The Kremlin Letter

Agents are sent from the west to retrieve "The Kremlin Letter" in this 1970 film directed by John Huston and starring Patrick O'Neal, Richard Boone, George Sanders, Orson Welles, Max von Sydow, Barbara Parkins, Dean Jagger, and Bibi Andersson. O'Neal plays Rone, who is removed from military service and put on the mission because of his photographic memory. Each man and Parkins, who is a safecracker sent in place of her arthritic father, is assigned a group to infiltrate, all with the objective of finding this anti-Chinese letter. Or is that what the assignment is really about?

This is an extremely cold and vicious look at the spy game - it's no fun caper film. It's absorbing, moves quickly and is filled with marvelous, if not altogether likable characters. The last moment in the film will leave you breathless.

With a cast like this, the acting should be uniformly excellent, and it is, with the not-so-talented but beautiful Parkins given a role where she doesn't have to do any scenery chewing. George Sanders is especially memorable as the spy assigned to the gay contingent. O'Neal underplays, which is ideal for his character. Many people on this board won't remember that Richard Boone was a prominent western TV star who had aspirations of being taken seriously as an actor. In fact, he even started some sort of repetory company, as I recall. He was very talented, and here plays the head man to perfection, blond hair, down-home accent and all.

Very intriguing, done at a time when spy films were a dime a dozen. "The Kremlin Letter" stands out for its detachment and lack of sentiment.

I saw the original release (uncut) and was not disturbed by George Sanders in drag. It seems to me that this one point raised by almost all of the movie anthologies indicates that none have seen the film but only copied one person's comment. The story is clever espionage, keeps you guessing, and keeps your interest. I do not want to say anything else about the story for it will spoil it for those who have not seen it. The performances are all strong and the graphic portrayal may have been too much for the critics. If you want to sense the power and fear of espionage, this is the film to see. There is no holding back. Even the great one, "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold", does not push the cruelty of the spy game as far as this one does. I wish we could get some interest going so that this film will be released on video. I would like to revisit this unique spy film.

Just how seriously John Huston took any of this is hard to say but "The Kremlin Letter" is still one of his most entertaining pictures. A shaggy dog story with a plot that is virtually impossible to follow, it's possibly his daftest picture since "Beat the Devil". An all-star cast play various spies, both Russian and American, and they would all seem to be after the letter of the title; that much is clear...or is it! Huston himself wrote it, together with Gladys Hill, from a novel by Noel Behn though like "Beat the Devil" you feel as if they're making it up as they go along, which is all part of the fairly nasty fun. The superb cast act with the straightest of faces, (there's a great cameo from Orson Welles while Max Von Sydow and Bibi Andersson as usual walk away with it). Sold at the time as a serious antidote to the Bond movies the film wasn't a success but is now seen as a cult classic.

When this film was released it used what I thought was a new technique to convey a foreign language spoken by the characters. The film is part suspense, part thriller. Far better than any James Bond flick and by far better than the Spy Who Came in from the Cold. It keeps moving with twists to keep the viewer on his/her seat edge wondering who is who and who can be trusted. Why this hasn't been released on video is a complete mystery to me. All this time I've been thinking that every print must have been destroyed in one of the many studio archive fires a few years back.

I will never forget the image of Ward whispering 'We will do anything...' as Bresnavitch's (Welles' appearance is almost a cameo; purely setup for the story) face is caught in the flicker of the projector (see the movie to understand his fear) . The 'cruelty' of the game is played out in these few moments.

The story line is simple and I won't repeat it here. I will say that from the Highwayman's exit (near the beginning) to the final revelation, the film is non-stop. George Sanders is a bonus. Not absolutely necessary to the story but certainly an amplification of the stakes involved.

Ward is the key to the story (no pun intended). Rone is drawn in for his memory. The Whore, jaded and disinterested in anything other than his immediate existence agrees to participate for money... or perhaps something else.

Remember the opening scene in Mission Impossible (Tom Cruise version)? Phelps' wife is drugged and the race is on to get the information so she can be given the antidote. Contrast this 'we're in it together' attitude with the 'I'm in it for myself' attitude of the Kremlin Letter; lots of lies and deception, but completely self-serving. Not a platitude in sight. A refreshing 'honesty' for the new millennium... from a film nearly thirty years old.

Having seen several versions including the original theatrical release, television cut and the second theatrical release I can understand the misconceptions surrounding this film.

This film is extremely violent. The violence is not the '90's variety. You aren't shown it but you feel it. Bresnavitch's fear... Rone's 'matter of fact' attitude... Ward's 'direction'... The Highwayman's' resignation...

Oh, the method for Russian/English/Russian translation must be experienced. It might not be a first but I haven't seen it in any film since.

Finally I must add that there is not one likeable character in this movie... they are all far too human.