David Hemmings was one of the elite. Very much a part of his time and as Charlie Muffin he was stellar! Loved him also in Fragment of Fear and Blow-Up!
Amazing gifted actor in a perfect role for him. Like peter falk in Columbo. wish they had few season of this show. It has the same flavor as Alec Guinness's Smileys people and thinker Taylor...
The park in Prague where David Hemmings and Pinkas Brown discuss the getaway was filmed in Baden bei Wien, Austria. I recognised the "Undine-Fountaine", still a sight seeing point there. I used to live just a block around in this time :-)
It would have been difficult to get permission to film in Prague during the cold war...especially for a film about the Intelligence agencies at the forefront of the conflict.
First 5 minutes of this could have made a good ad for Clarks Shoes... Rest of it was surprisingly good, one of Euston Films better efforts. David Hemmings was always brilliant whatever he was in
Missed this on TV; couldn't find a copy, so bought the book. Thought the twist was brilliant and unlike any other. Glad to have finally stumbled on this and have enjoyed it it immensely. British snobbism has a lot to answer for - in reality too! Many thanks fgs...
I remember seeing this on TV as a teenager on ITV. This film is a reminder of how TV in the 80s and early 90s was really GOOD. This movie was a perfect example. Great actors, great script, and decent production values.
I saw this when it was shown on ITV around late 1979/early1980. I was only 15 at the time, but thought it was excellent. Charlie is depised by his superiors and colleagues not just for being from the "wrong" background, but also because is he a better, more capable and insightful agent than the upper class twits and toffs he has to work with. I hadn't seen it since then, and don't know if it was ever shown on UK tv again, so it was great to find it here and watch it again. Obviously the world has changed massively since this was made in the late 1970s, in terms of political and social landscape, technology etc, but it remains a captivating and engrossing film, with Hemmings playing the part in an understated, low key manner. James Bond it isn't, and it's all the better for it as it gives a perhaps more accurate glimpse of what the world of espionage was like, at least in terms of the era it is set in. Pity this film isn't more widely known.
I saw this on cable when it first came out. It's a fun British take on the spy business. Lots of British class conflict, an irreverent British take on management. We miss David Hemmings.
Curios película. No es que me haya gustado, pero me atrapó la trama, supongo que son las actuaciones, no se si sean geniales pero me llamaron la atención. una mirada diferente del espionaje: dobles traiciones, y más diálogo que acción. Además, se pasan más tiempo hablando de como obtener dinero del espionaje que otra cosa.
there are a few versions of this movie, the main idea is that the guy at the low end of the working food chain, had better be smarter than he "looks", as judged by the shoes impression. A very clever movie, to be sure.
Mrs Richards: "I paid for a room with a view !" Basil: (pointing to the lovely view) "That is Torquay, Madam." Mrs Richards: "It's not good enough!" Basil: "May I ask what you were expecting to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically past?..." Mrs Richards: "Don't be silly! I expect to be able to see the sea!" Basil: "You can see the sea, it's over there between the land and the sky." Mrs Richards: "I'm not satisfied. But I shall stay. But I expect a reduction." Basil: "Why?! Because Krakatoa's not erupting at the moment?
