Assignment K (1968)

Such a frustrating disappointment

Expected more

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

It has zippy music, attractive locations and Camilla Sparv as an affable boytoy, but that world is not enough. Hits all the action man buttons of the 60s, race car driver, MI6, spy, playboy, and on. But he's not Bond and not Harry Palmer, and therein lies the problem. Stephen Boyd miscast so the tone of the movie was not dark enough to sustain strong interest. The ending was good as she plays both Scott and Harris off each other and gets both of them, and her cohorts, out of the spy game. A better script would have concealed then revealed complex betrayals and alliances and, perhaps, who Sparv really worked for and to what purpose. Forty or so years later Casino Royale got it right.

The main problem with this slow-moving spy film is that it can't make up its mind whether to aim for the world of James Bond or Michael Caine's Harry Palmer movies. Stephen Boyd's spy, a relaxed genial man-about-town figure in the style of Roger Moore and his immediate associate, a rather shabby civil servant operating from an empty office, played by Michael Redgrave, seem to belong in two separate films. And 'Q' would certainly look down his nose at the home-made bomb his counterpart, played by Geoffrey Bayldon, comes up with here.The usually reliable Val Guest has to take most of the blame, both for the uneven direction and contribution to a script that has pretensions to being taken seriously at times, but is nowhere strong enough to be. As he had just been worked into the ground shaping, with some success, the chaos that was CASINO ROYALE, he was probably a little jaded with the genre. He also wastes excellent character actors Jeremy Kemp and Leo McKern, though the latter does make an impression against the odds. The revelations at the finale lack any impact. In fact a much bleaker ending had been filmed, with Camilla Sparv's Toni being thrown into the river and drowned, her stunt-double being none other than the future star of saucy seventies' comedies, Sue Longhurst.I quite enjoyed the 1960's ambiance, including the relationship between Boyd and the alluring Sparv, set against the glamorous background of Kitzbuhel ski resort. Much of it is quite engaging, but ultimately neither exciting nor memorable.

Some loving close-ups of Camilla Sparv's exquisite face, and location filming on the German Alps (in the first half) and London (in the second) are the main assets of this overly meandering, often tedious spy thriller. Genre devotees will probably enjoy the old-school spy gimmicks (microfilms hidden under plasters, messages written with invisible ink, etc.), but the film bogs down too much with the Boyd-Sparv romance, and the story seems to start after the first 30 minutes. It ends with two big plot twists, but these seem to be added just for the sake of a downbeat conclusion. Leo McKern, as the nominal villain of the story, gives the most memorable performance. ** out of 4.

Quick paced film, good interplay between Camila Sparv and Stephen Boyd. Nice location especially the scenes at the Ski resort and the "search for the blue wine". Not too overhanded with the espionage...always one of my favorites, back to when I first saw it on a double bill(remember those) with King Kong Escapes.The theme song was always memorable...jazzy and you almost expected Sparv and Boyd to hook up at the end, but it was not to be. Would like to see the film on video tape.