Der Vollstrecker

I watched this film last night on YouTube and although there was a lot to like...the film also seemed choppy...especially at the beginning. As a result, the context for what was happening felt missing for some time as things were not clearly spelled out by the script.

George Peppard is VERY oddly cast as a British secret service agent. The film says he was British but was raised in America in order to explain his lack of a British accent...which he never even approximated. I don't know why they did this...perhaps they were thinking adding an American would make the film more marketable...but also confusing.

The story begins with the communists capturing a bunch of British agents. Obviously someone was a traitor but when John Shay (Peppard) wants to investigate this, his superiors are strangely antagonistic towards him. So, he decides on his own to investigate...and this ends up meaning killing the man he suspects of being the turncoat. What else? See the movie.

Peppard's character is easy to like or hate. On the negative side, he's extremely terse and you learn very little about him. But, on the positive, you might assume an agent would be exactly that way...in order to prevent them from saying the wrong thing.

So is it any good? Well, I liked the story but just felt that Peppard was a bit too flat. Not a terrible film by any stretch...but I couldn't help but think it could have been better.

I recently watched The Executioner (1970) on YouTube after spotting the movie poster at Alamo Drafthouse. The film follows a British secret service agent assigned to determine whether one of his colleagues is a double agent. Despite being warned not to investigate, he becomes personally invested when he discovers that a former lover is now the suspected agent's wife.

Directed by Sam Wanamaker (Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger), the film stars George Peppard (Breakfast at Tiffany's), Joan Collins (Dynasty), Judy Geeson (The Lords of Salem), and Charles Gray (Diamonds Are Forever).

This is one of those films that follows the Bond formula-espionage, beautiful women, and larger-than-life obstacles for the hero to overcome, all while maintaining a suave and sophisticated demeanor. The cast fits their roles well and is entertaining, though they don't quite command the screen like in a Bond movie. The villain also could have been a bit more imposing. That said, the film's aesthetics-attire, cars, planes, backdrops, and props-fully immerse you in its world. The storyline is fairly straightforward but engaging, and the action sequences are well executed.

Overall, The Executioner is a solid espionage thriller that fans of the genre should check out. I'd give it a 7/10.

Results when British Intelligence Agent John Shay (George Peppard) suspects Adam Booth (Keith Michell), a colleague, of being a double-agent. So the British spy must prove that his former colleague is a double agent. Although Shay's superiors (Nigel Patrick, Charles Gray) warn him against an investigation, he travels to Istambul (Turkey), Athens (Greece) and Corfu (Greece) in order to check out his suspicions. There, Shay becomes involved with the beautiful Sarah (Dame Joan Collins), who was once his lover, and is now Booth's wife. Soon after, Shay realizes that he is being used as a Communist pawn, and has fallen into grave danger. Every day he lives, somebody else dies!

An exciting espionage and spy thriller with action , suspense , intriguing events twits and turns. A passable thriller with explosive international intrigue in which elements of backstabbing, betrayal and espionage abound. George Peppard gives a passable acting as a British Intelligence Agent must track down a fellow spy suspected of being a double agent. In this film, a great British cast stands out, made up of the best performers of that country at the time, just as Joan Collins, Judy Geeson, Charles Gray, Nigel Patrick, Keith Michell, George Baker, Alexander Scourby, Peter Bull, while Peppard is the only North American actor.

It displays a colorful and brilliant cinematography by Denys Coop. Shot in various sightseeing locations in Corfu, Greece Villa Sylva, Kanoni, Corfu, Greece, Athens, Greece, Trafalgar Square, St James's, London. Likewise, a tense and suspenseful musical score by Ron Goddwin. The motion picture was professionally directed by Sam Wanamaker. He was a notorious secondary actor and occassionally director as cinema as TV, such as: Catlow, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, The legend of Custer ,The File of the Golden Goose, The killing of Randy Webster, The Champions, Cimarron , Custer Hawk, Columbo . Rating: 5.5/10. Average but acceptable.

Sam Wanamaker did a very good job of directing this excellent Cold War spy drama, back in the days when no one imagined the Cold War would ever end. The story is essentially British, so the excuse for using the American star George Peppard in the lead is that 'he grew up in America', hence has the accent. Peppard was always good in these parts as the good guy struggling against the forces of darkness, whether Nazis or Communists. He is romantically involved with the popular ingénue actress of the day, Judy Geeson. Sam must have thought she looked a bit too cute in real life, so he stuck some studious spectacles on her face to give her a bit of gravitas. Judy really was extremely cute, and a very sweet-natured person as well. I met her back then along with her parents and sister, and what a 'cute clan' they all were. They were great art lovers and liked to go to private views, which is how I met them all together like that. They had a particular favourite artist whom they always patronised, but I can't remember who he was. Judy's greatest asset was that lovely look around her eyes, which made her such an irresistible sight for any camera, or any fellow, for that matter. Good old Oscar Homolka is here called upon for the n-th time to play a defecting Russian spy, and does even better than usual. Joan Collins does a good job of acting, playing a difficult and amorous ex-lover (type casting?), and generally Sam could be said to get the best out of his actors because he was one himself, so he knew how to treat them and understood the pressures they were under. This is a rollicking good tale of the times, not as sophisticated and profound as le Carré of course, then then who was? There are the usual deceptions, twists, double-crosses and triple-crosses, all good stuff.

A dour little spy thriller which acts as a corrective to the James Bond school of spy movies, and benefits from an excellent performance by George Peppard as an exhausted, stressed out Ango-US agent searching for a mole in British Intelligence (just the one?). The atmosphere of post-swinging London is interesting from a modern standpoint, as is the unusual flashback plot structure.

Trivia for Gerry Anderson fans: Both Paul Maxwell (the voice of Steve Zodiac in Fireball XL5) and Peter Dyneley (the voice of Jeff Tracy in Thunderbirds) have quite major roles in The Executioner.