To Skin a Spy

Even if spy thrillers (which, naturally, proliferated during the Cold War) are favorites of mine, sometimes I find it hard to follow the films' convoluted plots -which, more often than not, end up not being all that interesting or even the central focus of the films themselves! However, I must say that this particular example takes the cake: never during the course of the 90-plus minutes of the film is it made at all clear just which side the various characters are on and what kind of information they're peddling! In spite of this, the film is rendered watchable by the typically gloomy East European settings, its constant double-crosses and moments of violence and, above all, its weathered gallery of performers - Lino Ventura, Jean Servais, Wolfgang Preiss, Jean Bouise and Rene' Koldehoff (the cast also includes Adrian Hoven and Marilu' Tolo, who's wasted as the only female in the group).

A good french spy thriller, shot in a natural settings in the city of Vienna and its 60s Cold War atmosphere,with a nice and captivating music. This is the first collaboration between Jacques Deray and Lino Ventura and the result is quite good. The sript by the excellent José Giovanni is a bit classic for a spy film, but effective and well-constructed. Lino Ventura is perfect as a cold and determined secret agent and Jean Bouise is excellent as a disillusioned network leader ready to give up. Without revolutionizing the genre, it's a nice atmospheric dive into the city of Vienna and the Cold War together with two very talented French actors!

After a few collaborations with José Giovanni (as a writer), all action films developed outside of France (Marrakech - L'homme de Marrakech), (Tokyo - Rififi in Tokyo), (Spain - Crime on a Summer Morning), in To Skin a Spy (1966) Avec la peau des autres, we got an original tale of spies, held in Vienna. Lino Ventura, as usual, is the tough guy coming out victorious, killing all the others. We have an important distribution with relevant actors such as Jean Bouise, Jean Servais, Marilu Tolo, Wolfgang Preiss (the famous Dr. Mabuse). Notable Organ music in the foreground signed Michel Magne. Very professional cinematography signed by Jean Boffety. It is a spy movie, not like the others. It has a healthy dose of realism.

The film is not in any way special considering the amount of espionage films in the wake of James Bond and "The spy who came in from the cold". It follows definitely more in the John Le Carré mold though. But it never reaches beyond and tries to establish Vienna once again as a meeting place for spies and data trading of any kind. The extensive use of Vienna's settings is amusing for locals since they are quite accurately done. And Lino Ventura as a French agent is never wrong but what is somehow strange is the total lack of any Austrian actors, all roles of Austrians went to German actors. If you want to know how Vienna looked in the sixties this is a good reference.

Although the screenplay was written by Jose Giovanni ,it was not representative of his work:his world was the world of romantic gangsters,cops,raiders or losers(often played by Lino Ventura or Alain Delon).He had often denounced death penalty long before it was abolished in his country.

This is to my knowledge Giovanni's only attempt at a spy thriller.It's a routine work,but generally the plot is decipherable,which is not always the case with double agents stories.Effective directing by Jacques Deray who would have his hour of glory with Alain Delon ("la piscine" "Borsalino").Lino Ventura does a good job.