Peculiar. This Cold War story, adapted from an Alastair MacLean novel, finds Phil Karlson, as reliable and tough a director of two-fisted narrative as ever lived, almost utterly at sea, along with star Richard Widmark. It's partially the story — too many plot turns hinge on people just changing their mind about whether they're going to do something or not — but also Widmark's character, a singularly inept soldier of fortune. WIdmark looks singularly uncomfortable when he's compelled to enact a kind of Holly-Martens-Behind-The-Iron-Curtain impresonation. Blah.

Second half of today's Nigel Davenport double feature.

So relentlessly full of shit it's relatively hilarious. Interesting idea to cast Kristen Scott Thomas as Courtney Love though.