Da Istanbul ordine di uccidere

Occasionally a low budget film achieves a sort of quaint lyricism, a quality arrived at not by intention but by necessity. You may count From Istanbul, Orders to Kill among those few films. Even though we are comfortable recognizing the thriller film conventions, there is an esoteric element that eludes and amuses us.

Christopher Logan (presumably a pseudonym for an Italian actor whose real name is unknown to us) is offered twenty grand by CIA agent Williams to impersonate a certain Felix, who smuggles drugs for an international crime syndicate. The plot becomes convoluted concerning who is betraying who but the story is not the primary reason for watching. We are unfamiliar with most of the actors in this somewhat obscure offering but it certainly appears to be genre film stalwart Janine Reynaud who gets killed in the opening scene.

Economics comes into play as there are lots of (actually interesting) travelogue shots of Logan walking around the real Istanbul, killing time to the jazzy beats on the soundtrack. Speaking of which, the score is a set of terrific combo jazz pieces by an unknown composer. It could easily stand on its own and is another one of the elements that lift this film above its lowly brethren.

Well how to start, ........ this movies resembles some kind of summer high school project. Is appears to be shot with a single camera. "Action" scenes are usually shot from a tower and seems to be shot on normal streets. In a certain kidnapping scene on a street in Istanbul body language from bystanders seem genuinely puzzled. Probably the crew did not have money to get the permits or something like that.

Characters come and go without any character development. The main character switched clothes from a t shirt to a suit every few scenes. There is a doppelganger theme here and in the end they both appear but it is unclear who is who. The two female leads are confusingly look alike even they are different people.

The "grand finally" the cameraman apparently climbed in a tree to shoot his scene with his handheld camera. The director made one more even more obscure movie that has hardly any info on IMDB.

This movie is as low budget as it gets. The good thing is that is all shot on actual streets (Rome and Istanbul) and real hotel rooms.

I was kind of pulled by the incredible low key of it all. With the travelogue of how Istanbul was in the 1960's as its best point. But after 2 viewings I still had no idea what was going on.

This movie is a real headscratcher , but if it was indeed some summer school project I am impressed. If this was a serious attempt on making a studio financed movie it is the biggest joke in movie history.

Will I watch it again? Yes I will, I am intrigues by this completely offbeat ineptly made travelogue. See it for yourself.

This review is of the SWV video of an American International TV print, in color, of this obscure 1965 Italian film. A starving writer is offered $20,000 by an old friend in the intelligence service to pose as "Felix," an international smuggler, because the writer looks exactly like this Felix. There's lots of action, beautiful locations in Italy and (presumably) Istanbul, double-crosses galore, fistfights and chases, etc. Star "Christopher Logan" is obviously a European, who looks somewhat familiar, but I can't place him--he reminds me vaguely of a euro version of the young Christopher Walken or Sean Penn. As someone who has watched countless 60's European spy/crime films, I'd definitely consider this one above average. In addition, there is a superb modern jazz score throughout--like an unknown 1965 Blue Note quintet session. For fans of the genre, this film is well worth getting!!

I ran across this title on Y/T and decided to kill some time. All the other reviews said it was terrible and they were right except I actually enjoyed it. At least it was an entertaining Euro-Spy and I do like these movies.

However the story is too confusing and the camera work is atrocious but the long boring parts seem to work, at least on a certain level.

What confused me is the use of so many attractive women that all look somewhat alike.

Lucy gets shot in the opening scene. Olga is the drug addict. Lisa lays by the pool and the French girl lures our hero to the junk yard.

All of which I have no idea as to their names.

I did recognize Janine Reynard laying by the pool and she even answers to Janine.

There is a lovely Oriental girl called the Queen who tells the hero "she is alone tonight and would like his company". Does anyone recognize her?

Part of it was filmed in Istanbul as they show the Galata bridge and St. Sophia Mosque.

This is a genuine Euro-Spy and thus has a place in the genre but it is bad and boring. However watch it as it is worth your time.

As mid-1960's Euro-spy thrillers go, "From Istanbul With Orders To Kill" had the potential to be better than most (good fight scenes, extensive on-location filming, competent cast) but it suffers from a few too many dull sections. Undeniably the worst comes in the middle, when the hero goes to Istanbul for the first time, and for the next 20 minutes or so we get to see him simply walking around, having lunch, meeting various contacts, etc. This part is so dull it almost kills the movie. Another problem is that the two female leads, Geraldine Pearsall and Lucretia Love, although both VERY beautiful, look and are styled too much like each other, to the point where it's sometimes very hard to tell them apart. Of course one of them is a redhead and the other is a blonde, but on the old VHS transfer of the movie I watched, the color wasn't exactly crystal clear, if you know what I mean. Overall, the movie is an uneven ride to a very downbeat ending. (**)