Services spéciaux, division K

An almost decent production after the James Bond model. Stephen Boyd has not the strength and the charm of Sean Connery or Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton or Pierce Brosnan, he is in the category of George Lazenby, a slightly better than the latter. The story is in the Bond spirit, but much simpler and more predictable. The other actors are somewhat OK. Robert Hoffmann and Jeremy Kemp have small roles. Leo McKern and Michael Redgrave stand out. And the Scandinavian "beauty" named Camilla Sparv is better at marrying very rich and influential men in the world of film than in acting.

Stephen Boyd made several films during the mid-to late 60's, which all seem to have "slick" plots in which he portrays a wealthy, sophisticated, cosmopolitan character sporting perfectly coiffed hair. Neither the hairstyle nor the roles seemed to suit him well, and I'll bet he was vastly relieved to switch to westerns like Shalako and The Man Called Noon in the '70's. Assignment K, however, is probably the best of the "smooth hair" movies. He's a international spy in this one and a lot of the action takes place in a ski resort so the scenery is beautiful and wintry. He and Camilla Sparv play well together and, best of all for Stephen Boyd fans like me, he is on-screen throughout the entire film, no cameos here - a major plus for this movie. Leo McKern, another wonderful character actor, turns up once again as the bad guy. (Remember him as the irascible, but lovable Captain Brandt in Lisa?) Assignment K is fairly fast-paced and somewhat exciting, especially if you enjoy a little romance with your espionage. And the ending will surprise you!

It has zippy music, attractive locations and Camilla Sparv as an affable boytoy, but that world is not enough. Hits all the action man buttons of the 60s, race car driver, MI6, spy, playboy, and on. But he's not Bond and not Harry Palmer, and therein lies the problem.

Stephen Boyd miscast so the tone of the movie was not dark enough to sustain strong interest. The ending was good as she plays both Scott and Harris off each other and gets both of them, and her cohorts, out of the spy game. A better script would have concealed then revealed complex betrayals and alliances and, perhaps, who Sparv really worked for and to what purpose. Forty or so years later Casino Royale got it right.

The main problem with this slow-moving spy film is that it can't make up its mind whether to aim for the world of James Bond or Michael Caine's Harry Palmer movies. Stephen Boyd's spy, a relaxed genial man-about-town figure in the style of Roger Moore and his immediate associate, a rather shabby civil servant operating from an empty office, played by Michael Redgrave, seem to belong in two separate films. And 'Q' would certainly look down his nose at the home-made bomb his counterpart, played by Geoffrey Bayldon, comes up with here.

The usually reliable Val Guest has to take most of the blame, both for the uneven direction and contribution to a script that has pretensions to being taken seriously at times, but is nowhere strong enough to be. As he had just been worked into the ground shaping, with some success, the chaos that was CASINO ROYALE, he was probably a little jaded with the genre. He also wastes excellent character actors Jeremy Kemp and Leo McKern, though the latter does make an impression against the odds. The revelations at the finale lack any impact. In fact a much bleaker ending had been filmed, with Camilla Sparv's Toni being thrown into the river and drowned, her stunt-double being none other than the future star of saucy seventies' comedies, Sue Longhurst.

I quite enjoyed the 1960's ambiance, including the relationship between Boyd and the alluring Sparv, set against the glamorous background of Kitzbuhel ski resort. Much of it is quite engaging, but ultimately neither exciting nor memorable.

You expect a spy film to start with a bang,this starts with a whimper. Nothing happens for half an hour, when someone is killed. However both before and after the film concentrates interminable on the romance between Boyd and Sparv. Boyd is amiable enough but he is no Connery. This is one of the poorer attempts to ride on the coattails of the Bond films.