The Chairman

Gregory Peck is a scientist. He is sent on a mysterious mission to China, where it turns out a scientist has developed an amazingly beneficial enzyme, and thinks Peck is the only man who can work out how to duplicate it for mass production, cure all known diseases, etc. Peck and said scientist are idealists who want to share it with the world, while the US and Chinese governments just want it for themselves. And, to make the whole thing more credible, Peck is equipped with a micro-transmitter in his brain which monitors his physical status and bugs his every conversation, including the one he has after playing table tennis with Chairman Mao.

It sounds silly, and, frankly, it is, but the espionage and the attempts to detect it are fairly tense, and Gregory Peck indulges in a fair number of good old humanitarian rants which suggest that Chinese totalitarianism and US militarism aren't necessarily wonderful things either.

I rather enjoyed it.

I am interested in Hollywood movies about China all the time. 55 Days in Beijing, Seven Years in Tibet, Red Corner... I happened to see the Chairman and bought it without any hesitation. But, it turned out to be a complete disappointment not because performance and scenery but true China. In fact, I hate Mao's dictatorship in Red China, however, apparently, American people didn't and could't know much about Red China in 1969. In this movie, the starting music made me believe it was about Japan, what's worse, the Japanese-style-music was all through the movie. And, in 1969, Americans could not find anyone who can speak Mandarine well. What they could find was some Hong Kong-accent guys whose Mandarine made me confused and giggle. When I saw the Chairman, I realized the worst part began. Mao Zedong became much shorter and less-arrogant. He spoke English! Others Mandarine. From the very beginning, I could not find any clues about China Mainland. Everything was falsed too bad. I wondered if you shot the movie without getting a Chinese as a history adviser.

An American scientific named Hathaway (Gregory Peck, after his acting in Stalking moon), Nobel prize winner , is enlisted by British Intelligence Service and assigned Mao's Red China to retrieve a formula about a revolutionary agricultural enzyme that eliminates starvation , diseases and multiply mass production . His chiefs (Arthur Hill , Alan Dobie) have implanted a microchip in his head for placing him in the solitary mission whose unique contact results to be Chang (Burt Kwouk , usual in Peter Sellers' Pink Panther). But he doesn't know that it can be exploded if the mission fails . Hathaway leaves his girlfriend Kay (Anne Heywood) and aboard airplane to Hong Kong . Later on , he's transported to north of China , nearly Russia , where he finds professor Soon Li (Keye Luke, the clever master in Kung-Fu series). There Hathaway interviews President Mao (Conrad Yama) .

This is a political/fiction/thriller , plenty of intrigue , suspense and action-packed in its final part . The film is an espionage story originally written by Ben Maddow with historic communist remarks during Mao Tse Tung period , as the'Great leap' and 'Red book of Mao'. In fact , there had propaganda campaigns mounted by Hong Kong communists claiming the film was anti Mao and anti Chinese consequently filming was transferred to Taiwán . Stars Gregory Peck who gives nice acting , though originally intended to be as a starring vehicle for Frank Sinatra . It packs colorful and evocative cinematography , shot in Pinewood studios of London , by John Wilcox and uncredited Ted Moore . Atmospheric production design , it was used the lab set left over from Fox's Fantastic voyage (1966). Moving and suspenseful musical score by the great master Jerry Goldsmith .The film is lavishly produced by Mort Abrahams and Arthur P. Jacobs who previously produced 'Planet of apes' . The motion picture was middlingly directed by J.L. Thomson (1914-2002) , during his splendor and successful time in the 60s , when he directed hits as 'Mackenna's gold' , 'Cape fear' , 'Taras Bulba' and 'Guns of Navarone' ; though in his last period he only directed Charles Bronson vehicles , such as : 'Death wish 4' , 'Kinjite' , 'St Ives' , 'Messenger of Death' , among others . The movie will appeal to Gregory Peck devotees.

It's discovered by Western authorities that Chinese scientists have developed a miracle enzyme that will enable crops to grow in the most unlikely of places. Naturally, these same Western authorities are very dubious that China will want to share this enzyme with the rest of the world, so they devise a mission, to be undertaken by a civilian. That civilian is Nobel Prize-winning American scientist / professor John Hathaway (Gregory Peck), and he will have to go into China and try to retrieve the formula to this enzyme. What he DOESN'T know is that his handlers (including Arthur Hill as a gruff, humorless General) just might have inserted an explosive device into Hathaway's head, to be set off should things go wrong.

"The Chairman" does have some things going for it, for sure, including the fact that some of it was indeed shot in the Far East. It receives capable direction from J. Lee Thompson, and features a typically excellent Jerry Goldsmith soundtrack, but it's true that it hinges far more on its dialogue than action / suspense set-pieces. Characters frequently discuss philosophies and politics in a true Cold War piece in which the Russians are actually America's allies in this mission. It isn't until the final third that "The Chairman" becomes more of a genuine spy *thriller*, as Hathaway flees for his life from Chinese soldiers, heading for the China-Russia border.

Peck makes the whole journey worthwhile, delivering a consistently engaging performance; when he's righteously indignant at the end of the story, you can't hardly blame him. He's well supported by Hill, the great Keye Luke as Hathaway's aged mentor, Francesca Tu as Lukes' daughter, Conrad Yama in a rather interesting, amiable turn as Chairman Mao, Ric Young as Yin, and Burt "Cato" Kwouk, who only turns up near the end.

While "The Chairman" may not appeal to espionage cinema fans across the board, the fact that it's so very much of its time does make it an interesting viewing.

Six out of 10.

I confess to not having seen this in 30 years,but politics and aging aside,I still remember it as a film that took on a different/ not usual subject(Red China) and had Gregory Peck giving an all out performance as a "layman" spy . It had a somewhat novel gadget factor with the monitoring listening device and the introduction of Mao's country as another "Player" in the big game of world control.The chase for the border was tense and very memorable (the U.S. actually working with the Soviets...who woulda thunk it?)It also boast top-notch production qualities(Score, direction and a fine supporting cast.)There's a funny part that I still remember ... Military guy Arthur Hill is taking the trigger-detonator of Peck's "brain-bomb" from a safe and noticing there's a "skull and crossbones" on it. Hill-"Whose the joker who did this?".........