Subterfuge

A very satisfying, taut 70's spy yarn, unaccountably overlooked. Well-written with some decent dialogue and many plot twists, it's fairly late in the film when the true loyalties and back stories are revealed.

Gene Barry is his usual wooden self but he does a good job as the uncompromising tough guy. Tom Adams hams it up, maybe he didn't like playing a foil to the action hero (having some form himself).

Joan Collins is on a different planet from the rest, she raises the overall quality with some real class as the icy, fiery, aristocratic, sensitive wife dragged into an espionage world she despises.

Here's one that tries to be cynical and hip but fails on both accounts. Director Peter Graham Scott was involved with both the Danger Man and The Avengers television series' but drops the ball here, churning out a staid but not altogether lifeless espionage non-thriller.

Gene Barry plays an American secret agent who comes to London to meet a British informer who has something important to tell him. By the time he arrives there, his contact has already been killed and Barry gets kidnapped. He escapes with the help of a local agent (Tom Adams), and is asked to investigate a leak in the British secret service. To do that, he has to get close to the agent's wife (Joan Collins). Romance ensues. Actually, that romance may be the weakest aspect of "Subterfuge": Barry and Collins don't exactly set the world on fire as a couple. There is a rather sadistic bad girl, played by Suzanna Leigh, who is much more exciting to watch than the bland Collins, but doesn't have enough screen time. On the positive side, the film boasts some amusing fight scenes, a fairly twisty plot and lots of on-location London footage, so it just about gets a passing grade. ** out of 4.

Very briefly, Subterfuge's plot goes something like this: U.S. spy MIchael Donovan (Gene Barry) is enlisted by his British counterparts to ferret out a mole hiding in their midst. Donovan decides to use the marital difficulties facing one of his suspects to his advantage. Donovan cosies up to Anne Langley (Joan Collins) to gain information on his target. As you might have guessed, things get complicated when Donovan ends up falling for Anne

Subterfuge should have worked on me. It's got a lot of what I normally enjoy: spy shenanigans, interesting locations, kidnappings, double-agents, double crosses, chase scenes, fight scenes, and Joan Collins. The problem is that the movie doesn't have much of a plot - at least one that's interesting. Subterfuge is deathly dull. I'll admit that the last act does get a bit interesting, but by that point, I was really struggling to stay awake. The baddies are boring, the plot is confusing, and Gene Barry isn't very exciting. That's not much of a recipe for success. Joan Collins is easily the best thing Subterfuge has going for it. She shines in every instance she appears on-screen. Unfortunately, though, she's stuck with Barry. Their relationship and chemistry is as lacking as the plot. Overall, there's not much here to recommend. A generous 4/10 from me.

Generic 1960s spy story about an American "security agent" named Michael Donovan (Gene Barry) who goes to London to meet an important professional contact. But when Donovan arrives he finds that his contact has been murdered. What follows is kidnapping, falling in love, and danger in dealing with high level thugs. The visuals are a bit dreary and the plot seems muddled.

The main problem here is the script. There are too many characters and too many villains. It's hard to tell who is doing what to whom. And I could not figure out the motivation of the villains. Further, none of the characters are interesting. They're all cold, impersonal, and have little to no sense of humanity or individuality. They're just stick figures inserted into the script in service to a contrived story. Who are these people? Do we care about them? I don't.

The visuals are drab. Indoor scenes are too dark. Outdoor scenes trend repetitive, with too many camera shots of those English double decker buses, subway trains, and expensive cars. Characters spend a lot of time talking shop while imbibing expensive liquors. The film tries to be worldly and sophisticated. However, "Subterfuge" is no James Bond movie. And Gene Barry is no Sean Connery.

Casting and acting are not very good. Gene Barry may be debonair but his persona and acting are boring. Joan Collins may be glamorous but in this film she shows why she never won any major acting awards. The rest of the cast is perfunctory and dull.

My impression is that the producers were trying to cash in on all the international intrigue that was such a hot film topic in the 1960s. But "Subterfuge" lacks suspense and mystery. Characters are cold and impersonal. Performances are lackluster. There are some good spy films out there. This is not one of them.