American architect Noel Holcroft (Michael Caine) finds out that his Nazi father left him in charge of an account with $4 billion dollars in it. The claim is he wants Noel to make amends with the world for the horror of what the Nazis did, but he soon finds out that the other people involved in the pact have ulterior motives. I continue my journey into unseen Michael Caine with this one that a friend mentioned after I saw The Jigsaw Man (1983). This one is slightly better as it has no moments of Caine doing workouts or funky accents. This Robert Ludlum adaptation isn't John Frankenheimer's best, but there are a couple of cool bits like the B&W opening set in burning Berlin in 1945 and the final shot is fantastic. I do have to deduct points for having the rousing showdown between Caine and the villains being...a heated press conference!? Given the circumstances, Frankenheimer worked well under pressure. Apparently James Caan was the original lead and left the production two days before filming began. Caine was called on a Friday on his last day on Water (1985) and flew to England to start this on the following Monday without having read the script. Pretty incredible. Caine is wrong for the lead role, but Caan would have probably been a lot worse. Co-starring Victoria Tennant, Anthony Andrews, Mario Adorf, and Lilli Palmer as Holcroft's mother.
Review of The Holcroft Covenant
