, but nevertheless, he performs convincingly and is insured by his cast members which include Jack Hawkins and Robert Morley. All in all, this is one film which should allow audiences to believe that young Hopkins could and did establish himself as a man of action. Recommended to all his fans. ****

James Bond for a more thoughtful audience

[filmalamosa · 3/10 · 5 October 2012]

James Bond like action thriller with evil villain. A young handsome Anthony Hopkins is sent to investigate the pirating of ships transporting gold.

A Scottish Island has been taken over by a villain using hostages. Gold containing boats are sunk and the gold removed later--it is thus stored 14 fathoms under water until transport can be arranged.

The scenery is beautiful. To me it was a more suspenseful intelligent story than Bond movies which after all are all about gizmos exploding fountain pens and so forth and always end in tiresome raids involving hundreds of men.

Hopkins is a much more human Bond character --- Moorely the head spy you are unable to take too seriously. Both persona differences some how work against this genre? The genre as I see it in the original Bond movies is meant to be so outrageous (there can be zero hint of intentional comedy) as to be funny.

Still I highly recommend this--Bond? for a more thoughtful audience?

RECOMMEND

Nostalgia being what it used to be...

[bushtony · 8/10 · 8 March 2010]

Hopkins could have been Bond and I think he'd have made a good one. In fact, a review at the time of his performance in When Eight Bells Toll proclaimed he played his character Calvert in a way that "made James Bond look like a lounge lizard." The film is a fondly remembered actioner from my childhood (well, early teens). Although there's no way in which the pyrotechnics on show could bear realistic comparison with the CGI-dominated eye-candy extravagance of today's equivalents (witness the studio bound finale in the boat house if you really need convincing), it remains a brisk, fun way to idle away the best part of two hours.

The script is sharp, the dialogue cynical, the action belts along nicely - and Robert Morely's Whitehall mandarin thrust into the field is an eccentric delight. Nathalie Delon (whatever happened to her?) is an icy femme fatale who couldn't act to save her life (or anyone elses) and Jack Hawkins, who had throat cancer, is voiced by Charles Gray. Jack's lip-synching is well-duff to say the least. He's almost a good five minutes behind. Add Old Vic stalwart Corin Redgrave as Calvert's pragmatism-challenged sidekick and you have a recipe for some top fun.

The plot (McGuffin) is some nonsense about missing bullion ships, but it's no more than a hook to hang the action on. For me, this is a case of nostalgia most certainly being what it used to be. I just love it.

For anyone who likes the early seventies Bond movies, it's almost an essential accoutrement.

Right, next stops on the Alistair MacLean '70s movie DVD trail - Fear Is The Key, Caravan To Vaccares and the sublime Puppet On A Chain.

Scotch Mist and Hits

[Lejink · 7/10 · 1 January 2019]

Another of those long-forgotten Alistair McLean paperbacks I devoured as a boy, this movie dramatisation wasn't the navy lark I half-expected from the title. Instead, it's a routine, if tidily efficient modern-day thriller with a young Anthony Hopkins as a maverick Government agent tasked with finding out why a series of boats carrying gold bullion are disappearing off the west coast of Scotland.

While you can't quite imagine Hopkins as a budding James Bond, in fact for the opening action sequences he's more like the Man from Milk Tray older TV viewers might remember, once he settles into the part, he's a more than capable action hero, with that little bit of extra added intensity which later became his hallmark.

As main support he's surrounded by the experienced Robert Morley as his nagging, bumptious boss, a fish out of water when out in the field and Jack Hawkins as the titled lord inveigled into events beyond his control. There are plenty of action sequences, in the air, on the ground and underwater, a lot of fisticuffs and random killings and a big shoot-em-up finale plus naturally time for Hopkins to bed the gangster's moll.

Being a Scot, I was quite at home seeing the grey, grainy locations and hearing identifiable local accents. Of course there's some leftover chauvinism of the time to be contended with, especially when Hopkins encourages the young daughter of the house to wantonly flaunt herself as a distraction to one of the heavies, but on the whole this was a good old fashioned very British actioner which capably filled its 90 minute running time.

A great story, a bad film - great candidate for a remake!

[tord-1 · 5/10 · 5 May 2007]

While adaptation of Alistair MacLean's books been popular few have been successful, and this is one of the less successful.

Even with a great script (screenplay by MacLean) the film just doesn't take off, not least due to the fights and in various dark surroundings, where you really can't tell what is supposed to happen.

Anthony Hopkins as the undercover man, and Corin Redgrave as his clumsy pal, works great, less sure about the bad guys. Robert Morley, as Hopkin's boss, is marvelous, and Leon Collins, as the shark fisherman, not bad at all.

So great script, nice scenes from around Skye & Torbay, from the water, from the air and from land, buy much of the lighting and cinematography stinks! A film perfect for a remake!

Good yarn

[ulysess1966 · 23 May 2002]

I love this film, because I think it is pretty true to McClean's book and Calvert is suitably downmarket to be a more believable agent than James Bond ever could be. The scenery is fantastic and the diving scenes are good too. I also have to say that I love the theme music and wish I could get it on CD!

When Bond takes a vacation.

[CuriosityKilledShawn · 6/10 · 15 May 2009]

Between OHMSS in 1969 and Diamonds are Forever in 1971 there was a chance that Bond would be retiring for good. The Rank Film Corporation figured that Alistair MacLean's maverick secret agent Philip Calvert would be the best to take his place.

Obviously that didn't work out. Bond continued to prosper while Calvert faded into obscurity. You shouldn't count him out completely though as there is plenty of rugged and gritty thrills here in the vain of cold war thrillers that the high-key and glossy Bond films lack.

However, a cold war villain or a madman wishing to take over the world ain't the antagonists here. A bunch of thugs hijacking ships and hiding out in a lonely port in the highlands are Calvert's enemies. Though I don't really care about such low-octane crimes and I failed to connect with the plot.

Despite a touch of humour, some unusual scenery and the occasional tough guy moment there's just not enough of W8BT to get into. The film is over in 90 minutes and feels a bit rushed. I think it would have befitted considerably from a slower pace and an extra twenty minutes.

Still, it's fun to see a young Anthony Hopkins doing the action hero thing, even if I have do damn clue what the title means.

Perhaps there was a second echelon British intelligence?

[SimonJack · 6/10 · 22 November 2018]

"When Eight Bells Toll" is an early look at British actor Anthony Hopkins. The 34-year-old actor began his career on stage and then started in television, appearing in two different series from 1960 through 1965. His first movie was one made for TV in 1967. He got his big break and the doors opened to stardom when he got the role of Richard the Lion-Hearted in the 1968 movie, "The Lion in Winter," with Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn.

For his many fine roles, Hopkins has received several acting nominations. He has won an Oscar, three BAFTA awards, and two Emmys. He hasn't won a Golden Globe, although he was nominated six times. Still, for all of his acting ability, Hopkins doesn't strike one as the James Bond type. Certainly not for playing a James Bond role.

And that's precisely what he is in this film. Hopkins plays Philip Calvert of British intelligence. Like Bond, he is a commander in the royal navy. He scales a cliff, hangs from a helicopter for a short time, and does scuba diving. There's nothing two strenuous or nail biting about any of these. And, his couple of episodes with fisticuffs are hardly convincing. Still, he adds a little humor to some situations, as James Bond is wont to do.

Robert Morley and Jack Hawkins have supporting roles, but there's nothing special about their characters. Nor is there for any of the rest of the cast. If anything, Morley's grossly exaggerated raised nose and silly persona might almost be taken as a real slam on the British secret service. Indeed, it seems to be run on a shoestring, with hardly any staff. The whole movie has that air about it, as having been a B production, with no frills.

Still, the story is mildly interesting, and the movie has some nice coastal scenery of Scotland. This isn't a movie anyone should rush out to buy, even at a cut-rate sale. But, if it happens to play on TV, it's worth a watch.

A young Anthony Hopkins stars a suspense and thriller film with lots of entertainment and noisy action

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 3 September 2020]

Based on the novel by Alistair MacLean , the picture contains comic-strip adventure , sensational pursuits , adventurous set pieces , great stunts , frantic unstopped action , stimulating images and breathtaking fights . Anthony Hopkins is secret agent Philip Calvert in a thriller in similar style to the James Bond movies . Concerning British Agent Philip Calvert (Sir Anthony Hopkins) is tasked by his chief Sir Arthur Artford Jones 'Uncle Arthur' (Robert Morley) on a mission to determine the whereabouts of a ship that disappeared near the coast of Scotland in which was robbed gold bullion . He races against time to prevent a hateful scheme and thwart the plans of cunning , detestable baddies (Ferdy Mayne , Jack Hawkins) . Danger runs deeper than the sea bed ! .From the author of "The Guns of Navarone" and "Where Eagles Dare"¡

The film gets a magnificent creation of suspense , spectacular chases , the overwhelming scenes , thriller , including some exciting and well staged underwater as well as aerial images with a helicopter and its subsequent crash on the sea . It's an acceptable picture though some confusing , being well produced with budget enough and shot in Pinewood studies . A first-rate cast with a valiant and sympathetic agent well incarnated by Anthony Hopkins accompanied by a great support cast . Here our agent Philip Carvert/Hopkins confronts two masterminds and hoodlums around Scotland in a vein similar to 007 series . This solid , slick thriller with magic mix of action-packed , dazzling stunt, and a brief romance provided by sexy company as Nathalie Delon . Over-the-top Anthony Hopkins is very fine , he does remarkably well , he has toughness , irony , humor and sympathy , however also has coldness ,cunning , intelligence and roughness . Based on a novel by bestselling writer Alistair McLean . Other films based on his novels are the following ones : ¨Force 10 Navarone¨, ¨ Guns of Navarone ¨, ¨ Puppet on chain ¨, ¨ When the eagles dare ¨ , ¨Operation Polar Zebra¨ , ¨Station 3 Ultrasecret¨ and ¨Breakheart pass¨ , among others . This British film packs habitual combination included on his books , as foolish as well as terrible dialogue , moving action , breathtaking locations and colorful characters . Support cast is pretty good delivering fine interpretations , such as : Corin Redgrave , Derek Bond , Maurice Roëves , special mention for Robert Morley who steals the show , and of course , the two top-notch devious villains as Jack Hawkins dubbed by Charles Gray and Ferdy Mayne.

Rousing musical score by Angela Morley as Walter Stott with extraordinary leitmotif. Colorful and brilliant cinematography by Arthur Ibbetson . Shot on location in Brown's ironmongers shop, Tobermory, Mull, Argyll and Bute, Duart Castle, Mull, Argyll and Bute, Fingal's Cave, Staffa, Argyll and Bute,Scotland Scotland, UK and Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England . The motion picture was professionally directed by Etienne Périer though it has some flaws and failures . He was a director and writer who directed all kinds of genres , being known for Bridge to the sun (1961), Meurtre en 45 tours (1960) and Un si joli village (1979), La part du feu, L a main à couper , Boys and Girls , Louisiana , Maigret , The Day the Hot Line Got Hot and his best film was the thrilling Zeppelin (1971) . Rating : 6/10 . Acceptable and passable . The pic will appeal to Anthony Hopkins fans . Well worth seeing.

A Good Attempt To Cash In

[boblipton · 6/10 · 11 January 2024]

When ships go missing off the coast of Scotland, the Royal Navy, in the person of Robert Morley, calls in expert frogman and espionage agent Anthony Hopkins.

With Ian Fleming saying he would write no more James Bond novels, producers saw an opportunity and bought a novel off Alistair MacLean, cast Hopkins and tried to replicate the Bondian magic. The fingerprints are all over the place, with Walter Stott's score filled with stings that sound a lot like those in Bond movies. Hopkins slimmed down for the role, and does a pretty good job, and Arthur Ibbetson's lighting and set-ups are excellent. The problem is that MacLean's plots tend to be more opaque than the campy brightness of the Bond series. Also, one of the producers claimed the American botched the job; another case of success having a thousand fathers, while failure is an orphan. Sequels, originally hoped for never came off, and everyone went on to the next job. With Jack Hawkins, Corin Redgrave, Ferdy Mayne, and Nathalie Delon as the inevitable bedmate.

Hard to fault, but this film just did not click

[bbhlthph · 5/10 · 12 August 2004]

During the period since long distance travel became much more widespread in the 1950's, paperback thriller novels have become an increasingly important part of newly published friction. Before any long journey, we go into the bookstall in the airport, railway station or bus station from which we are departing and choose a paperback to keep us occupied during our journey. In many cases the choice is a thriller which is discarded on our return home. But before this how often have we seen a page at the end saying something like "Now to become a major motion picture starring.........." The coupling of paperback and movie versions of new thrillers has become increasingly important during recent decades. Over the years old writers have retired and new writers have built big reputations, but the process is ongoing. As soon as a successful new thriller appears in the bookstalls, movie studios compete to buy up the film rights. Not all the books for which film rights have been purchased actually finish up as movies but many of them do; so we now have movies, readily available for home viewing, which are based on novels from such highly respected writers of thrillers as Hammond Innes, Alistair MacLean, Tom Clancy and many others. In total these constitute a significant portion of the new movies that are now released each year. Alistair MacLean is credited by IMDb with 17 novels which have been filmed for either the cinema or television. It is reported that he was unhappy with the screenplay written for the earlier movies made from his novels and insisted on participating in writing the screenplay for all the later ones. "When Eight Bells Toll" was one of the movies for which he receives credits as both the author of the book and the writer of the screenplay. It is very interesting to find that several IMDb users have still been sharply critical of this film on the basis that much of it is too slow and spends too long in character development, leaving the action sequences too short and too far apart for the viewers interest to be fully maintained. In general I am not an enthusiast for movies made from thriller novels, which are usually a hybrid of who-dun-it and action sequences - the latter generally seem to involve gun battles or more basic hand to hand combats that are usually unpleasantly noisy, digitally enhanced to the point where they appear highly improbable, and far too lengthy in duration. I find that the prominence given to the shoot-out action sequences in such movies usually means that there is no time for gradually revealing the complexities of character that made the original novel interesting. In contrast to most of the other IMDb users who have commented on this film, this would be my chief criticism of "When Eight Bells Toll"; so my comments, or rating, would appear to be of little value to readers who have a different appreciation for this type of film.

For me the most enjoyable parts of this film were the splendid photography of the Scottish west coast scenery, and some evocative sequences involving small craft handling which brought back many memories. Somehow the story never clicked although this film has a great cast and some very taut dialogue. I particularly enjoyed the interplay of character between Anthony Hopkins playing a very dour investigator, Corin Redgrave playing his sidekick, and Robert Morley who gives a great performance as their superior officer. Aided by its sharp, realistic and down to earth dialogue, most of the film was quite readily believable but unfortunately I did not find the final shootout in a concealed rocky inlet very convincing. As a film I would rate it somewhere in the middle of the scale, as a reasonably competent pot-boiler but no more. I am a great fan of Alastair MacLean's novels, but will not be rushing out to buy a videotape or DVD of any of the others that I have read, even if he was responsible for the screenplay himself.

Lesser-known Alistair Maclean

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 13 September 2019]

WHEN EIGHT BELLS TOLL is one of the lesser-known Alistair Maclean novel adaptations out there, and that's purely because it looks and feels rather insignificant when compared to the real classics of the genre like WHERE EAGLES DARE or THE GUNS OF NAVARONE. A cast-against-type Anthony Hopkins plays a gruff special agent on the track of a criminal mastermind who's been bumping off British agents, and the setting is a watery one with lots of diving and action on and beneath the waves. It's lively stuff and provides a neat contrast to Bond by emphasising realism over style. Hopkins is good value but his thunder is stolen a little by a pitch-perfect Robert Morley who is a hoot as the comedy relief.

When Eight Bells Toll

[Prismark10 · 3/10 · 8 September 2021]

Alistair MacLean's When Eight Bells Toll was an early attempt to turn Anthony Hopkins into an action hero.

Just imagine there is a parallel universe where Hopkins became James Bond after Sean Connery departed from Diamonds are Forever.

It also means Roger Moore played Hannibal Lecter. You can raise an eyebrow to that thought.

Hopkins plays Philip Calvert, the rebellious British Navy intelligence agent who is sent on a mission to search for a hijacked boat carrying gold bullion off the coast of Scotland.

Calvert soon finds that the two men aiding him in the mission. Chosen by his snobby boss Sir Arthur Arnold-Jones (Robert Morley) have been killed.

MacLean who had a booze problem adapted his book. Unfortunately this is a murky incomprehensible screenplay with an awful ending. Maybe he tried too hard to make it look like a Bond film.

From the opening scenes the music is an assault on the eardrums. The direction is flat and listless. The villains are dull with a nonsense plan.

The film is as grey as the Scottish weather. Hopkins is an unconvincing action hero. Eating people is more his type of thing.

Unpretentious and entertaining

[vaughan-birbeck · 8/10 · 13 June 2005]

I saw this at the cinema when it was first released. I was nine at the time and I notice the DVD has now been released with a '15' certificate. Oh, well. I suppose there are some scenes (helpless men shot from a boat as 'payback' for a dead colleague, a very graphic harpooning) that are best not seen by children. In 1971 it just seemed very exciting (and had an 'A' certificate).

I enjoyed the film when I first saw it and while it seems rather dated now, I think it's still worth viewing. It sets out to provide escapist entertainment and on that level it succeeds. My memories of seeing the film 34 years ago (help!) was of the waves crashing against huge black cliffs and *feeling* the cold dampness of North-West Scotland on the edge of the Atlantic. The locations are very well used indeed, the viewer gets a real sense of place.

The cast perform their roles well, Anthony Hopkins and Robert Morley particularly playing mutual antagonism with some nice comic touches.

One reviewer mentioned that Charles Gray's dubbing of Jack Hawkins's voice seemed a bit slapdash. When Charles Gray was interviewed about dubbing Hawkins (which he did quite regularly after the mid-60's) he said that Hawkins insisted on *speaking* his lines even after his voice was gone. The result was to make his delivery very erratic and therefore difficult to voice-over. Jack Hawkins was one of the best actors we've had (Cruel Sea, Bridge on the River Kwai, Ben-Hur, Lawrence of Arabia, etc., etc.) and these supporting roles made a rather sad postscript to his career.

When Eight Bells Toll

[henry8-3 · 7/10 · 8 March 2019]

Anthony Hopkins is rough naval agent type sent to work out what's going on with a missing ship off Scotland.

Hopkins is good in his first lead role as the touch guy agent. It's a goodscript, plenty of convincing action scenes, with Robert Morley wonderful as an upper class M that joins in with the fun.

Enjoyable stuff, shame it flopped as more were planned apparently

With eight, you get gold bars.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 30 March 2023]

Some great underwater action sequences and clever reporte between Anthony Hopkins and Robert Morley are the highlights of this Bond like thriller based upon Alastair Maclean's novel. You've got all the elements of what made Bond so popular, but as much as I like him, I'd never think of Anthony Hopkins as a substitute for Sean Connery or even George Lazenby, the two Bond's up to this point. Hopkins had a respectable reputation by this point, but he hadn't yet established a screen image that would characterize him for these types of parts. His interactions with boss Morley are like something out of a Noel Coward play and are amazingly witty and full of surprises.

In additional support are Jack Hawkins, commanding as ever as owner of the classy yacht the Shangri-La, desperate to find its lost horizon of stolen gold bullion. As his exotic, younger wife, Nathalie Delon basically falls into the pit of the many other exotic European femme fatales caught up in these convoluted plots. Not bad or great, just obviously not worthy of a series, and when film fans discuss Bond ripoffs or Hopkins films, it's not surprising that this one isn't mentioned. Still an okay time filler, but the wrong choice of a leading man meant that it wouldn't have the shelf life that 007 did.