Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

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

Andrei British Intelligence agent John Shay suspects that a security leak caused the collapse of British operations in Vienna. He persuades his girl friend Polly, a secretary at Intelligence headquarters, to allow him access to secret files. The information leads Shay to suspect fellow agent Adam Booth (whose wife, Sarah, has been having an affair with him) of being a double agent for the Soviet Union. Although Shay denounces Booth, his superiors refuse to act on what they believe to be groundless charges, and Shay is suspended from his duties for obtaining the confidential files. Nevertheless, he goes to Istanbul to search for more evidence against Booth; while he is investigating, an attempt is made on his life. With conclusive information from British scientist Philip Crawford, who is also involved with Sarah, Shay then murders Booth and finds a plane ticket to Athens in his pocket. Shay boards the plane, accompanied by Sarah, who is unaware of her husband's death. In Athens, where Shay impersonates Booth, they are captured by Soviet agents and held for an exchange for Crawford. Colonel Scott, CIA agent, rescues Shay and Sarah and reveals that Booth was indeed a double agent being used by the British to transmit false information to the Russians.

robert-temple-1 Sam Wanamaker did a very good job of directing this excellent Cold War spy drama, back in the days when no one imagined the Cold War would ever end. The story is essentially British, so the excuse for using the American star George Peppard in the lead is that 'he grew up in America', hence has the accent. Peppard was always good in these parts as the good guy struggling against the forces of darkness, whether Nazis or Communists. He is romantically involved with the popular ingénue actress of the day, Judy Geeson. Sam must have thought she looked a bit too cute in real life, so he stuck some studious spectacles on her face to give her a bit of gravitas. Judy really was extremely cute, and a very sweet-natured person as well. I met her back then along with her parents and sister, and what a 'cute clan' they all were. They were great art lovers and liked to go to private views, which is how I met them all together like that. They had a particular favourite artist whom they always patronised, but I can't remember who he was. Judy's greatest asset was that lovely look around her eyes, which made her such an irresistible sight for any camera, or any fellow, for that matter. Good old Oscar Homolka is here called upon for the n-th time to play a defecting Russian spy, and does even better than usual. Joan Collins does a good job of acting, playing a difficult and amorous ex-lover (type casting?), and generally Sam could be said to get the best out of his actors because he was one himself, so he knew how to treat them and understood the pressures they were under. This is a rollicking good tale of the times, not as sophisticated and profound as le Carré of course, then then who was? There are the usual deceptions, twists, double-crosses and triple-crosses, all good stuff.

gridoon2018 "The Executioner" opens in an unusual (especially for its time) fashion: with the aftermath of a violent action sequence which will only be seen near the end of the movie; then the story leading up to this is told in long flashbacks. It's a serious, dark spy thriller with lots and lots of plot twists; there is one character who may be a double, a triple, or even a quadruple agent! The main hero, well played by George Peppard, is not a cut-and-dried good guy; in fact, it is suggested that he often lets his feelings cloud his judgment. The supporting cast (yes, even Joan Collins!) is also very good, and Judy Geeson shines as Peppard's quirky, supportive girlfriend. The locations include London, Istanbul, Athens and Corfu, but they're not meant to be glamorous, they're just part of the exhaustive and exhausting spy business. An undeservedly neglected film. *** out of 4.

Jason K A dour little spy thriller which acts as a corrective to the James Bond school of spy movies, and benefits from an excellent performance by George Peppard as an exhausted, stressed out Ango-US agent searching for a mole in British Intelligence (just the one?). The atmosphere of post-swinging London is interesting from a modern standpoint, as is the unusual flashback plot structure.Trivia for Gerry Anderson fans: Both Paul Maxwell (the voice of Steve Zodiac in Fireball XL5) and Peter Dyneley (the voice of Jeff Tracy in Thunderbirds) have quite major roles in The Executioner.