Darren McGavin is employed to find an old colleague of his, Brian Kelly, who has been turned out of Turkey as an undesirable - we never learn the reason. He finds him all right, but then he loses him, as Kelly tries to kill him, to keep him out of Kelly's business. But Kelly has a sweetheart, and McGavin cultivates her friendship, and they become lovers. That was not supposed to have happened. Complications ensues.
Darren McGavin plays a tough die-hard agent with hard knuckles and grimness spelt all over him, and he only smiles once in the film. He makes a very standard agent performance, fitting perfectly into the superficiality of the film. All Berlin is in the film, but only the polished modern side, nothing of the Berliners, nothing of the wall, nothing of East Berlin, just modern sterility all the way. Richard Burton might have been able to do something of this character, but McGavin does not, but only plays out his brute force. Unfortunately this is a film you will regret having wasted your time on, while you might have been able to watch a much better film - this is miles away from "The Spy that Came in from the Cold", a great story with great characters, while here neither the story nor the characters are great. The music is good enough, and that's the best part of the film.
Darren McGavin plays a tough die-hard agent with hard knuckles and grimness spelt all over him, and he only smiles once in the film. He makes a very standard agent performance, fitting perfectly into the superficiality of the film. All Berlin is in the film, but only the polished modern side, nothing of the Berliners, nothing of the wall, nothing of East Berlin, just modern sterility all the way. Richard Burton might have been able to do something of this character, but McGavin does not, but only plays out his brute force. Unfortunately this is a film you will regret having wasted your time on, while you might have been able to watch a much better film - this is miles away from "The Spy that Came in from the Cold", a great story with great characters, while here neither the story nor the characters are great. The music is good enough, and that's the best part of the film.