A Dandy in Aspic

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.