This is a top of the range Eurospy with a decent script, direction and action, involving a good mix of fists, guns and cars, plus a fizz boat and a helicopter for the finale. There is some humour, but for the most part everyone plays it straight, the balance achieved being similar to that of a Bond movie.
Note that the music is on point from the opening scene, aiming to assist in creating the air of mystery and apprehension, not the breezy travelogue or cocktail jazz that many other movies in this genre mistakenly use.
The MacGuffin is a microfilm containing Russian H-Bomb secrets which have been stolen by a scientist (or scientists) for sale to the highest bidder. The Russians want it back and the Americans also want to see what it contains, so they assign the mission to their best agent - Bob Fleming.
The locations are a mixed bag, a little bit of Paris, quite a lot of Hamburg and then on to the titular city of Beirut. Hamburg is a dreary location, it always seems to be grey and damp looking, with few if any picturesque landmarks to use as backgrounds. The City Council must have been offering a bit of money, in order to promote tourism, because later Warren Beatty and Goldie Hawn also came to town to film their heist movie "Dollars".
Here the film makers do their best, visiting a club on the Reeperbahn, one of those with phones on the tables, so patrons can phone strangers at another table (The table number is also the phone number and is displayed on a number holder flag, tourists phone each other for amusement, while the regulars phone prostitutes to arrange an assignation) and making use of the vehicle elevator and tunnel under the river, as "Dollars" did. Plus they manage to incorporate some amphibious cars into the action, that were actually being used by the Hamburg Wharf Police at the time.
Richard Harrison, who looks like a blond Ben Affleck, is armed with several electronic gadgets before he heads off (laser beam pen, microwave detector pen, tracking devices inside aspirin (along with a watch that is also a receiver) and the script ensures that they all come in handy, but the best thing he has going for him in Beirut is a very resourceful little taxi-driver / agent and his tricked out vehicle.
Luciano Pigozzi is the pick of the villains, very creepy, but Aldo Cecconi isn't far behind him, as the Russian leader. However neither of the women are given much to do. Wandisa Guida, on the Russian side, gets to cast a few malevolent glances but little more, while Domenique Boschero is merely a damsel in distress, whether fending of Richards clumsy advances or those of the Russians.
All the usual following and chasing and being captured and escaping is present and handled competently, although I can't recall seeing an agent who gets sapped on the back of the head during a mission as often as Richard does.
However during the climactic scenes the script does appear to lose its way in my opinion. The sudden spit between the Russian agents makes no real sense, It seems like a surprise twist for the sake of reducing the number of opponents for Richard to overcome, or It's a case of real World political reality intruding into the fantasy Eurospy World, because this was made during the height of the Cold War, only a few years after the Khrushchev UN shoe banging speech, Berlin border confrontation and wall, Bay of Pigs and Cuba missile crisis, when movie makers were unofficially warned not to make movies that might provoke the Russians (China was often substituted as the villain instead). Later the reasons for not initially firing at each other, during the boat versus helicopter chase, are unconvincing, particularly on the Russian side.
However on the whole, it's a superior effort by Eurospy standards
NB; - Richards level of "charm" is particularly debatable to modern eyes and he won't rank very high on anyone's "suave-o-meter". I particularly enjoyed this piece of dialogue on the plane ride to Beirut where he encounters the scientist's daughter for the first time
Richard - "Wolf whistle"
Liz - "Do you often break out into bird calls?"
Richard - "That's my mating call, when I see a beautiful bird I can't help reacting instinctively... you mind if I..." (Indicates empty seat next to her)
Liz - "I do mind, I like to be alone"
Richard - "You're making a mistake, you'd have had a lot more interesting trip with me there. Anyway the offers still open" (Turns away and reads his book)
Liz - Coldly examines his profile, but says nothing
Richard - (Turns back toward her) "Um, one final question, are you always so nice to people?"
Liz - (Shakes head) "Only to the vulgar ones"
Now that never happened to the other fellow!
