La griffe

A ruthless CIA agent arrives at an Alps ski paradise to track down his son's deadly accident he thinks is really murder, and finds himself in a complex web of intrigue.

Well-staged, quite surprising minor Cold War espionage with magnificent snow-bound photography and exciting action sequences, hampered by bursts of gratuitous violence and an unpleasant hero.

I regularly forget this film in the Franklyn Schaffner's filmography, I don't know exactly why.... I watched it only three times in forty years and always forget it, and there is no reason why because it is a really tense and taut spy thriller drama, far better than many of those made during the sixties, James Bond parodies or complex thrillers where no one follows anything. Here, it is not so complex but on the contrary riveting at the most, with a jaw dropping Yul Brynner's performance. An excellent doppelganger scheme film, as also was THE MAN WHO HAUNTED HIMSELF, for another story using the same doppelganger element. The best proof that with the same ingredients you can invent and give many different recipes - films in that case.

Passable spy thriller that's a disappointment considering the talent on display. While it isn't a dud, there's nothing particularly outstanding about it and it emerges as a fairly routine and forgettable film.

There are some enjoyable aspects to the film however. I admired Yul Brynner for delivering a lead character that was so uncompromising, cold and ruthless – while he was hardly an admirable hero he was believable and convincing and therefore more interesting as a character. I'm sure if this film were made today the character would've had some more 'likable' elements inserted into him during the film.

The weakest aspect is Ernie Freeman's dreadful score – cornball and overdone, regularly undermining the potential suspense in key scenes.

For mine, while the film itself isn't particularly noteworthy, in a broader context it has a curious interest. Despite being made by a major studio, having a major star and a director who delivered many top-notch films in this period (especially a certain ape film made the same year), it didn't make much impact at the time and is totally forgotten today, even for a film made four decades ago. Why is this? I actually think it would be much more remembered if it had been filmed as a flashy, goofy spy film that is now considered to be representative of late 1960s film style and culture – the likes of which were spoofed in the Austin Powers films. For example, while imo 'In Like Flint' is a dreadful film, clearly inferior to TDM, because of its glossy and spoofy style I can see how its much more remembered and referenced today.

Of course, TDM could've still been remembered on the basis of sheer quality but apart from Brynner's performance, it just doesn't have enough of it.

A good director, a pro cast, fantastic locations and solid cinematography. The bad: terrible music, lack of action, listless plot, an overly complicated scheme, less than interesting climax. Icy spy Yul seems to be emulating Charles Bronson: sullen and non-communicative. Britt Ekland has a thankless role and gets beat up. More of a mystery than a spy/action film.

Although this is not a memorable film, I found it entertaining. Yul Brynner stars as a CIA man who is told that his son has died in a skiing accident in Austria. He, therefore, heads off to Austria to investigate if it really was an accident or something more sinister. A young Britt Ekland is the female lead who he seeks information from because she was one of the last persons to see his son alive. Various character actors of the time (made in 1967)such as Clive Revill, David Bauer, Ronald Radd and Moira Lister appear and the movie jogs along at a nice pace. There are some lovely location shots of the Austrian Tyrol and Yul does a good job in the lead role. Well worth a look!