Shrewd and rumpled veteran CIA operative Miles Kendig (marvelously played with crusty aplomb by Walter Matthau) gets demoted to a dull desk job. Disgruntled with this dismal situation, Kendig decides to strike back by publishing a tell-all memoir that exposes the innermost secrets of several major world intelligence agencies.
Director Ronald Neame, working from a witty script by Brian Garfield and Bryan Forbes, relates the enjoyable story at a snappy pace, maintains an engaging tongue-in-cheek tone throughout, makes inspired use of classical music, and pokes wickedly droll fun at basic spy movie formula conventions (the sequence with a bunch of trigger happy agents destroying a house that they think Kendig is hiding in is an absolute riot!). The fine acting by the top-rate cast keeps this film buzzing, with especially stand-out contributions from Glenda Jackson as Kendig's feisty old flame Isobel, Ned Beatty as huffy, bumbling, foulmouthed superior Myerson, Herbert Lom as Kendig's suave and cagey Soviet nemesis Yaskov, Sam Waterston as the easygoing Cutter, David Matthau as the zealous, but inept Ross, and Severn Darden as the corrupt Maddox. The crisp widescreen cinematography by Brian W. Roy and Arthur Ibbetson provides an impressive elegant look. The various globe-trotting locations -- Austria, Germany, England, and so on -- supply a neat sense of scope. However, it's Matthau's utterly amiable shambling grace and wonderfully relaxed natural chemistry with Jackson which in turn gives this picture an extra additional appeal and energy. A total treat.
Director Ronald Neame, working from a witty script by Brian Garfield and Bryan Forbes, relates the enjoyable story at a snappy pace, maintains an engaging tongue-in-cheek tone throughout, makes inspired use of classical music, and pokes wickedly droll fun at basic spy movie formula conventions (the sequence with a bunch of trigger happy agents destroying a house that they think Kendig is hiding in is an absolute riot!). The fine acting by the top-rate cast keeps this film buzzing, with especially stand-out contributions from Glenda Jackson as Kendig's feisty old flame Isobel, Ned Beatty as huffy, bumbling, foulmouthed superior Myerson, Herbert Lom as Kendig's suave and cagey Soviet nemesis Yaskov, Sam Waterston as the easygoing Cutter, David Matthau as the zealous, but inept Ross, and Severn Darden as the corrupt Maddox. The crisp widescreen cinematography by Brian W. Roy and Arthur Ibbetson provides an impressive elegant look. The various globe-trotting locations -- Austria, Germany, England, and so on -- supply a neat sense of scope. However, it's Matthau's utterly amiable shambling grace and wonderfully relaxed natural chemistry with Jackson which in turn gives this picture an extra additional appeal and energy. A total treat.