Subterfuge

Very briefly, Subterfuge's plot goes something like this: U.S. spy MIchael Donovan (Gene Barry) is enlisted by his British counterparts to ferret out a mole hiding in their midst. Donovan decides to use the marital difficulties facing one of his suspects to his advantage. Donovan cosies up to Anne Langley (Joan Collins) to gain information on his target. As you might have guessed, things get complicated when Donovan ends up falling for Anne

Subterfuge should have worked on me. It's got a lot of what I normally enjoy: spy shenanigans, interesting locations, kidnappings, double-agents, double crosses, chase scenes, fight scenes, and Joan Collins. The problem is that the movie doesn't have much of a plot - at least one that's interesting. Subterfuge is deathly dull. I'll admit that the last act does get a bit interesting, but by that point, I was really struggling to stay awake. The baddies are boring, the plot is confusing, and Gene Barry isn't very exciting. That's not much of a recipe for success. Joan Collins is easily the best thing Subterfuge has going for it. She shines in every instance she appears on-screen. Unfortunately, though, she's stuck with Barry. Their relationship and chemistry is as lacking as the plot. Overall, there's not much here to recommend. A generous 4/10 from me.

Gene Barry is "Donovan", a CIA agent sent to London to help uncover a cold war espionage ring. He is pretty much captured upon arrival, but luckily manages to quickly escape from his country house prison with the help of "Peter Langley" (Tom Adams) and together with the assistance of "Col. Redmayne" (Richard Todd) they embark on an investigation to find the spy! Most of this reminded me of an episode of "Bewitched" only it wasn't anyone's nose that was twitching. The production is cheap, the script woeful and the performances might legitimately be described as truly worthy of the occasional appearance from Joan Collins ("Anne") at her most glamorously sterile. The plot plods along with an inevitability to it that leaves no room for any suspense, and the fight scenes are so expertly choreographed as to be little more than gymnastics with tomato sauce. London in the late 1960s was a colourful, bustling city and the film at least manages to convey some of that vibrancy, but otherwise this is really just duff.

Here's one that tries to be cynical and hip but fails on both accounts. Director Peter Graham Scott was involved with both the Danger Man and The Avengers television series' but drops the ball here, churning out a staid but not altogether lifeless espionage non-thriller.

Gene Barry plays an American secret agent who comes to London to meet a British informer who has something important to tell him. By the time he arrives there, his contact has already been killed and Barry gets kidnapped. He escapes with the help of a local agent (Tom Adams), and is asked to investigate a leak in the British secret service. To do that, he has to get close to the agent's wife (Joan Collins). Romance ensues. Actually, that romance may be the weakest aspect of "Subterfuge": Barry and Collins don't exactly set the world on fire as a couple. There is a rather sadistic bad girl, played by Suzanna Leigh, who is much more exciting to watch than the bland Collins, but doesn't have enough screen time. On the positive side, the film boasts some amusing fight scenes, a fairly twisty plot and lots of on-location London footage, so it just about gets a passing grade. ** out of 4.

A very satisfying, taut 70's spy yarn, unaccountably overlooked. Well-written with some decent dialogue and many plot twists, it's fairly late in the film when the true loyalties and back stories are revealed.

Gene Barry is his usual wooden self but he does a good job as the uncompromising tough guy. Tom Adams hams it up, maybe he didn't like playing a foil to the action hero (having some form himself).

Joan Collins is on a different planet from the rest, she raises the overall quality with some real class as the icy, fiery, aristocratic, sensitive wife dragged into an espionage world she despises.