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One suspects that this film got made for two reasons. Firstly to use up Fox's frozen funds. Secondly to try to repeat the success of Exodus. This it fails to do.

The film is reasonably exciting until it leaves Holland. Leo Mckern and the dog steal the scenes. After the film moves to Tangiers the development of the plot all but crawls to a halt. Two additional, unlikely, characters are added,played by Hugh Griffiths and Robert Stephen.

Stephen Boyd plays an Irish Dutch detective and Dolores Hart is a singularity unlikely concentration camp survivor.

The trouble is the film wanted to be an epic but ends up as just a routine adventure yarn.

I was never a fan of Norman Wisdom. I found that the plots were very simple,unfunny,with a tendency towards mawkishness.

So I was surprised by the first hour of this film which was actually watchable,but even funny in places.

Alas after an hour it goes very much downhill. Wisdom decides he could do an American accent,for some reason. The plot changes course and becomes a bore. At one hour forty seven minutes this is about thirty minutes too long.

The supporting cast is fine. Debutant Susannah York, with a brunette hair do,shows some early promise. Reginald Beckwith was always a favourite of mine and he is always reliable.

It's a shame the writer couldn't have come up with a funnier last act.