The Double Man (1967) User Reviews

from the '60s spy film era

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 28 April 2012]

Yul Brynner is "The Double Man" in this 1967 spy film also starring Britt Ekland, Clive Revill, Moira Lister, and Lloyd Nolan.

Brynner is Dan Slater, a CIA agent who travels to Austria after the death of his teenage son in a skiing accident. It's been written off as an accident, but Slater isn't convinced. He asks a former undercover agent (Clive Revill) for help, but ends up doing most of the investigating himself and soon realizes that this was no accident. But to what end? Slater stays in Austria hoping to figure out what the plan is, and who has initiated it and why. He eventually meets Gina (Ekland) after several attempts at meeting her on the slopes. Gina had seen his son on the lift.

The plot is soon revealed, leading to a dangerous confrontation.

Pretty good, with an excellent performance by Brynner as a cold, hard man who shows no emotion and perhaps feels none. Also, the scenery is gorgeous, as is Britt Ekland, at the height of her beauty here.

Someone here mentioned that the glossy spoofs are better remembered today, and perhaps that poster is correct. However, I don't think there's too much remarkable here. It's a serviceable film with a very intrusive music score.

See it for Brynner's performance.

Something Of An Anti- Bond Thriller

[Theo Robertson · 5/10 · 23 November 2011]

CIA agent Dan Slater learns that his 16 year old son has been killed in a skiing accident in Switzerland and goes to collect the body . He finds out that his son's death may not have been an accident The 1960s was a decade of wannabe Bond B movies most of them either forgettable or just plain embarrassing . THE DOUBLE MAN is a film that doesn't want to emulate the crazy fast paced antics of James Bond . Instead it has a style similar to something John Le Carre would have written

It's not a bad cold war thriller but it is a very and I do mean VERY talkative one with the first hour composed of Dan Slater asking everyone who knew his son if he'd been murdered . Then when the major plot twist is revealed halfway through that the dastardly commies murdered Slater Jnr in order to bring his father to Switzerland you'll find yourself asking some obvious questions like

Why did the baddies have to come up with such an intricate plan ? Surely they could have murdered him and home and replaced him with the impostor ?

Ah yes the impostor ! How on Earth would this work in reality ? He may know Slater drinks 4 cups of black coffee a day but how would he be able to keep up the pretense for any effective period of time ?

It's the sort of film that thinks it's being intelligent but because of the plotting it's far from clever

Frantically catchy soundtrack

[pygar61 · 7/10 · 9 August 2009]

The Double Man beat much of the competition into the Alps, when movies were helping to glamorise skiing holidays. While The Pink Panther had a ski lodge segment, The Double Man anticipates the cable car action and snowy settings of Where Eagles Dare and On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Interesting to note that the director would soon be working on the iconic Planet Of The Apes.

Added to the admirable location work are the international cast. There are no stars besides Yul Brynner, but there are several actors I have a lot of time for. Clive Revill in particular adds a solid emotional punching bag for Brynner. His intense and downbeat performance is in contrast to his usual extroverted and comedy roles. Anton Diffring was too often cast as Nazi baddies, but could easily deliver menace without a uniform. He starred in several classic horror films of the period, like Circus of Horrors and The Man Who Cheated Death. A young Britt Ekland amply provides glamour here, before she broke it big as a Bond girl.

I grew up watching this movie on TV and always tuned in for the cast, the twisty plot and especially the music. It's a little OTT in places but frantically catchy, pumping up the excitement even when there's little of it on screen. The special effects work is subtle and really convincing in selling the central twist...

I'm very pleased to see that at least this is out now on DVD in Germany, with an English language voice track option.

Pretty solid.

[gridoon · 7/10 · 11 June 2000]

A pretty solid little spy thriller; it's never as intelligent as the "Ipcress File", but it's far superior to its two sequels, for example. No great shakes here, but the combination of an intriguing story, great cinematography, good Brynner performance(s) and Schaffner's adequate direction leads to a thoroughly passable time-filler.

The Double Man

[Smalling-2 · 14 June 2000]

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.

A long forgotten film

[Marco_Trevisiol · 6/10 · 8 March 2007]

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.

Worth a look!

[MrOllie · 6/10 · 24 November 2014]

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!

The man who loved nobody

[dbdumonteil · 7/10 · 3 February 2011]

"Double man" is now overshadowed ,in Franklin J Shaffner's filmography by the double triumph of "planet of the apes" and "Patton" .Although it's not really in the same league as those two classics ,"double man" is an exciting spy thriller:although the cast and credits ape those of James Bond,the story is something completely different .The first part is slow-moving -which is necessary to bring the second one- but the second grabs the viewer and does not let him till the very end ,which is very cynical ,when you really think about it: the "good " man is saved because he has never loved anybody!

There are bizarre clues (Britt Ekland to Yul Brynner :"when he met that man,your son seemed very happy") and a very cold atmosphere in every sense of the term;there are curious hints at the Bible : Lazarus,Easter and the resurrection and the ending is some kind of judgment of Solomon updated .Some aspects of the film even predate Brynner's part in "mondwest"("he's the spitting image of yourself "we would say "clone" today) !Shaffner had a good sense of space (which was remarkable in "planet of the apes" ) which shows when the skiers come down the mountain,with their torch in their hand .The political side is very vague ,and it's essentially a suspense thriller ,certainly worth a watch.

Another Secret Agent.

[rmax304823 · 4/10 · 27 April 2012]

Yul Brynner is a CIA agent who hasn't seen his son in two years, so when the son is killed at a small Austrian ski resort, Brynner is driven by guilt to find his murderer and uncover the motive.

Revenge gives Brynner an opportunity to glower his way through the entire film. His face seems carved of wood. If he changed his expression in the slightest, I missed it.

He's been with The Company so long that he's paranoid as well as angry. He thinks something is up, something to do with his job at the CIA, and he's determined to unravel the mystery that may exist only inside his head. He belts Britt Ekland around when she's trying to help him, and he tears half her dress off. The former is a bad idea. Oh, he's ignoble. He never says hello or thanks anyone.

I don't know exactly how much of this absurd plot I should give away. Maybe a hint. The Soviet Union has tricked him into coming to Austria for his son's funeral. They intend to kill Brynner and plant an exact substitute in his place. It gets twisted until the end, which is hopeful but still a little fuzzy. We hope for the best.

Okay, so Brynner has the plasticity of a cigar store Indian, but at least with Britt Ekland you get that face, so full of good bone structure, the enormous blue doll's eyes, and the plump round lips providing a soupçon of sensuality. Well, more than a soupçon. In the context of her diminutive frame that overgenerous mouth looks like it could suck you up through a soda straw.

The problem is that the entire movie seems awfully dumb. Ernie Freeman has overorchestrated it until it seems there's hardly a second without throbbing violins or pounding drums. And this William Wilson notion of substituting an exact duplicate is silly.

Casting is no help. The ligneous Brynner aside, the chief heavy is Anton Differing, who works for the Commies here, although he's clearly meant to be a German and, in fact, alludes to having "lost two wars." He's been a Nazi in more movies than I can remember. And his Number One, George Mikell, was Sessler, the Gestapo sadist, in "The Guns of Navarone." Hollywood never has trouble switching the identity of the villains around. It's either the Nazis or the Russians. Makes no difference. We hate both of them.

Nice features include beautiful shots of the Austrian Alps during the Easter festival, a reasonably perceptive portrayal by Clive Reville of a man torn between duty and self containment, and the scene in which Britt Ekland has her dress torn half off.

Exciting spy film set during the Cold War with thrills , noisy action , plot twists and interesting script

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 28 July 2015]

The film has suspense , tension , emotion , mystery and specially in its final a little bit of violence . Following the death of his son , in the Austrian Alps , ¨The Key Man¨ , a high ranking officer in the CIA called Dan Slater (Yul Brynner) , has to face off the most daring plot ever concocted by the secret agents of two worlds : East and West , during the Cold War . In Austria he decides to investigate and step by step finds out that the death of his son was no a skiing accident . A retired , prior undercover operative , Frank Wheatley (Clive Revill) , whom he had hoped would watch out for his son helps Dan seeks out the real killers . By the way , Dan meets socialite Gina (Britt Ekland , though Ulla Jacobsson was offered first this role) , the companion of rich and mature Mrs. Carrington (Moira Lister) , who puts him on the alright trails o perhaps fake clues . Eventually , rare inconsistencies begin appearing leading Dan to conclude that Russian secret service led by Col. Berthold (Anton Diffring) attempting a mysterious kidnapping .

Suspenseful movie packs thrills , intrigue , frantic action , twists and turns . This complex piece of espionage is notable for its snow-capped scenery and its thrilling intrigue from start to finish . Interesting as well as amusing screenplay from Alfred Hayes and Frank Tarloff based on Henry Maxfield's novel titled "Legacy of a Spy". However , the movie's script was similar to the then recently released Spy with my face (1965) and its TV counter-part The agent of T.I.A. : The Double Affair (1964) . Although the picture has various ingredients for entertainment , the screenplay is also complex , including inexplicable incidents , the plot has gaps , in spite of it results to be pretty fun . Nice acting by Yul Brynner as cold and emotion-less agent , a top-notch performance who steals the show and gorgeous Britt Ekland's first major movie role . Support cast is pretty good such as Lloyd Nolan as Major Edwards who assigns him the dangerous mission , Clive Revill as undercover agent , Moira Lister as wealthy Mistress and Brandon Brady as Russian agent . Special mention for Anton Diffring in his ordinary German face and cool , clipped diction , as he replaced an actor who dropped out ; here Anton plays magnificently a Russian operative who attempts to substitute starring with a double of its own in order to obtain a mole in the highest echelons of the CIA agency . Diffring was a character actor who worked continuously in movies due to his aristocratic style , making him ideal for typecasting in British and later American films as Nazis and other vile , despicable roles , what was ironic about his typecasting as a Nazi is that he fled Nazi Germany in 1939 .

Lively and enjoyable musical score by Ernie Freeman , including catching sounds throughout . Colorful cinematography by Dennis Coop , shot on location in wonderful outdoors as the mountain range vista seen in the film is the Tyrolean Alps situated in the state of Tyrol in western Austria . Good aerial scenes and spectacular snowy landscapes carried out by the late aerial cameraman John Jordan who died whilst working on Catch 22 (1970) . It was released before the snow-laden James Bond movie On her Majesty's secret service (1969), Jordan worked on both these spy movies . Lavishly produced by Hal E Chester , he was a juvenile actor , then a producer of low-budget movies in Hollywood, before he moved in 1955 to Britain, where he set up his own production company to take advantage of the lower costs of filming ; over the next 15 years he turned out a wide range of pictures, which often featured American stars such as Mickey Rooney, Dana Andrews, Paul Newman and Yul Brynner . The picture was well directed by Franklin J. Schaffner . He made excellent motion pictures such as "The Planet of the Apes", "Patton, " "Papillon" , ¨"Nicholas and Alexandra" , after the flop of his film titled " Islands in the Stream ", in which went on to coincide with the actor of "Patton" , George C. Scott , he decided to embark on a project more commercial and successful as "The Boys From Brazil" ; however , ¨Sphinx¨ ,¨Lionheart¨, ¨Si Giorgio¨ were other box office failures . Rating : Better than average , worthwhile watching .

Duplicates

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 26 September 2015]

Yul Brynner stars in this espionage drama about a CIA man conducting his own private investigation into the death of his son in an Alpine skiing accident in Austria. What he doesn't know, but soon finds out is that the son's death was all part of a ruse by the Russian KGB to get him over to Europe where he is to be captured and put to death and replaced by a duplicate to infiltrate the CIA and crack American security. If successful this prototype will be used for other people in the USA and our allies in The Double Man.

Unwittingly part of the plan is an old friend of Brynner's, Clive Revill and his Austrian wife Britt Ekland. Revill runs an international school there and was once in the espionage business, but now out of it and glad to be. He's not sure he can hack it, but in the end has to make a Solomon like choice.

During the middle and late 60s spy movies were a glut on the market due to the success of James Bond. The Double Man isn't the best or the worst of them. Yul Brynner's fans will approve.

Good, minimalist thriller (plot-holes not-withstanding)

[kevnick · 8/10 · 12 November 2007]

"The Double Man" comes out of the rash of 60's cold war thrillers and James Bond wannabes, yet it is better than most of the period. Fine performances by Brynner, Clive Revill, Anton Diffring, and Lloyd Nolan, and some excellent cinematography involving the Austrian Alps by Denys Coop give the film a solid boost. Franklin Schaffner's direction gives the film a tight, efficient pace. The biggest positive here is that cast and director treat what could have been tongue-in-cheek material (in lesser hands) in a serious manner, lending weight and intelligence to the film. The only drawbacks are the occasional plot-hole and the non-acting of co-star Brit Ekland (here only for window dressing). Otherwise, "The Double Man" is good entertainment for spy movie fans everywhere!

functional espionage

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 16 December 2020]

Dan Slater (Yul Brynner) is a high level CIA official. His son dies in a ski accident in the Alps. He suspects foul play and goes to investigate. It leads to waitress Gina Ericson (Britt Ekland) and he suspects a trap. Of course, the Russians have actually laid out a trap.

This is mostly a lesser espionage movie. It's helped by Yul Brynner's stoic performance and the European ski resort location. There isn't a great deal of action. It's definitely not Bond. It's also not that realistic. It exists in a lot of middling middle. It's functional.

Typical American Smash and Destroy

[rruess-1 · 5/10 · 27 April 2012]

I watched this movie in the wee hours of the morning and probably should not have done so as I was not too sure who was the survivor in the end. I do not like to have a movie end that way, but the location scenes were very good and makes me want to return there again.

Cannot an American movie be made without the overkill of the "barroom brawl" smash and bang portion that, in my opinion, ruins the whole movie. Someone has to come crashing through plate glass windows, destroy mountains of dishes and glassware and demolish a whole kitchen or other room for "sensationalism". This cheap addition makes me not like whatever else (good story, good acting, beautiful scenery) may be in that movie. Americans are destructive orientated and I guess we thrive on the addition of this junk.

"You Don't Need to be Clever to win wars"

[lost-in-limbo · 6/10 · 21 February 2015]

Just like its leading man Yul Brynner, "The Double Man" is a decently lean, direct and hard-hearted late 60s spy melodrama. A steadfast Brynner simply commands the screen, even when no dialogues are spoken, his psychical presence and glare can knock you down. Here he plays CIA agent Dan Slater who heads to a ski resort in the Tyrolean Alps after the reported accidental death of his son, but he believes it wasn't an accident and unknowingly to him his arrival is actually part of a cunning Cold War ploy. It's a well-handled and good-looking (thanks to the scenic cinematography of picturesque snowy backdrop) presentation, as the plot is thick on intrigue and investigation, as it slowly builds upon its brooding framework. There's nothing particularly exciting about it, as the thrills are few and minor and it's overly talky. However the structure is persistent, as the exchanges have a moody intensity and Brynner carries it along nicely with all that chasing and shadowy scheming going on behind the scenes. The ludicrous twist when it comes isn't much of one, because of the clues that are given. Really it only complicates matters, but this works for its stone cold approach. Franklin J. Schaffner's taut direction is grounded and practical in style, as he lets the story's conflicts evolve and the cast take control. The ever-beautiful Britt Ekland plays an important piece to the plot's stirrings and there's excellent support from the likes of Clive Revill, Anton Differing, Lloyd Nolan and Moira Lister. Also dominating was the instrumental music score. Sometimes it worked, other times it was on overload.

Worth watching for Yul

[jameselliot-1 · 6/10 · 24 September 2019]

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.

A travelogue with laughable music.... plus a slight plot.

[skoogs-3 · 22 July 2011]

I started to watch this film then suddenly there was this awful din! Then I realised it must be the Mexico Brass Band and String Quartet warming up in the background. I strained my eyes, but no! They were nowhere to be seen. What could it be? Then I realised it was the background 'music' that is there supposedly to enhance a film- but this 'music' was in the foreground obviously in an attempt for the musicians to have a Number 1 hit in Greenland. But to the film..... with Yul Brynner sensibly wearing a hat to keep out the cold from his ever balding head looked as though he was missing his six other 'Magnificent' comrades and wistfully glanced towards the mountains in the hope that they would be skiing down to join him. Britt Ekland looked pretty, but her bottom lip is a little to thick for my taste, and Anton Diffring looking naked without his German Uniform. However, Clive Revill always is a cracking character actor. I gallantly tried to watch the wooden plot that has been done many times before in various guises, but I just couldn't hack the music so it was..... click! Goodbye!

Max! Get dressed! Were going to a party!

[kapelusznik18 · 7/10 · 18 June 2015]

***SPOILERS***A stoic and unemotional Yul Brynner as US Government secret Agent Dan Slater is determined to find out the circumstances of his 16 year old son Bobby's, David Scheur, death in a skying accident off the Austrian Alps. Not for a moment believing the official story that Bobby's death was an accident Slater despite being told by his boss in the CIA the wheelchair bound Edwards, Lloyd Noland, to lay off and get the first flight back to the US he goes on his own to find the person or persons he believes are responsible for Bobby's death. And in his own way, without arrest trial or jury, terminate them! Getting his former and now retired partner in the CIA Frank Wheatley, Clive Revill, to help him in finding Bobby's killer doesn't at first seem like a good idea on Slater's part. Wheatley has not only given up both his gun, he refuses to use one, as well as violence becoming a meek and peaceful ski instructor who taught Bobby how to ski! Which in Slater's suspicious mind feels he may well have been the person who gave Bobby the push that shoved him off the mountain that ended up killing him!

There's also the beautiful Gina, Britt Ekland, who was the last person to see Bobby alive as well, in Slater's mind, as the person who may also have killed him. Taking off the silk gloves if he was ever wearing them Slater later brutally manhandled Gina at the ski lodge just for fun then for getting information out of her. That in retaliation has her almost ending up scratching his eyes out! That later proves if he's really in fact Slater or***MAJOR SPOILER***the person impersonating him! You see Slater isn't Slater but a Soviet like Manchurian Candidate who's to be planted in the CIA, as Slater, as a major mole for the KGB! With the real Slater being held hostage until his services for the KGB, in staying alive, are no longer needed!

***SPOILERS*** Yul Brynner is very effective in both roles as Slater and his KGB impersonator Kalmar and the action scenes in the movie rival or even suppress any of the at that time, in the mid 1960's, James Bonds films that "The Double Man" is copying off. The movie is all action and suspense and lacks the emotionless and mechanical like sex and romance that the then James Bond films with Sean Connery have. Brynner does almost the impossible in playing the bad guy in both his roles as Slater and Kalmer with Slater, who supposed to be the good guy, the far worse of the two! In fact in a scene where Slater, who's really Kalmer, brutally works over Gina it's Slater, who's face wasn't stretched by Gina, who told his shocked and confused partner Wheatley who at the time didn't quite know which one, Slater or Kalamer, to shoot that if he worked her over she not have been alive to scratch him!

Double the Brynner, double the fun.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 30 May 2022]

Revisiting films that you are allowed to stay up and watch on The late show as a teenager years later becomes really fun because of the nostalgia of seeing it through the eyes of seeing it in different ages. Watching this at 18 was a thrill, and at 35 even more so. Years later, it's still equally good and possibly better because the plot is not a convoluted mess like other spy movies of the 1960's. I am still equally as thrilled by watching it for the third time, and Yul is just as rugged and commanding as he was as the King of Siam and Rameses, as well as other masculine roles he has played.

There's a lot of tenderness in his performance as the regretful father of a young man whom he suspects was murdered while skiing in the alps. He's a CIA agent who finds that his son's death was part of something else, and it's something that he must stop before it's too late. With Lloyd Nolan as his boss, Britt Ekland as the beautiful young lady who helps him and Moira Lister as the sophisticated owner of a ski chalet, he's got great support.

The location footage of the Alps is outstanding, very cinematic and I'm sure this would look great on a big screen. In fact, I'd give it a fourth visit just to see it in that aspect. The film is non-stop action, quite riveting from start to finish. Other supporting characters played by Clive Revill and Anton Diffring also add color, and even an unspeaking extra, a heavyset woman with a dog sitting next to Brynner on the train, stands out. I would call this a great credit for director Franklin J Shaffner who would have a few other great follow-ups to this, giving an indication why this has fallen into obscurity. Definitely one of the surprising sleepers of the 1960's!

Endless Crowds Crowding On Lifts and Awful Music A Doubly Dull Affair

[LeonLouisRicci · 5/10 · 16 June 2015]

Artificial and Stiffly Plotted Cold War Spy Film with an Obtrusive and Obese Musical Score. Yul Brynner is the Bald and Unblinking, Unloving and Hard-Hearted CIA Agent.

The Movie is Dull at times and every Outdoor Shot is Snowy and Showy Determined to make its Mountainous Ski Resort Part of the Plot. The Film Plods along at an Excruciating Pace and when Something does Happen it is Over Quickly and back to the Boredom.

After a Multitude of Silly Shots of Crowds holding Skis and Poles moving On and Off Lifts, the Last Act finally breaks Loose with some Movement but this is Undermined by yet Another Ski Slope Travelogue. Thankfully this one is at Night and We get a bit of Colorful Flares, Whoopee.

Britt Ekland is here for some Eye Candy and Her Character is Given Something to do, but Ultimately it's Not Much. Brynner is There to Find Out about His Son's "Accidental" Death and the Reveal is a Surprise if every Reviewer on the Planet hasn't Spoiled it by now.

Overall, the Trend of 1960's Bonding of Espionage and Film is Evident once again and Followers and Fans of the Genre might want to take a Look at this one from a Completest Point of View, but Others Can Miss this Without Missing Much.

Austrian Alps setting, Swiss Cheese plot

[Gregory_Anton · 6/10 · 15 January 2021]

Most Bond films have a 15-minute segment in which Bond senses a trap, but intentionally walks into the trap in order to learn what he is up against. The Double Man expands that 15-minute segment into a feature length film, with all the details of how and why the trap is being set. Yul Brynner plays a cold, brooding spy, decades before Daniel Craig would give James Bond a similar characterization.

The Double Man is an enjoyable ride down the Alps, but don't get drawn into those plot holes that make you lose an edge. Alas, if director Franklin Schaffner could only have found a Bond-like swimming pool scene for Britt Ekland, the movie's rating would have been much higher.

Silly sixties spy nonsense

[robert-temple-1 · 5/10 · 14 December 2011]

Yul Brynner was an impressive and powerful screen presence, moving like a panther, scowling like one as well from under his intent brow. He really laid it on, and it generally works. But here is the problem: this film is about 'duplicating' him. The Soviets, aided by the East Germans (Anton Diffring not as a Nazi officer this time but as a Stasi officer, same thing), intend to replace Dan Slater, Assistant Deputy Director of the CIA (played by Brynner), with a double. The double (played by Brynner, naturally) has the same accent and the same walk, is the same size, and has had plastic surgery to have the same face. But of all the people in Hollywood who could not be duplicated, Yul Brynner must be the top. So how silly can you get? This kind of story might work with one of those identikit actors, who are especially popular in Hollywood at the moment actually, but somebody as weird as Yul Brynner?! And the story gets sillier. Because there is cute 34 year-old Britt Ekland. I had forgotten what a looker she really was in those days. Naturally there has to be 'the girl' in every such story, so credulity is stretched even further to fit her in, despite the fact that she is not really part of the story and has to be squeezed between the floorboards (that's because the story is set in the Austrian Tyrol, where all the chalets are wooden), so that Anton Diffring and his team can blend in with the locals and also so that some people can combine the film production with a skiing holiday (a joke? or real?). Shades of Leni Riefenstahl and the mountain films of the twenties and thirties such as STORM OVER MONT BLANC! This film is made all the more objectionable because of the terrible music score by Ernie Freeman. In the late sixties it was considered trendy to fill every moment of a thriller when people weren't speaking with blaring trumpets and trombones in a kind of hep ersatz jazz, the theory being that this would heighten the tension while people were walking up staircases (supposed to be ominous, with goodness knows what fate awaiting them at the top) or approaching looming buildings which might contain goodness knows what villains. More likely it made people hold their ears or run screaming from the cinema in search of a doctor. The film was directed by Franklin Schaffner (best known for PLANET OF THE APES the following year, 1968, and his next film, PATTON, two years later in 1971; his film SPHINX of 1981 was no great shakes, see my review), who should have known better, and who at least saved it from being terrible, so that it remained merely bad. Moira Lister has great fun being a spoilt rich hostess who throws parties and tries to seduce toy boys. Clive Revill is good at being a hangdog former British spy who can't take it any more, and cannot even make himself pick up a gun, although finally he regains his courage of course and does pick up one lest he let down a friend. Lloyd Nolan plays the head of the CIA from a wheelchair and whines: 'How could Dan go off somewhere without telling me where?' Some CIA! A cable arrives addressed to Dan Slater, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC, we see it on screen but no one at the CIA bothers to read it and it is handed to Brynner as if it were a Christmas card. Sure, that's how it works in Washington. But this is a serious matter: will the dastardly communist Yul Brynner return to America and betray all the secrets of the USA to the sour-faced Russian who has instructed the eager Diffring? Or will the patriotic Yul Brynner save the day by stopping him? As the bad Brynner says to the good Brynner during a gunfight: 'There cannot be two of us.' Is a glass half full or half empty? Is a movie half good or half bad? Five stars will leave you wondering about that.

Improbable but Efficient 60's Spy Thriller

[jbridge-1991 · 6/10 · 16 May 2022]

The Cold War Spy thriller was all the rage during the swinging 60's, and virtually every major studio if not star of the era produced a glossy, high-budget contribution to this particular genre. THE DOUBLE MAN as its title suggests adapts the hackneyed lookalike plot within its framework, a device more often employed for humour (as Bob Hope did for example in the Secret Agent comedy MY FAVORITE SPY, in 1951), but here is treated as serious drama.

And there were few actors as serious as the resonant-voiced, cold-eyed Yul Brynner, cast as a solemn, emotionless CIA man Dan Slater, who visits the Austrian Alps to investigate the death of his young son in an apparent skiing accident, meeting a friend and former colleague Wheatley (Clive Revill) who now runs the school Slater's son attended before his passing. Slater begins to suspect his son was not the victim of an accident but murder, designed to lure him from the US into an espionage plot by Soviet agents, which indeed happens when it is revealed they intend swapping Slater with an agent who is an identical double, send him back to the States to infiltrate his CIA department while killing and disposing of Slater surreptitiously. Can Slater escape from the enemy agents and inform Wheatley and a locally-based CIA man of said double before he flies back to Washington?

The story itself is a slightly more interesting variation on usual Cold War shenanigans, but not especially convincing or exciting, with Brynner's taciturn visage making for a mostly unlikeable, unsympathetic hero. But it is well enough made in attractive alpine locations, nicely photographed by cameraman Denys Coop, with the film's best performance coming from Clive Revill as a slightly scarred but more congenial character who assists Brynner loyally in his investigations; Britt Ekland has a somewhat superfluous if decorative role as a young woman who witnessed the boy's last moments, with Anton Diffring smoothly villainous as the main Soviet agent.

Franklin J. Schaffner was a talented if rather overlooked filmmaker that had more prestigious productions ahead of him, such as the following PLANET OF THE APES and PATTON. Schaffner's handling sustains interest throughout despite some far-fetched complications, and the first time we see the alps bears a certain similarity to some of the opening scenes from the superior PLANET OF THE APES released the following year, albeit there in desert, rather than snowy locations.

So THE DOUBLE MAN is a small notch above the usual routine spy stories of the period thanks to some fine talents in front and behind the camera, very watchable if not especially memorable.

Rating- 6 and a Half out of 10.

Will the real Yul Brynner please stand up?

[jaybsigel · 3/10 · 4 May 2021]

Yul Brynner plays his "The King and I" persona in this preposterous and predictable spy vs spy semi-thriller from the cold war 1960's. The supposition is that the KGB can produce, with plastic surgery, a look-alike CIA agent who will supplant the real agent. He will have the same height, accent, appearance and rotten demeanor. Never mind the different finger prints. How many times have we seen that? Taking place in the Austrian Alps, there are way too many scenes of skiing and partying. The CIA agent (Brynner), rude and snarling at everyone, is lured to the area with the suspicious death of his son by an apparent skiing accident. Of course it's a trap! Britt Ekland plays a nice dupe with her contribution to the plot being somewhat fuzzy other than her good looks. Throughout the movie, the question is who can you trust, but by the end of the movie, I didn't care. Apparently, if you're a CIA agent, you can shoot people and then just fly back home without even worrying about even a local police investigation. And if the KGB knows that you are CIA, aren't you then already compromised?