The Double Man (1968)

Sorry, this movie sucks

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

The film has suspense , tension , emotion , mystery and specially in its final a little bit of violence . Following the death of his son , in the Austrian Alps , ¨The Key Man¨ , a high ranking officer in the CIA called Dan Slater (Yul Brynner) , has to face off the most daring plot ever concocted by the secret agents of two worlds : East and West , during the Cold War . In Austria he decides to investigate and step by step finds out that the death of his son was no a skiing accident . A retired , prior undercover operative , Frank Wheatley (Clive Revill) , whom he had hoped would watch out for his son helps Dan seeks out the real killers . By the way , Dan meets socialite Gina (Britt Ekland , though Ulla Jacobsson was offered first this role) , the companion of rich and mature Mrs. Carrington (Moira Lister) , who puts him on the alright trails o perhaps fake clues . Eventually , rare inconsistencies begin appearing leading Dan to conclude that Russian secret service led by Col. Berthold (Anton Diffring) attempting a mysterious kidnapping . Suspenseful movie packs thrills , intrigue , frantic action , twists and turns . This complex piece of espionage is notable for its snow-capped scenery and its thrilling intrigue from start to finish . Interesting as well as amusing screenplay from Alfred Hayes and Frank Tarloff based on Henry Maxfield's novel titled "Legacy of a Spy". However , the movie's script was similar to the then recently released Spy with my face (1965) and its TV counter-part The agent of T.I.A. : The Double Affair (1964) . Although the picture has various ingredients for entertainment , the screenplay is also complex , including inexplicable incidents , the plot has gaps , in spite of it results to be pretty fun . Nice acting by Yul Brynner as cold and emotion-less agent , a top-notch performance who steals the show and gorgeous Britt Ekland's first major movie role . Support cast is pretty good such as Lloyd Nolan as Major Edwards who assigns him the dangerous mission , Clive Revill as undercover agent , Moira Lister as wealthy Mistress and Brandon Brady as Russian agent . Special mention for Anton Diffring in his ordinary German face and cool , clipped diction , as he replaced an actor who dropped out ; here Anton plays magnificently a Russian operative who attempts to substitute starring with a double of its own in order to obtain a mole in the highest echelons of the CIA agency . Diffring was a character actor who worked continuously in movies due to his aristocratic style , making him ideal for typecasting in British and later American films as Nazis and other vile , despicable roles , what was ironic about his typecasting as a Nazi is that he fled Nazi Germany in 1939 .Lively and enjoyable musical score by Ernie Freeman , including catching sounds throughout . Colorful cinematography by Dennis Coop , shot on location in wonderful outdoors as the mountain range vista seen in the film is the Tyrolean Alps situated in the state of Tyrol in western Austria . Good aerial scenes and spectacular snowy landscapes carried out by the late aerial cameraman John Jordan who died whilst working on Catch 22 (1970) . It was released before the snow-laden James Bond movie On her Majesty's secret service (1969), Jordan worked on both these spy movies . Lavishly produced by Hal E Chester , he was a juvenile actor , then a producer of low-budget movies in Hollywood, before he moved in 1955 to Britain, where he set up his own production company to take advantage of the lower costs of filming ; over the next 15 years he turned out a wide range of pictures, which often featured American stars such as Mickey Rooney, Dana Andrews, Paul Newman and Yul Brynner . The picture was well directed by Franklin J. Schaffner . He made excellent motion pictures such as "The Planet of the Apes", "Patton, " "Papillon" , ¨"Nicholas and Alexandra" , after the flop of his film titled " Islands in the Stream ", in which went on to coincide with the actor of "Patton" , George C. Scott , he decided to embark on a project more commercial and successful as "The Boys From Brazil" ; however , ¨Sphinx¨ ,¨Lionheart¨, ¨Si Giorgio¨ were other box office failures . Rating : Better than average , worthwhile watching .

Although this is not a memorable film, I found it entertaining. Yul Brynner stars as a CIA man who is told that his son has died in a skiing accident in Austria. He, therefore, heads off to Austria to investigate if it really was an accident or something more sinister. A young Britt Ekland is the female lead who he seeks information from because she was one of the last persons to see his son alive. Various character actors of the time (made in 1967)such as Clive Revill, David Bauer, Ronald Radd and Moira Lister appear and the movie jogs along at a nice pace. There are some lovely location shots of the Austrian Tyrol and Yul does a good job in the lead role. Well worth a look!

"Double man" is now overshadowed ,in Franklin J Shaffner's filmography by the double triumph of "planet of the apes" and "Patton" .Although it's not really in the same league as those two classics ,"double man" is an exciting spy thriller:although the cast and credits ape those of James Bond,the story is something completely different .The first part is slow-moving -which is necessary to bring the second one- but the second grabs the viewer and does not let him till the very end ,which is very cynical ,when you really think about it: the "good " man is saved because he has never loved anybody! There are bizarre clues (Britt Ekland to Yul Brynner :"when he met that man,your son seemed very happy") and a very cold atmosphere in every sense of the term;there are curious hints at the Bible : Lazarus,Easter and the resurrection and the ending is some kind of judgment of Solomon updated .Some aspects of the film even predate Brynner's part in "mondwest"("he's the spitting image of yourself "we would say "clone" today) !Shaffner had a good sense of space (which was remarkable in "planet of the apes" ) which shows when the skiers come down the mountain,with their torch in their hand .The political side is very vague ,and it's essentially a suspense thriller ,certainly worth a watch.

A pretty solid little spy thriller; it's never as intelligent as the "Ipcress File", but it's far superior to its two sequels, for example. No great shakes here, but the combination of an intriguing story, great cinematography, good Brynner performance(s) and Schaffner's adequate direction leads to a thoroughly passable time-filler.