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It was somewhat of a feature of the late 1960s to make bleak and world weary spy movies. This film is in this mould. I saw the film upon it's release and quite enjoyed it, albeit it is slow and a little dull. Still, I think that it is an interesting piece of film making and enjoyed the performances of Laurence Harvey and Tom Courtenay who play British agents who do not like each other. (Harvey is in fact a double agent). There are some good locations shots of 1960's London (mainly bleak) and Berlin (not so bleak). Harvey trudges around both capitals after been given an assignment to kill a Russian Spy - who is in fact himself. Mia Farrow is a trendy young thing (tho' a bit on the thin side)and adds love interest. However, as she keeps turning up wherever Harvey goes, is she as innocent as she appears? A young Peter Cook also stars as a rather irritating junior British agent. John Bird and Lionel Stander add a little humour into an otherwise humourless film. Definitely worth a look.

I won't go into much detail as I don't disagree with many of the negative comments cast here, but overall this is an eminently watchable film- I've seen it perhaps 6 times. I like the quirky off balance, alternating dark and light nature (but then again I loved Fay Grim and other flawed gems).

And although likewise flawed there are some great individual performances great shots of London/Berlin ( I was in East Berlin in 1980 and it didn't look or feel much different) that make it the perfect rainy Wednesday afternoon companion.

Note, as uneven as it is, overall I think films like this are a more enjoyable experience than current releases like the Girl Who Played with Fire or the Social Network that are more consistent; but consistently mediocre. But as always, YMMV.

The 1960s, for want of a better word, "vomited" knock-off spy thrillers in the wake of the success of the James Bond films with Sean Connery. Such titles included: Daniel Mann's Our Man Flint (1965); Ralph Thomas's Deadlier Than The Male (1967); and David Miller's Hammerhead (1968), to name but a few. However, this little number, A Dandy In Aspic (1968), based on the novel by Derek Marlowe, has passed through time relatively unnoticed, despite its direction by Anthony Mann, a filmmaker renowned for his work on Westerns and Film Noir thrillers. Moreover, this film boasts quite considerable acting talent of the day. The haunting Laurence Harvey plays the protagonist secret agent, Eberlin, who is given a mission to assassinate a KGB agent, and who is repeatedly haunted by past and present moral crises, very much in the tradition of the characters of John Le Carré and Ian Fleming. The love interest of the film is Caroline (in my opinion, the fairly talentless) Mia Farrow, playing the stereotypical role of a "swinging sixties" photographer, who, rather irritatingly, gets herself caught up in the spy game.

British acting stalwart, Tom Courtenay, plays the very understated character of Gatiss, a rival British spy who distrusts Eberlin. Look out for appearances by Richard O' Sullivan, of '70s televisual fame in the comedy series, Man About The House. The audience is also treated to a few guest appearances by British satirist, Peter Cook, for once unaccompanied by his partner-in-crime, Dudley Moore. Cook plays a comical womanising spy, Prentiss, who delivers such sexist lines they would make a millennial audience wince. Discussing with Eberlin the fact that his latest sexual conquest is "Eine kleine raver", in her company, is one of them. Still, the film is, naturally, indicative of its time.

The action sequences in the film are gritty and the film has a suitably brooding atmosphere which is, ironically, sometimes offset by the rather vibrant costumes the characters wear, supplied by veteran stylist, Pierre Cardin. Furthermore, the cinematography by Christopher Challis is tactful and it is accompanied by the appropriately minimalist score by veteran Jazz musician, Quincy Jones, whose scoring work for Sidney Lumet's adaptation of the Le Carré spy thriller, The Deadly Affair (1968), I equally enjoyed. After the film's recent premiere on Blu-Ray by Powerhouse Films, I thought it was timely to unearth this nearly fifty-year-old curio. If anything, watch it for Harvey's performance alone. That is, if you can simultaneously support Farrow's frequently sickly and mopey character.

While the story is admittedly somewhat confusing, this is definitely not the disaster that Maltin et al. would have you believe it is. It's got some plot issues, and is in fact a bit baffling by the end, but these weaknesses are far outweighed by the sleek mid-60's visuals, the cool location shots of Berlin, and the whole spy-in-an-atmosphere-of-paranoia-and-dread vibe (ie., like the Prisoner). Definitely worth a rent if you're into spy movies and/or paranoia.

p.s. the ever so mod and swinging soundtrack music is by Quincy Jones!

There were All Kinds of Secret Agent Movies in the 1960's Spinning Off the Success of the James Bond Series.

Spoofs, Satires and Super-Serious Stuff.

But this is one Odd Duck Among the Proliferation. It Starts with a Marionette Title Sequence that is a Color Saturation Stunner.

There is a Psychedelia to it that will Continue through the Running Time.

The Movie Employs Editing and Camera Tricks that were somewhat "New" at the Time and Adds to the Overall Surreal, Detached from Reality Tone.

It's Complicated and the Dry Delivery is Contrasted by some Visual Vibes that are Bizarre and make the Viewing Disjointed and Decidedly Different.

Legendary Director Anthony Mann Died Suddenly During Filming.

He and Star Laurence Harvey were in Close Consultation Regularly.

So Harvey Finished the Movie in the Director's Chair and Probably Continued with Mann's Vision. Accounts Differ.

It is one of the Most Awkward Takes on the Cold War Zeitgeist with an Ambiance of Confusion and Disarray.

Mia Farrow's Love-Interest Character is Inserted with Incomprehensible Regularity. Just One More of the Off-Beat Ingredients that make this an Experience Like No Other of its Ilk.

Be Advised it's a "Long Strange Trip".

Worth a Watch for the Quirk of it All.

Other than knowing that Anthony Mann died while on location in Berlin I still don't know precisely the exact sequence in which this film was shot; so I remain unaware exactly which scenes were the work of Mann and those by Lawrence Harvey, who replaced him.

That aside, it's a worthy swansong with a remarkable cast ranging from Per Oscarsson to Peter Cook - who sounds as if he's writing his own dialogue - and benefits from an uncharacteristic score by Quincey Jones; while enjoying several memorable moments, of which I particularly liked Harvey delivering what he intended to be a withering putdown to Tom Courtney; whereupon Courtney completely takes the wind out of Harvey's sails by replying "I must remember that! Allow me to write it down!"

Secret Agent Alexander Eberlin is sent into Berlin to search for the Russian agent Krasnevin. The Brits and Soviets enter into an intriguing game of cat and mouse.

I'll be honest, I recorded it based on the name and year. I was expecting some sort of comedy with the likes of Kenneth Williams or Ian Carmichael; I hadn't planned for yet another 60s spy movie.

In my opinion, it's pretty good: a decent, if unoriginal, plot, a strong cast, and some excellent location work. It did actually keep my attention, even if it was predictable; I'm sure we all knew how it was going to end.

The two issues are the script and pacing, at times it trundles along, and some of Eberlin's encounters with Caroline are bizarre to say the least.

Visually, it's good; it looks somewhat newer. I liked the opening and closing sequences; a puppet on a string left us in no doubt as to the type of film ahead.

Laurence Harvey did a fine job; I bought his character, but for me, the star of the show was Tom Courtenay; I just found Gatiss to be a little more interesting. Caroline's character made no sense; she didn't really go anywhere. Was she simply a bad penny? Mia Farrow I'd suggest, was ok.

6/10.

In London, Alexander Eberlin (Laurence Harvey) is a double agent for both the British and the Soviet intelligence. The British orders him to hunt down Russian spy Krasnevin. He is partnered with British agent Gatiss (Tom Courtenay). He's having a fling with civilian photographer Caroline (Mia Farrow).

This needs to be a paranoid espionage thriller. It's not thrilling. Laurence Harvey is playing the character too coldly. He needs to be scared or something or else the audience won't care. Nobody is rooting for him. I barely know what Caroline sees in him. The story is too stiff and so is the lead.

I found the dull, pointless A Dandy in Aspic a most disappointing movie when I saw it back in 1968. Alas, it proves equally time-wasting in its excellent Sony DVD version. Despite the credits, the film was not directed by Anthony Mann but by the far less talented Laurence Harvey (who gives a slack performance to boot). Mann died of heart attack in Berlin on 29 April 1967 after directing only a few location shots. Harvey gallantly picked up the reins, finished the German scenes and then did all the British location and studio shots, accounting for at least 99% of the film, which premiered in April, 1968, almost a year after Mann's death. True, Harvey was saddled with an impossible script. I assume the way that the totally extraneous Mia Farrow character keeps popping up in all sorts of really way-out places was supposed to be funny, and the totally far-fetched plot was perhaps intended as cynical satire; but Harvey plays all these ridiculous scenes (both as actor and director) dead serious with a banal over-use of close-ups and super-slow dialogue. Of the main stars, only Tom Courtenay manages to convey a hint of true characterization, although it's left solely to Lionel Stander, in a small, fleeting role, to convey just the right atmosphere of jocose, ruthless menace.

I remember going to see this with my girlfriend at the time but, could not recall anything of the movie. I put this down to the fact that, back in the days of the double feature it was paired with Marlon Brando's The Wild One, which had been banned in Britain for 15 years. Consequently the cinema was packed with rather vocal leather-jacketed bikers, which was a little distracting. Thus, I took the opportunity to see what I missed when the movie was shown on Talking Pictures TV recently.

More HP than JB the story features the then familiar groping around in the murky world of Cold War espionage. With the regular tropes of ; who can be trusted? Who is your enemy? And worse. Who really is on your side?

Laurence Harvey plays dislikeable double agent Alex Eberlin in British intelligence with a sideline as a KGB assassin. He has been bopping off genuine agents in an important operation and the bosses are concerned. Summoned to a meeting Alex is informed that the name of the assassin is Krasnevin. Which comes as a shock since that is his real name. However, no-one actually knows who Krasnevin is. Alex is given the task of tracking down and eliminating himself! The assassin is thought to be in Berlin and Alex is dispatched there with a handler, the equally disagreeable Gatiss (Tom Courtenay) who carries a (literal) shooting stick and hates Alex's guts from the start. Once in Berlin Alex secretly ties to defect across the border but the Russian authorities are wise to him and he is turned back.

A mystery, throughout the movie, is the completely superfluous presence of upper class, wannabe hippy chick Caroline (Mia Farrow whose task seems to be simply turning up unexpectedly wherever Alex is and compromising his cover. Her character serves no useful purpose.

Darker than Funeral In Berlin but not as dark as The Spy Who Came In From The Cold. Being a sixties spy movie, the action moves between capitals and tourist sites. People are killed surreptitiously but the violence is never gratuitous. Harvey is convincing as the world-weary agent looking for a way out and Courtenay's character's vicious persona is reflected in the efficient way he shoots his KGB opposite number at a racing circuit after organising a crowd panic. You know he will show no mercy once he finds it who Krasnevin is. The cast is graced with a who's who of British character actors which include Harry Andrews, Barbara Murray, Richard O'Sullivan, Norman Bird and a young Peter Cooke behaving rather irresponsibly. There is also an early diversity marker in the casting of Calvin Lockhart as African-Caribbean agent Brogue, although he does not feature once the action moves to Berlin. No gadgets apart from Gatiss' shooting stick but, Eberlin does get to drive a flashy sports car. The ending, directed by Harvey himself after the death of Anthony Mann, comes as a bit of a surprise; all being revealed in the last two minutes but, on reflection, it is what you would expect in such a treacherous profession. A worthy entry in the genre.

I loved Laurence Harvey in THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE. This is also a good performance. The spy stuff and his relationship with the character played by Tom Courtenay are interesting. Also interesting is the young Peter Cook in a "straight" role ( well sort of). Harvey brought such an air of sadness and despair to this kind of role ( much like his doomed brainwashed pawn in MC). I recall a scene where he is asked about his mother's death ( I believe) and he cannot remember how he felt. The life and emotion were drained out of him to create the perfect double agent. This kind of film was popular in the 60's as an antidote to James Bond and his clones. Others include THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD and THE DEADLY AFFAIR. The great Anthony Mann started this film and was replaced by Harvey when Mann died.

Mia Farrow made this one about the same time as Rosemary's Baby...this one is MUCH more low key... a spy thrilla. Lithuanian born Laurence Harvey had been in films since the 1940s, and was nominated for an oscar in 1960. died young of cancer at age 45. Harvey is "Eberlin", who is hired to find and kill Krasnevin, another spy. Moves pretty slowly, and the music is more erie than it needs to be. the special effects are pretty lame, lots of un-necessary echoing for effect. and it would have been more exciting if they hadn't given away so much of the plot so early on. Gets a bit more exciting when he tries to travel into east berlin, which was still quite restricted in 1967. It's ok. tries to be more exciting and mysterious than it is. Eberlin bumps into various characters along the way, and he must figure out who's on his side, and who is not. apparently the first director croaked during filming, so this probably accounts for some of the choppiness. Keep an eye out for "Max" from Hart to Hart (Lionel Stander). No big dealio. Writer Derek Marlowe had done mostly television... had a couple stories made into films.

When you consider that its original director, Anthony Mann, died about a third of the way into production and that it was completed by its leading man, someone with very little experience behind the camera, it is a wonder that this film is not a complete mess. It is, however, considerably disheveled. Gone are the crispness, pacing, and tension of Mann's classic westerns and noirs, like "The Naked Spur" and "T-Men". In their place we have this overly complicated, slogging affair where the characters and their relationships are like flowers being strangled in the crabgrass of a typically over plotted, 1960s espionage story. Had Mann survived you have to think he would have brought in another writer to clean up scenarist Derek Marlowe's muddle, adapted from his novel. And then there is Laurence Harvey's stiff, lifeless performance in the lead. You want to cut the guy some slack since he had to take over from Mann and had the character not to usurp or share credit with his great predecessor. Not all actors would have resisted that temptation. But oh ye gods is Harvey bad! Trying to get more than a wry upturned corner of the mouth or occasional furious snarl out of the guy is like praying for rain in Phoenix in May. I've said it before and I'll say it again: It's always shocking to see bad British acting.

There are some good moments. The cast has too many good people like Tom Courtenay (criminally under utilized), Peter Cook, Harry Andrews, Lionel Stander and Per Oscarson (turning in by far the best acting job as a junkie Russian spy) for there not to be. Even Mia Farrow manages a decent Brit accent (certainly better than Harvey's various American turns). But all in all this is a most dispiriting end to one of Hollywood's great directorial careers. C plus.

This film essentially begins with a British agent by the name of "Alexander Eberlin" (Laurence Harvey) being tasked to travel to Berlin and kill a KGB agent by the name of "Krasnevin" who has recently been responsible for the assassination of several British spies. In charge of the overall operation is a man known simply as "Gatiss" (Tom Courtenay) who has been informed that he is the next target of this KGB assassin. As a result, he becomes personally committed to finding out the identity of Krasnevin and decides to micromanage the entire aspect of the mission. What he doesn't know is that Alexander just happens to be a double agent-and his real identity is none other than-Krasnevin. The problem for Alexander is that, not only is he being watched by Gatiss at all times, but several of his Russian handlers have recently been killed and he has nobody there in Berlin that he can trust. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that, although this film doesn't have a lot of action, it makes up for it with a good amount of mystery and intrigue. Ironically, it's the considerable amount of intrigue which also makes the film difficult to follow at times. Be that as it may, I liked the performances of both Laurence Harvey and Tom Courtenay along with that of Mia Farrow (as Alexander's love interest "Caroline") to a lesser extent as well. Overall then, while this may not have been a great spy film by any means, it managed to keep my interest for the most part and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

This is the last film directed by Anthony Mann, whose 'Raw Deal' (1948) was the perfect noir film, and who was a man of immense talent. But he died while shooting this, and Larry Harvey finished the job. This resulted in an imbalance and a lack of conception and tone. What is mostly wrong with the way this turned out is that the film is 'so VERY late sixties' in its depiction of the bowler-hatted old school tie mandarins and spy chiefs as arch, coy, and menacing in a prep sort of way. Mia Farrow is also completely hopeless as 'the girl'. She is supposed to be an irresistible little elf of a thing, but she merely looks like she is dying of anorexia (her arms are as big as knitting needles, though less strong) and about as much elfin charm as a cockroach. Farrow may be a fine actress now, but she was terrible when young. Her failure, of course, took all the zing out of the picture. Larry Harvey is absolutely fascinating as a double-agent going to pieces in private, with a constipated desperation. Larry actually had that enigmatic, super-cool manner a lot of the time. He had cultivated it so well that it became ingrained and a part of him, and it had ceased to be affectation long before I knew him towards the end of his life. I had several long chats with him alone, when he dropped his guard very much indeed, and underneath any patina of persona he had made for himself, he was at heart a very genuine person. And he WAS as fascinating as he seems in his movies. He didn't know why either, but then true stars never do. This film is worth seeing for him, and for a hysterically funny cameo by John Bird. Clearly, Larry thought it was so funny he refused to restrain him, on a 'what the hell' basis, and a good thing too, as it made a rather pedestrian film come alive a bit. Lionel Stander, however, hammed up his part of a Russian so much he deserved an apple in his mouth. Per Oscarsson was wan and Ingmar Bergman-like, just as you would expect. Peter Cook floats around cheerily not knowing what to do and never did find out. Oh yes, this whole thing is about spies and betrayal and double-agents and all that sort of thing. Hardly matters. Tom Courtenay, that pipsqueak, cast here as a 'heavy', does not work. One does not believe in the rifle he is always carrying as a shooting stick, not his ability to use it. One strange aspect of this tale is that the double-agent is disillusioned and wants to return to Russia, but they won't let him and keep turning him back at the German border: a variation on Thomas Wolfe's 'You Can't Go Home Again'? Just joking. This film is past is 'view by' date.

Laurence Harvey is assigned to kill a KGB agent who's killed several British agents. But, when he's informed of the man's codename, he panics—because it's actually his codename. He's a double agent! He spends the rest of the movie trying to protect his identity and escape back to Russia without any of his British co-workers suspecting his disloyalty. Along the way, he meets free-spirit Mia Farrow and has a passionless affair with her.

I like Laurence Harvey, and I love Mia Farrow, but I was bored to tears with this movie. I could lay blame on the script, pace, or acting, but it's probably a combination of all three. I didn't understand the characters, the pace was uneven, and the acting felt tired. Laurence Harvey never acted like he was truly afraid to be discovered, and if his only motivation was to make it out of the country alive, why even bother with Mia Farrow? It made him even more unlikable to me, since he obviously had no feelings for her. If you have any interest in seeing this movie, pop in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold or any James Bond flick instead.

I am not sure why this film gets a bad rap -- I thoroughly enjoyed it. Wonderful locations of an impossibly glamorous late-60s London, Lawrence Harvey suitably mysterious, a seeping sense of doom which won't give you nightmares but will make you appreciate the story arc even more.

Yes there are plot holes but nothing major. The character of Mia Farrow remains a cipher, but maybe it's intentional.

Watch out for two then future telly stars in minor roles: Richard O'Sullivan (of Man about the house) and Mike Pratt (of Randall and Hopkirk).

Recommended.

Back in the late 1960s, any spy-themed film had a choice to make: either go down the worthy SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD route and make their film a serious drama, or alternatively go down the silly Bondian spooky trail. A DANDY IN ASPIC, despite the title, goes for the former option, delivering a story in which Laurence Harvey's depressed spy finds himself caught up in the usual Cold War-era shenanigans. It's a breezy affair packed with a huge number of famous faces in the supporting cast, but I found the story a little pedestrian, taking far too long to do anything with the premise. The end result is a forgotten and forgettable picture that doesn't linger long in the memory.

A spy thriller from 1968 which became director Anthony Mann's (The Fall of the Roman Empire/Winchester '73) last film (he died during filming) prompting star Laurence Harvey to finish lensing. Anyhoo Harvey is a double agent operating out of England who in flashback is behind the killing of an agent who is now being buried, w/him one of the pallbearers. Harvey is then given an assignment by a cadre of spies, run by Harry Andrews, to weed out a rogue agent out in their midst who's in fact himself where he's partnered w/Tom Courtenay to conduct the search even having them reach out to a Russian connect, played by Lionel Stander, to reveal him if given a large sum of money. Harvey sick of the life as it is, he's been in Blighty for half of his life, wants Stander, his handler, to ferry him back home but knowing what a rich resource he is they continually tell him no. Relocating to Berlin for the meet & further hampered by running into Mia Farrow who he met before, time counts down for the transaction w/Courtenay's itchy trigger finger raring to go before the end credits roll. Truly a victim of the times where spy movies were inundating TV & film, finds this rather sober affair undone by its gloomy anguish at the center of the film w/poor Harvey chainsmoking his way through this slop which never really gets going even though Courtenay is quite formidable & bonkers throughout. Also starring Calvin Lockhart as a member of the cadre & funny man Peter Cook (he played the minister w/a lisp in The Princess Bride) as one of Harvey's contacts in Berlin.