Tarefa Sinistra

"Assignment to Kill" is far from a perfect film. There are a few plot holes and a lady at the end of the film who is there...but with no real explanation for who she is nor her bizarre actions. Still, despite a few minor problems, I liked the film...mostly because I loved the sort of man Patrick O'Neal played in the film...a seemingly amoral private detective who is hiding some actual ideals!

Some time ago, four shipping accidents occurred in a very short space of time...all to the same company. It seems obvious that the sunken ships were sunk on purpose but there's absolutely no proof. Work by various other detectives working for the insurance company either came up with nothing or they died by what appeared to be an accident. So, they company has sought out yet another men, Richard Cutting (Patrick O'Neal) to look into this case.

This is a highly unusual film in that although O'Neal was the star, he rarely ever got to star in movies. Often he played villains, especially on television shows. Here he's excellent...cool, complicated and not at all like most movie detectives. He's also a man who acts like his moral compass is broken but over time you can see that he actually has a very strong and idiosyncratic conscience.

The trail takes him to Zurich, as a plane crash in the mountains which happened some time ago was just discovered. The pilots' remains were found but it appears as if the passenger might have escaped with their life. Cutting thinks this man might know about the sunken ships...and his part-time secretary (Joan Hackett) might be able to help him. However, Matt Wilson (Herbert Lom) and his goons always seem to be at his heels. What's next? See the film.

Apart from the acting by O'Neal and Lom, the dialog was really nice. It was so good....but the actual details of the story were occasionally poorly thought out...making it a story with a few flaws which I was still able to enjoy. Well worth seeing.

By the way, coincidentally, one of the characters in the story is murdered in Zurich. This same actor died in real life in Zurich only a few months later.

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.

Private investigator Richard Cutting (Patrick O'Neal) is being hired by an insurance company to investigate shipping magnate Curt Valayan (John Gielgud). They had made a big payout to him despite their suspicions. One of Valayan's man may be the key to the fraud but he is missing under mysterious circumstances. Cutting finds the man's secretary Dominique Laurant (Joan Hackett), but the investigation is complicated by Matt Wilson (Herbert Lom).

I don't know anything about Sheldon Reynolds who wrote and directed this movie. This is cinematic, but not great cinema. These are solid actors doing solid work. O'Neal is playing the protagonist like an antagonist. The movie needs more action to give it kinetic energy. The fights are old fashion fisticuffs. It can fall into a lack of intensity. I like some of the darker material like Cutting being nonchalant as he's told about killing the 28 sailors. That's cold and that's this movie. It's a bit cold and a bit murky. The story flow meanders sometimes. It's a 60's film looking to the 70's.

This film by Sheldon Reynolds is not a bad thriller. It has the advantage of Joan Hackett as the female lead. Two years before she had made a big impression in Sidney Lumet's THE GROUP and here she is, aged 29, being a charming love interest for the tough investigator Patrick O'Neal in a high-octane thriller set mostly in Switzerland. Vicious people keep killing non-vicious people, something called 'the way of the world'. Herbert Lom is a real bad guy who orders people to be assassinated with the insouciance of somewhat flicking ash from a cigar. Poor Peter van Eyck does not last long. Oskar Homolka is a Swiss police chief who bides his time. John Gielgud plays the ultimate king of the baddies, ensconced in a palatial mansion high in the Alps, enjoying the view and behaving with perfect manners. It is all entertaining stuff.

Saw this 1968 Spy-Thriller with my dad in 1968 at the old Boulevard Theater on Biscayne Blvd. in Miami, Florida. One of Patrick O'Neal's better films. Made during the era of such cold war classic's as Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, and Kremlin Letter; for some unexplained reason however, this film never really caught on. It moved at a fast pace, was well acted and well scripted, had adventure, action, romance, humor, and a stunning surprise. Patrick O'Neal did his best work in the late 1960s with Kremlin Letter, Chamber of Horrors, Castle Keep, and Assignment to Kill. Joan Hacket was a shinning light. This rates as her second best on screen performance behind the group. Her death at 49 from cancer was a shock to her fans. Yet, she and Patrick O'Neal are forever caught in time; in their prime, in Assignment to Kill. Can't wait for the DVD to come out one day.