A wonderful copy of a rare trailer for the 1976 film by Lindsay Shonteff of Len Deighton's Spy Story novel:
The narrator is fabulous - he has the sort of advertising voice that could sell a three piece sofa at two-hundreds yards. The film - which is pretty average, truth be told, given that the budget was limited (no submarine shots in the Arctic) - is nevertheless replete with 1970s charm. Its look and feel - even such things as the colours and the cars - seem so dated, yet it's only 36 years ago.
It's no Quantum of Solace, clearly, but I can see definite stylistic looks back to The Ipcress File and Funeral in Berlin, even though Patrick Armstrong - the hero - is only a 'cousin', shall we say, of Harry Palmer.
Check out my review some months back http://randomramblingsthoughtsandfiction.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/spy-story.html
ReplyDeleteMark, I tend to agree with most of what you put in your review. The uniform worn by 'Colonel Stok' is laughably like something out of a costume hire store, and this character is very weak when compared with Oscar Homulka's effort in the sixties. Good review!
ReplyDeleteThanks! They should have changed Stok into 'A.N Other KGB Col' Homolka just was Stok; far too big shoes to fill
DeleteI bought this from Shonteff's website about two years ago. It never downloaded all the way, but most of it was verbatim from the book. Not bad for 2 quid.
ReplyDeleteJust a line to say that the narrator of the clip is the fine actor Patrick Allen of Wild Geese and the Barrats Double Glazing helicopter adverts. RIP
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that!
ReplyDelete