When the news of a Russian spy being arrested in London is announced in the local newspaper a former spy now turned private eye becomes very concerned. Sure enough, "John Smith" (Robert Horton) is soon contacted by British Intelligence and asked to participate in a clandestine operation. At first John refuses but when his American girlfriend "Mary Harper" (Jill St. John) is threatened with immediate deportation he begrudgingly accepts the assignment. Essentially, the Russian spy arrested in London has been converted into a double agent and British Intelligence wants to position him in Moscow. So they want John to get arrested in Russia so that a trade can be worked out between the Russian spy and him. The Russian spy would be sent to Moscow in exchange for John. Unfortunately, although John gets arrested in Moscow the trade doesn't work out as planned and he now faces 25 years in Siberia with no way out. Anyway, rather than detail the entire story and risk ruining the film for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a pretty interesting spy caper which involved a complex game of espionage. Yet, while this movie had plenty of intrigue I thought it needed a bit more action, drama or suspense to really be effective. I also would have liked to have seen more of Jill St. John than what was offered. Additionally, from what I understand this particular movie may have been a follow-up to another film by the name of "The Spy Killer" and it's possible viewers could gain a greater appreciation or more perspective if they watched that one first. In any case, due to my previous comments I rate this movie as about average.
