What could have been an intriguing view of "Things to Come" considering the acts of terrorism going on around the world today ends up a silly cartoon-like thriller with Boris and Natasha like villains and an over-the-hill leading man who ends up with the sexy younger woman as if he was an Americanized version of James Bond as played by Roger Moore. Howard Duff, still attractive, is out to trap Russian terrorists and stop their attempts to poison an entire city. Linda Cristal is the sexy scientist he utilizes in his quest, and of course, they end up in a romance together while working side by side in their attempts to save the world.
Poor Anne Jeffreys is saddled with a one-dimensional Natasha like spy, made to look extremely severe. If recent pictures of her still being gorgeous (in her 90's!) hadn't surfaced, you'd swear her face would crack into pieces with the stone-faced character she is forced to play here. A climactic chase through L.A. is the one highlight of the film, following over an hour of boring dialog explaining the ridiculous plot to an audience its writers assume are dumb enough to believe what is going on could actually take place. Americans are presented as noble fighters for democracy, while the European villains of various nationalities are all one dimensional and anti-democracy. The only thing this is missing is a reference to "Fearless Leader".
Poor Anne Jeffreys is saddled with a one-dimensional Natasha like spy, made to look extremely severe. If recent pictures of her still being gorgeous (in her 90's!) hadn't surfaced, you'd swear her face would crack into pieces with the stone-faced character she is forced to play here. A climactic chase through L.A. is the one highlight of the film, following over an hour of boring dialog explaining the ridiculous plot to an audience its writers assume are dumb enough to believe what is going on could actually take place. Americans are presented as noble fighters for democracy, while the European villains of various nationalities are all one dimensional and anti-democracy. The only thing this is missing is a reference to "Fearless Leader".