The Double Man

The Double Man beat much of the competition into the Alps, when movies were helping to glamorise skiing holidays. While The Pink Panther had a ski lodge segment, The Double Man anticipates the cable car action and snowy settings of Where Eagles Dare and On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Interesting to note that the director would soon be working on the iconic Planet Of The Apes.

Added to the admirable location work are the international cast. There are no stars besides Yul Brynner, but there are several actors I have a lot of time for. Clive Revill in particular adds a solid emotional punching bag for Brynner. His intense and downbeat performance is in contrast to his usual extroverted and comedy roles. Anton Diffring was too often cast as Nazi baddies, but could easily deliver menace without a uniform. He starred in several classic horror films of the period, like Circus of Horrors and The Man Who Cheated Death. A young Britt Ekland amply provides glamour here, before she broke it big as a Bond girl.

I grew up watching this movie on TV and always tuned in for the cast, the twisty plot and especially the music. It's a little OTT in places but frantically catchy, pumping up the excitement even when there's little of it on screen. The special effects work is subtle and really convincing in selling the central twist...

I'm very pleased to see that at least this is out now on DVD in Germany, with an English language voice track option.

A ruthless CIA agent arrives at an Alps ski paradise to track down his son's deadly accident he thinks is really murder, and finds himself in a complex web of intrigue.

Well-staged, quite surprising minor Cold War espionage with magnificent snow-bound photography and exciting action sequences, hampered by bursts of gratuitous violence and an unpleasant hero.

Just like its leading man Yul Brynner, "The Double Man" is a decently lean, direct and hard-hearted late 60s spy melodrama. A steadfast Brynner simply commands the screen, even when no dialogues are spoken, his psychical presence and glare can knock you down. Here he plays CIA agent Dan Slater who heads to a ski resort in the Tyrolean Alps after the reported accidental death of his son, but he believes it wasn't an accident and unknowingly to him his arrival is actually part of a cunning Cold War ploy. It's a well-handled and good-looking (thanks to the scenic cinematography of picturesque snowy backdrop) presentation, as the plot is thick on intrigue and investigation, as it slowly builds upon its brooding framework. There's nothing particularly exciting about it, as the thrills are few and minor and it's overly talky. However the structure is persistent, as the exchanges have a moody intensity and Brynner carries it along nicely with all that chasing and shadowy scheming going on behind the scenes. The ludicrous twist when it comes isn't much of one, because of the clues that are given. Really it only complicates matters, but this works for its stone cold approach. Franklin J. Schaffner's taut direction is grounded and practical in style, as he lets the story's conflicts evolve and the cast take control. The ever-beautiful Britt Ekland plays an important piece to the plot's stirrings and there's excellent support from the likes of Clive Revill, Anton Differing, Lloyd Nolan and Moira Lister. Also dominating was the instrumental music score. Sometimes it worked, other times it was on overload.

A good director, a pro cast, fantastic locations and solid cinematography. The bad: terrible music, lack of action, listless plot, an overly complicated scheme, less than interesting climax. Icy spy Yul seems to be emulating Charles Bronson: sullen and non-communicative. Britt Ekland has a thankless role and gets beat up. More of a mystery than a spy/action film.

Passable spy thriller that's a disappointment considering the talent on display. While it isn't a dud, there's nothing particularly outstanding about it and it emerges as a fairly routine and forgettable film.

There are some enjoyable aspects to the film however. I admired Yul Brynner for delivering a lead character that was so uncompromising, cold and ruthless – while he was hardly an admirable hero he was believable and convincing and therefore more interesting as a character. I'm sure if this film were made today the character would've had some more 'likable' elements inserted into him during the film.

The weakest aspect is Ernie Freeman's dreadful score – cornball and overdone, regularly undermining the potential suspense in key scenes.

For mine, while the film itself isn't particularly noteworthy, in a broader context it has a curious interest. Despite being made by a major studio, having a major star and a director who delivered many top-notch films in this period (especially a certain ape film made the same year), it didn't make much impact at the time and is totally forgotten today, even for a film made four decades ago. Why is this? I actually think it would be much more remembered if it had been filmed as a flashy, goofy spy film that is now considered to be representative of late 1960s film style and culture – the likes of which were spoofed in the Austin Powers films. For example, while imo 'In Like Flint' is a dreadful film, clearly inferior to TDM, because of its glossy and spoofy style I can see how its much more remembered and referenced today.

Of course, TDM could've still been remembered on the basis of sheer quality but apart from Brynner's performance, it just doesn't have enough of it.