Quel maledetto ispettore Novak

This movie was better than I had expected. The script is not exactly Oscar-caliber, but "Golden Goose" has good actors and an interesting story. The various location shots of London were impressive. Yul Brynner plays a U.S. Secret Service agent trying to bust up a counterfeiting ring.

If you are a big fan of Yul Brynner who plays the role of a U.S. Secret Service agent named Peter Novak, you will enjoy his great performance dealing with Scotland Yard policemen and a very dangerous counterfeiting ring of thugs. Novak joins up with his partner, Edward Woodward,(Arthur Thompson) who works for Scotland Yard and the two of them decide to work their way into this counterfeiting gang who are very clever and will kill you at the drop of a dime. Peter Novak runs into all kinds of situations and even a brothel and message parlors. This film runs rather long and it seemed to me they could have cut a great deal of this film on the cutting room floor, and the ending was very disappointing. However, all the actors in this film gave an outstanding performance and it was great to see this Classic 1969 film.

While File of the Golden Goose is not a particularly well made film, it does have it's charms.

This is one of those films one reaches for when you don't really want to watch a movie.

Yul Brynner plays Secret Service Agent Peter Novak, who, after his girlfriend is caught and killed in the crossfire of bullets meant him, vows revenge on the counterfeiting ring responsible for the hit. In London, Novak and married policeman Arthur Thompson go undercover as surviving members of the infamous Golden Goose gang in order to infiltrate the counterfeiting ring.

I've always enjoyed this movie because Yul Brynner appears to be having such fun as he digs deeper and deeper within the gang, intent on getting to the unknown Head Man.

Charles Gray is suitably over the top in his performance as 'The Owl.' The homosexual distribution manager for the gang's counterfeit money.

All in all, it's pretty entertaining. Brynner's terse dialog and intimidation factor work very well.

Production quality is very good, from the opening of a boy and his dog at play on the beach to the finale at the mansion home of the gang's mastermind

My only complaints is the over the top sleaze in some places and the need for perhaps more fluid camera work during action scenes. It's almost like no one knew how to choreograph a film fight. Finally, the resolution of the identity of the 'Head Man' still falls flat, even after 40 years.

Still, this is a fondly remembered film still enjoyed.

But...if the gang had tried to kill Novak at the beginning of the movie, how could he expect to infiltrate them?

I think it is safe to say that if Yul Brynner is able to pull off a role in your film, it doesn't matter how weak the story, script, or anything else is... Brynner seems to make anything more entertaining.

THE FILE OF THE GOLDEN GOOSE is a British/American spy production that seems to have been made as an answer to the popularity of the James Bond franchise. Thus there are the requisite fisticuffs and characters being kidnapped and held hostage by bad guys and the like. At the same time, the milieu and plotting feel slightly more realistic, with a John Le Carre influence working behind the scenes. The skullduggery works quite well and Yul Brynner is a likeable presence who bounces off supporting actors like Edward Woodward. I'm not sure anyone could take Graham Crowden's villain seriously, but generally this is watchable, if flawed, stuff.