The Groundstar Conspiracy

I saw this in its original run in a college theatre. I have never been able to find it anywhere. Frankly, I'm just glad to see that it was remembered in imdb. If anybody can steer me toward a copy, please tell me. It was an independent precursor to Bourne before Bourne became an industry. Peppard is terrific. In fact, everyone is terrific.

When "Welles" (Michael Sarazin) is caught after an audacious break in to sabotage a top secret government lab, he claims to have been so traumatised by the whole experience and explosive aftermath that he cannot remember anything about who he is, or why his was there. That deduction falls to "Tuxan" (George Peppard) who sets about trying to help his quarry "remember" just who sent him and what their objective was. On the face of it, this is just another one of these standard television conspiracy thrillers, but there is quite a degree of mystery established by an on-form Sarazin and Peppard does rather better than usual as his gritty and hard nosed character starts to make us wonder just who is pulling the strings. Neither lead character are particularly likeable here and but for the occasional gentle interventions of Christine Belford's "Nicole", the whole thing builds to quite a dry and far-fetched enterprise that ran out of steam after the initial curiosity of the amnesiac scenario started to wear thin. It's watchable, but equally forgettable with a title that does it no favours at all.

This is the best Peppard performance. Is that saying much? Probably not, but he's fairly mesmerizing as an incredibly ruthless investigator whose superiors "only talk to God." Think "Banacek" without one shred of charm and you'll be about halfway there. The film shows its cheapjack TV movie origins in many ways, but the script is tight and the supporting cast (especially Belford doing a nice Rita Hayworth impression) is way above average. It's always been fashionable to hate Sarrazin, but today he'd be Keanu Reeves. Think about it.

Lamont Johnson worked a lot in television but he also directed some interesting films that should be better known; A Covenant with Death, The McKenzie Break, The Last American Hero, You'll Like My Mother and Lipstick. (Even Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone has its felicities!) The Groundstar Conspiracy is a low budget but fast moving thriller with a few twists and turns until the tense ending. All the elements of music, photography and dialogue are pulled together neatly to serve the narrative's momentum.

The plot may strain a little at the edges but the film is helped along by some good acting. Michael Sarrazin as the accused man is convincing. You can feel his terror and his bewilderment. Sarrazin's face helps, it looks beat about and haunted. George Peppard as the government man gives one of his best performances. A real hard case, driven almost by paranoia, single minded and ready to do anything to keep the state secure. Christine Belford and Cliff Potts are good too. It's a good little film.

There are not too many spy films which can conjure up a team of excellent actors for a movie. This however is one. "The Groundstar Conspiracy" is a dramatic thriller of sorts, except that in this movie, the private company is the target not the country. An explosion in a top secret installation causes a great deal of damage and sets off an investigation to find out who was behind the espionage. Enormous amount of destruction to be sure, but what the chief investigator (George Peppard) Tuxan wants to know is who is behind the sabotage. His only clue is in the form of a single survivor named John Welles (Michael Sarrazin) AKA Peter Bellamy, a man who has no memory of what happened. This is an excellent vehicle for the Cat and Mouse game which follows. The survivor is having tremendous difficulty trying to remember who he is or was and Tuxan is allowing him to struggle while he watches out for any of his friends to come and help him recover. It's an excellent film and one which gives the audience just enough information to follow the hero to the surprising ending. A good film and one which is enhanced by Nicole Devon as Christine Belford and Cliff Potts who plays Carl Mosely. ****