Independent investigator Richard Cutting (Patrick O'Neal) is called in by an insurance company. He is to investigate new information about the sinking of ships belonging to ruthless millionaire Curt Valayan (John Gielgud). A year ago one of Valayan's henchman, Walter Green (Peter Van Eyck), was bringing evidence of deliberate sinking to the insurance companies when his plane went down in the Swiss Alps. Now the plane has been discovered but there is no sign of Green, and suspicions that he is alive. Cutting races to track down Green's former secretary, Dominique Laurant (John Hackett), before Valayan's fixer Matt Wilson (Herbert Lom), and his muscle The Big Man (Leon Greene), can find her. Cutting and Laurant meet with Green, who indicates the existence of an "affidavit" attesting to the sinking, before he is killed. The killing arouses the interest of police Inspector Ruff (Oscar Homolka). Without the affidavit Cutting is preparing to leave when Laurant ups the stakes by suggesting to Wilson that she has the affidavit. Cutting knows that Wilson can't allow any "loose ends" and will have to come after Laurant. He attempts to produce an affidavit and finally goes to St. Gstaad to confront Valayan and Wilson. There he gets revenge on Wilson and sets up Valayan for Inspector Ruff.
While the plot is traditional the movie benefits from quite good dialog which seems to arouse the interest of the actors. I've always liked Patrick O'Neal but recognized that his stoic manner limited his performances. In Assignment To Kill he opens up emotionally, particularly in his scenes with Joan Hackett. She, in turn, is a delight and plays the dialog superbly. Let's face it Herbert Lom has been playing villains like this for decades but even he seems to enjoy himself. He adds an additional dimension by relating his activities to Cutting's. Although I found it a little offsetting to hear him addressed as Matt Wilson, Lom is definitely a mittel-European villain! Gielgud is his usual incisive self with arched eyebrow at work. I mentioned Leon Greene simply to note that his career in films started with the dynamic Miles Glorious in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum. A few years later he is a nameless thug; I guess even actors have to eat. Homolka, in a small role, is a happy reminder of performances past and Van Eyck is appropriately cynical and world weary.
Technical credits are good, particularly the scenery in Geneva and the Alps.
This film is one of those happy discoveries, which if not an A picture is at least a superior B picture, and deserves a wider audience. It also proves the old adage that an actor is only as good as their material. Here the actors had a good script, by director Sheldon Reynolds, and respond with zest.
