Les espions meurent à l'aube

1972's "The Big Game" (La Macchina della Violenza in Italy, Todesgrube von Gamma 03 in West Germany) is an international production featuring location shooting in Rome, Hong Kong, and South Africa, with a diverse cast of veterans in Stephen Boyd, Ray Milland, France Nuyen, and reliable Cameron Mitchell. Alternate titles "Control Factor" and "Explosion" are more descriptive than the silly original moniker (more suggestive of a Monday Night NFL matchup), based on a little known novel called "The Two Sides" by Ralph Anders, adapted by Anders, producer Stanley Norman, and director Robert Day. The MacGuffin for this rather dreary spy meller is a mind control computer device conceived by Milland's Professor Peter Handley (intended as a weapon of peace), which passes inspection before security team Leyton van Dyk (Stephen Boyd) and Bruno Carstens (Cameron Mitchell). Unfortunately, Handley's two sons inspire little confidence, Mark (Michael Kirner) of somewhat greater assistance than playboy Jim (Brendon Boone), just returned from Hong Kong after being captured and tortured by the enemy. He's an easily duped and obvious security risk in this too casual, drawn out setup, en route by ship to Cape Town when a band of masked machine gunners board and take over for a new destination. It's a long slog to reach the final two reels, which at least deliver long promised action, but audience interest proves difficult when Boone's total milksop is the main focus, and luscious France Nuyen vanishes from the film for such a long stretch (like Ray Milland, she hasn't much to work with). The most pleasant surprise is Mitchell being cast against type in a heroic role, easily outshining the top billed Boyd with an easygoing nature and predilection for practicing his golf swing aboard ship, even warding off an assassination attempt with a pillow!

The Osmonds' long lost brother finds himself blackmailed into sabotaging tests to prove a mind-control ray invented by his toupee-wearing scientist father (an ageing Ray Milland). Despite making use of some exotic locations, the fact that the cast is filled out with actors whose brief flirtations with stardom were far behind them adds to the cheap feel of the movie.

I'd never heard about this one – despite featuring the likes of Stephen Boyd, Cameron Mitchell and Ray Milland! – before I happened upon it at a local DVD rental outlet: I even had to look out its original title since the DVD was a German edition; however, realizing its sci-fi elements, I opted to check it sooner rather than later.

Well, what a disappointment it turned out to be! Though the confusing and tedious plot ostensibly revolves around a radar system which is able to motivate soldiers into becoming fighting machines (and, to prove this point, a group of them are brainwashed into thinking a bunch of approaching cars are really army tanks!) – shades of THE MANCHURIAN CANIDATE (1962) – it's much more of an espionage/adventure film, though hardly exciting or even engaging (director Day, who cut his teeth on several popular spy/sci-fi series during the Sixties, was clearly uninspired by the material at hand)! In fact, much of the running-time is wasted on scientist Milland's Hong Kong-based son – who's seduced by France Nuyen and kidnapped by a rival organization coveting the invention.

Though Boyd and Mitchell interact well together and are involved in the climactic action sequences, this is among the lowest points of their careers that I've seen – of course, the same applies to an ageing Milland (whose role is thankfully brief). About the only plusses to the film are a typically lush score by "Euro-Cult" stalwart Francesco De Masi and a scene onboard a ship in which Mitchell is attacked in the bathroom when he's mistaken for Boyd (who apparently plays a character everybody fears and is out to get him!). Incidentally, the DVD quality was rather sloppy as the audio dropped out on a number of occasions throughout.