This film begins with a beautiful Olympic athlete by the name of "Paula Schultz" (Elke Sommer) constantly at odds with the communist establishment in East Germany and wanting the freedom to express herself as a woman. As far as the East German authorities are concerned, they only care about her fame as an athlete and want to use her simply for propaganda purposes. So, when she shows up in a stylish outfit for a photo session intended to publicize the latest tractor, things soon become quite heated to the point that her boss "Director Klaus" (Werner Klemperer) decides to personally intervene. To that effect, one thing soon leads to another and, after he attempts to seduce her in his bedroom, she utilizes her athletic ability to escape into West Berlin. From that point on Director Klaus does everything he can to bring her back--which includes making a deal with a black marketeer named "Bill Mason" (Bob Crane) who promises to betray her for $75,000. For his part, Director Klaus would rather capture her without paying anything in return and sends in a specialist by the name of "Agent Weber" (John Banner) to try to accomplish that task first. What he doesn't count on, however, is just how incompetent he and his men turn out to be. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this turned out to be a little bit better than I expected due in large part to the casting of Bob Crane, Werner Klemperer, John Banner and Leon Askin (as "Oscar") from the popular television series "Hogan's Heroes." I especially liked the performance of John Banner who, I believe, stole the show. Likewise, having a stunning beauty like Elke Sommer certainly didn't hurt either. Admittedly, the script wasn't nearly as good as it could have been, and the actors suffered to a certain extent because of it. But even so, I enjoyed this movie for the most part, and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.
