This is the perfect example of what Henri Verneuil could make in his second career part, international casts for prestigious movies, very well documented, accurate, complex, sometimes spectacular, ambitious.... In this espionage intrigue, you have plenty of actors from France (Noiret, Bouquet), America ( Fonda, Brynner), UK - Bogarde - and a semi documentary style that we'll see later for MILLE MILLIARDS DE DOLLARS and I COMME ICARE. Verneuil's cinema had nothing to do with the Nouvelle Vague but his strategy was assumed to be highly commercial. He was the most "American" french director. His talent was mostly in the directing than in the topic choices. He was a brilliant technician with no ideology nor message to claim, unlike many other French directors.
