Eyewitness

In this interesting variation on THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF and THE WINDOW, a little boy(Mark Lester), known for telling tall tales, witnesses the brutal murder of a visiting President in Malta. Naturally, when he tries to tell his family they don't believe him, but the killers do! A good suspense film, but the cast is better than the material. Lester(of OLIVER fame) is outstanding as the colorful little lad, and Susan George and Lionel Jeffries as his frustrated sister and grandfather are fine support.

This has a certain amount of promise with its Maltese setting, a host of reliable British actors, a young Mark Lester and a fairly young Susan George. Although the cinematography is fairly sparkling, with shots into motorcycle mirrors, faces caught through gates and a superbly photographed car chase and aftermath, the director seems bored and as much time is spent letting Lionel Jeffries go on just a little too long than opening up a decent story line. There is, as might be expected, too much time with Lester too. Appealing enough as the young lad is, numerous sequences of him chasing or being chased make this seem more like a children's film than anything else, however attractive the streets of Valetta. Regarding the stop and start soundtrack, as an old fan of Van der Graaf Generator, I kept an ear out for their supposed contribution. No luck and nobody seems clear just what their input was but I'm assuming it was their music helping to make that road chase at the end so memorable.

This had all the trademark features to turn out be a first rate thriller in the frame of Hitchcock, but something just comes off short. Maybe because we already know how the story will play out, but director John Hough's confident, stylistic verve in his set-pieces shows how talent can transcend basic material into something better then it should. Well lets not forget the other aspects that seem to draw you in too. A beautifully picturesque Mediterranean backdrop is easy on the eyes. David Holmes' fancily off-kilter camera-work maintains a smooth flow, despite its constant imaginative changes (reflections, tilts) in positioning to invoke intrigue and tension. The music engraved in the feature by composers' Fairfield Parlour and David Whitaker has a real cheeky twinge, and very edgy awe that peppers the on screen action. It was only Hough's second feature, but definitely one of his sleepers. Some of the exciting acts (of destruction), could go on to cement themselves in his bang-bang, gust buster film "Dirt Mary Crazy Larry (1974)", which also starred Susan George. She co-stars here, but the ravishing starlet seems underdone. However Lionel Jeffries is appealingly amusing whenever in shot and Mark Lester ably does the job. There are good turns by Peter Vaughan, Tony Boner and Jeremy Kemp. The plot is straight-forward, but held together by its "The boy cried wolf" theme interwoven into a cat and mouse thriller with cracking suspense and startling jolts. Some plot devices are too convenient, but it throws up some little gloomy and lethal surprises along the way. An acceptable thriller done with enough panache.

Pros: a beautiful scenery, the plot itself is OK, a few not quite expected events, there's some suspense, a few chases and some of the actors did pretty well. Not an amazing film, but it's pretty good, all things considered.

Cons: the grandfather is way too eccentric and behaves like a retired magician, or a circus ringmaster, not at all like a retired high rank military officer. I get that he likes his grandson and is amused by his free spirited attitude, and while that is cute, there's simply no way to take the grandpop's behaviour seriously. It's just not believable and it did spoil the film for me a fair bit. With that being said, while he acts strangely throughout most of the film, he turns into some sort of action hero towards the end.

If you like a good thriller this is the film for you, there are scenes which will keep you glued to your seats. Ziggy, (Mark Lester) plays the role as a little boy who has an older sister named Pippa, (Susan George) and they live with their grandfather who lives in a lighthouse on the Island of Malta. Ziggy has a great imagination and many times tell stories that are not true and no one really believes anything he tells them. One day Ziggy sees an assassination and also knows what he looks like and can identify this person who is in high authority on Malta. Ziggy is hunted down by this person and no one will believe him when he tries to tell his sister Pippa, they all get mad at him except his grandfather. Susan George looked radiant and very charming playing a great role along with a great child star, Mark Lester. Don't miss this film, it is great entertainment.