Stewart made a seies of Spy movies in mid 1960s, this was the first (aka"Red Dragon"), quickly followed by "The Killers Carnival", a tryptic where he starred in one segment out of of three, "Target For Killing", "Requiem For A Secret Agent" and "The Zygon Factor", all 4 of which were made in 1965-66 and were just about the last gasp of his movie career.
I think Stewart would have been a strong candidate to play James Bond back in the late 1940s early 1950s, so for anyone yearning to see what an older James Bond might be like, over a decade before Sean Connery and Roger Moore did it, he's your man.
This one has a serviceable script and direction, played straight, with a decent amount of action, though not as much as one might expect from a Bond movie (or a typical Eurospy film)
Materials used in the creation of nuclear weapons are being smuggled via Hong Kong and the local agent has been killed, so the Americans send in an Englishman to sort it out (He's referred to as being an FBI agent, which makes no sense, as the FBI only handle domestic matters, so it should be the CIA).
Stewart plays a suave, cheerful "Roger Moore" type secret agent in this one, and the rest of the lead cast also manage to make an impression; - Rosanna Schiaffino as Stewart's female agent partner, Sieghardt Rupp as the #2 villain, Margit Saad as the female villain, Paul Klinger as Norman and particularly Horst Frank as the nasty henchman.
The director makes the most of the exotic location of Hong Kong, which is used extensively and could be a major reason for watching the film.
The first half is pretty quiet, action wise, but the second half picks up the pace and provides plenty.
Twice Stewart survives having his car strafed by gunfire and run over a cliff, by diving out the door. That could be considered one time to many for a single movie?
The finish gets a bit messy, including several attempts by Stewart to save undeserving bad guys from fires and bombs, but he doesn't succeed, so by the end all the villains are dead and he gets the girl (in fact even his comic relief sidekick, Harald Juhnke, gets a girl).
Fans of Stewart Granger should enjoy.
