To Catch a Spy
| To Catch a Spy | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Original British quad poster by Arnaldo Putzu | |
| Directed by | Dick Clement |
| Produced by |
Pierre Braunberger Steven Pallos |
| Written by |
Dick Clement Ian La Frenais |
| Based on | the novel Catch Me a Spy by George Marton & Tibor Méray |
| Starring |
Kirk Douglas Marlène Jobert Trevor Howard Tom Courtenay |
| Music by | Claude Bolling |
| Cinematography | Christopher Challis |
| Edited by | John Bloom |
| Distributed by | J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors |
Release dates | 6 September 1971 |
Running time | 94 minutes (UK) |
| Country |
United Kingdom France United States |
| Language | English |
To Catch a Spy is a 1971 comedy spy film directed by Dick Clement and starring Kirk Douglas, Marlène Jobert, Trevor Howard, Richard Pearson, Garfield Morgan, Angharad Rees and Robert Raglan.[1] It was written by Clement and Ian La Frenais. It was a co-production between Britain, the United States and France, which was filmed in Bucharest, Romania. It was also part filmed on Loch Awe and Loch Etive, where the gunboat scenes were filmed, Scotland, and featured Kirk Douglas running through a herd of Highland cattle which were owned by David Fellowes.[2] It was also released as Catch Me a Spy and Keep Your Fingers Crossed.
Synopsis
A young British schoolteacher heads to the Eastern Bloc to try to locate her husband who has gone missing, and soon turns out to have been detained by Soviet intelligence as a spy.[3]
Cast
- Kirk Douglas - Andrej
- Marlène Jobert - Fabienne
- Trevor Howard - Sir Trevor Dawson
- Tom Courtenay - Baxter Clarke
- Patrick Mower - James Fenton
- Bernadette Lafont - Simone
- Bernard Blier - Webb
- Sacha Pitoëff - Stefan
- Richard Pearson - Haldane
- Garfield Morgan - The Husband
- Angharad Rees - Victoria
- Isabel Dean - Celia
- Jean Gilpin - Ground Stewardess
- Robert Raglan - Ambassador
Critical reception
TV Guide wrote the film "features a good cast, an exciting speedboat chase, a few chuckles, and every spy cliche in the book"; [4] and Radio Times noted "a sometimes clever and witty script by the ace TV team of Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. However, it's rather let down by Clement's uncertain direction. Another problem is that, as a Bucharest waiter who is actually a spy, Kirk Douglas's peculiar intensity isn't best suited to a comedy. Trevor Howard and Tom Courtenay seem more at home with the spy spoof material." [5]