Le serpent

Finally I was able to see the thriller The Serpent on DVD under a new but poor title NIGHT TRAIN FROM MOSCOW (why this has been changed I don't know).

Any film that has Yul Brynner, Henry Fonda & Dirk Bogarde has to be worth watching but this is rarely shown on TV so I was pleased to find the recent Pathfinder DVD release. The film is very much in the trend of your typical spy drama from the sixties (see The Spy who came in from the Cold and The Quiller Memorandum) despite being made in 1973.

Brynner is Vlassov a valuable KGB agent who defects on the condition he supplies the CIA with information regarding Double Agents operating in the West. Question: Is he telling the truth or is he himself another carefully placed spy? It's up to CIA head Henry Fonda with the help of British Intelligence Representative Dirk Bogarde to determine this.

Phillipe Noiret, Farley Granger, Robert Alda (father of Alan) and Virna Lisi provide the support in an intriguing thriller. Although some of the plot twists are predictable and there's a lengthy absence of the 3 main protagonists in the second act, the pace is just right as opposed to other Bond alternative spy dramas where slow pacing and no action result in boredom.

Surprising therefore that The Serpent isn't more widely known as it's a gem of a thriller with a good ending.

Evidently inspired by the Kim Philby case, and Dirk Bogarde would have made the perfect Kim Philby - his character and role here immediately makes you think of Philby.

In the spy world no one is what he appears to be, everyone is lying as convincingly as possible, and if they are convincing enough they have a chance of getting away with it, but these chances grow inevitably slimmer the longer they stay on as fakers. That is about the sense morale of this film, where everyone acts suspiciously from beginning to end, even Henry Fonda, who thinks he knows everything but is duped nonetheless. Philippe Noiret makes the most honest part, he is under suspicion from the beginning and seems to have accepted from the beginning to be a chronic suspect. Yul Brynner is the most convincing of all and the greatest cheat of all. The ladies are suave enough, especially Virna Lisi representing Italy in this international party, while they have very little to say, except in France - the only tender scene is what makes Philippe Noiret the most sympathetic in the cast.

This is not a thriller or any action film but almost callous in its scientific representation of an intricate kettle of spies. It tries to hit a documentary character and almost succeeds, but the story is not very credible. Kim Philby was a true story indeed, and a lot of damage he did, but here the same kind of case is exaggerated into almost absurdity. It gets too technical, and all the international actors can't save its lack of blood and humanity. It's interesting but not more than that, and afterwards you shrug your shoulders and are satisfied with not having to see it again.

Released in some territories rather childishly as 'Night Flight from Moscow', Yul Brynner plays Vlassov, a Russian colonel who wishes to defect to the US. The forces of the secret services in the US, lead by CIA head Davies (Henry Fonda) are interested but hesitant, until Brynner provides the names of senior officials in the governments of France, England, Germany and in NATO who he says are working for Russia as spies. A series of investigations follows.

This was rather more sophisticated and overall far more enjoyable than I expecting. Aside from the draw of a stellar cast with Brynner, Fonda and especially Philippe Noiret and Dirk Bogarde who are both terrific, this is a fascinating, dark cold war thriller reminiscent of John Le Carre, so largely free of big action pieces but full of twists and turns, leading to a believable and satisfying conclusion. In addition, the score is unsurprisingly beautiful, composed as it by Ennio Morricone.

On the downside there is some truly crass uncalled for narration and a few below par performances. One word of warning, this is an international come euro pudding production set in a number of countries using their native languages, which is absolutely fine. Be careful though which version you catch as it's not as easy as turning subtitles on as you're going to end up with Fonda, Brynner and co speaking English with English subtitles which is desperately annoying unless you want to switch them on and off throughout the film. A underrated good old fashioned thriller though - well worth a look.

I had no doubt that this effort from prolific French director Henry Verneuil ("Le Clan Des Siciliens","Mélodie En Sous-Sol",and terrific "I... comme Icare)", will be better than your usual cold war spy thriller. This is a sort of movie that mature film fan expects to see, no James Bond nonsense, no Russians that only speak broken English, no Russians with M16 rifles and ridiculous plots. This movie rings true, even 60's and 70's strongmen such as Yul Brynner is very good and very plausible as Soviet KGB colonel Alexei Vlassov, and the supporting cast of greats: Henry Fonda, Dirk Bogarde and Philippe Noiret, wee the web of high echelon government espionage, that keeps viewer guessing to the end. French title "Le Serpent" is much better than unfortunate English one ("Night flight from Moscow),that has nothing to do with plot whatsoever. Le Serpent or the serpent is a snake in the grass that strikes whenever it feels threatened. It's poison is deadly and quick, but ultimately it has to shed skin and reveal it's trail. Look for this great film if you're a fan of intelligent spy films. Satisfaction is guaranteed.

The convoluted spy movie "Le serpent" ("Night Flight to Moscow" in English) features Yul Brynner as a Soviet colonel who defects to the United States, claiming that he has info about an assassination network. Much of the movie focuses on the intelligence communities in different countries investigating what he said. This probably would have been easier to watch in the cinema, since you need to know when to have subtitles turned on: they suddenly start speaking different languages at random times.

It's not a great movie, but worth seeing. Just understand that this is a complicated one; no James Bond stuff here. Also starring Henry Fonda, Dirk Bogarde, Farley Granger, Philippe Noiret and Virna Lisi.