Ty Hardin was born "Orson Whipple Hungerford Junior" and he starred in a successful Western TV series called "Bronco", after John Wayne took a liking to him on the set of "Rio Bravo" and helped promote his career. He never really made it in the movies though, which is a pity, as I find him to be quite a compelling actor.
Ty is back in another fringe Eurospy, this time long on melodrama but short on action. Again he's not a secret agent as such, but the basic structure and many of the events that take place are typical of the genre. The Director does an admirable job of creating the appropriate ambiance, but is clearly hamstrung by lack of finance.
Counter revolution is afoot, and Ty is the only pilot who can take a plane load of commandos in and land it in difficult mountain terrain, in order to rescue the previous leader who is being held prisoner up there.
The strongest aspect of this film is the acting, with Ty allowed plenty of face time to show off subtle facial movements that indicate his thought processes, similar to what Steve McQueen liked to do in movies he controlled, while at the other end of the scale, Ricardo Palacios is charismatic and amusing as his overweight ally "Flower", and Jose Maria Caffarel also produces memorable turn as the deceptive "Uncle".
Palacios in particular demonstrates that it is possible to be both broadly comical yet still remain credible as a serious and competent operator, which is a very difficult trick to pull off, but for mine, he manages it here.
Gustavo Rojo, as the unscrupulous "Velludo" is a bit over the top, but is so passionate and emphatic that he gets away with it, and I particularly enjoyed the way he made use of his cane in the opening scenes.
On the other hand I found Rosella Como and Antonella Lualdi, while both being suitably attractive, to be a bit wooden. In any case Ty beds one, while the other is already an ex-girlfriend who he drives off into the sunset with at the end, so he adequately shows off his "International Man of Mystery" credentials in that department. However he manages to do this without coming off as a shallow womaniser, as, having previously been jilted by Anabella, it is clear that he is fully committed to Rosella, until she meets with an unfortunate demise. Only then does he reconsider Anabella, who has previously been pleading, to no avail, that she regrets her previous actions and really does love him.
As mentioned above the big issue is the lack of action, clearly there is no budget for it. No exotic locations are on display, even via stock footage. There are a handful of very nice vehicles (an E Type Jag, an Alpha Romeo Giulietta and an ancient Roller) but only one perfunctory car chase, ending with an explosion involving a finned America vehicle from the early 1950s. Early fighting and shooting scenes are also brief and unsatisfying. Later attempts to edit footage of the aeroplane landing and taking off on a narrow mesa location during the climactic mission are unconvincing. There's a barely adequate Battle Royale between the two sides in the revolution, but the issues around shooting the aeroplane undermine it. Instead the time is filled by extending political discussion, planning or personal relationship scenes beyond what is necessary.
The theme music is very odd, a chaotic concoction featuring a choir of voices chanting the name of the titular character over and over as the lyrics, with fast paced drumming by assorted percussion as a background, and occasional bursts of flute, electric guitar and sundry brass instruments thrown in at random intervals.
Overall this is one that starts out very promisingly, delivering competently in the areas which don't require money to do well, but gradually fades away, as the lack of money becomes increasingly apparent, and fails to deliver a satisfying payoff in the end.
