The Internecine Project

Although not a blockbuster, "The Internecine Project" is an outstanding European political thriller from 1973 that has deserved much more attention from critics and movie buffs! Directed by Ken Hughes ("Casino Royale"), this British-German co-production tells the intrigues of corrupt London scientist and former secret agent Robert Elliot who is about to become the personal consultant of the American president. The only problem are four witnesses of his corrupt and dirty past who could break his career, so Elliot has to get rid of them one by one...

Now that's where the big plan starts - Elliot directs the assassination of all four people - a politician, a scientist, a call-girl and a women-hating psychopath - by sending all of them out to kill another one of them in one night while he controls every single action by phone in his office. This all happens in the second half of the movie and causes a nail-biting suspense and hardcore thrill that leads to the very surprising bitter ending...

The direction is great and the dark, and the disturbing settings (the plot mostly takes place at night and in dark rooms) adds much atmosphere to this great thriller. Roy Budd's menacing, "psychological" score with elements of spy music, blaxploitation funk, ethnic sounds and dark cool jazz like his "Get Carter" success is brilliant and don't need to hide behind the seventies' works of Ennio Morricone, Lalo Schifrin or Jerry Goldsmith. The cast is superb as well, with James Coburn as devilish Professor Elliot and a very good supporting cast of Lee Grant, Harry Andrews, Ian Hendry, Keenan Wynne and young German actress Christiane Krueger.

If you ever have the occasion to watch this breath-taking thriller don't hesitate, sit down on your couch and take a ride! The film has also been released as "The Black Panther" and with the very simple title "G" in Germany.

James Coburn is quite effective in this action thriller. He is "Prof. Elliot", about to become a high ranking government advisor. Snag is, he has quite a past - and so must devise a cunning plan to ensure that all those privy to his dirty laundry are eliminated. The plot utilises quite a clever domino-style effect. Those doing the killing don't know who is instructing them, nor that they won't last much longer themselves, and the pace from director Ken Hughes is well managed eliciting a good effort from both Coburn and from the usually reliable Keenan Wynn ("Farnsworth"). What makes this work is the way the plot draws us in. It's not so much that people are dropping like flies - we neither know them nor care about them - it's more the sheer cleverness of his plan, and I was quietly hoping he would succeed... Unfortunately, the quality of dialogue - an early outing for Barry Levinson - doesn't really add much to the film. It's all just a little bit bland, and I could have been doing with more on screen time from Coburn. Still, it's an interesting and new take on a political thriller that I quite enjoyed for 90 minutes.

This largely forgotten film from the darkest days of the British film industry probably deserves to be better known, if only for the fact that it manages to make a long sequence in which one man sits alone in a room waiting for the phone to ring quite suspenseful.

James Coburn plays Robert Elliott, a former secret agent who must erase all evidence of his dirty past before taking a job as adviser to the US president. That past comes in the form of four former colleagues – nervy diabetic Ian Hendry, misogynistic cat-lover Harry Andrews, scientist Michael Jayston and call-girl Christiane Kruger. Eliot hits upon the ingenious idea of getting each of his intended victims to do the deed for him, leaving him completely unconnected to the murders. It's a fairly unique idea, and quite well-handled with some quirky characters thrown in (not of least of which is Harry 'A *woman*, Sir?' Andrews), and it is to writer Barry Levinson's credit that he manages to stretch what is a fairly thin plot over a reasonable running time without losing the viewer's interest.

The ending belongs in a James Bond movie – although given the recent murder of a dissident Russian journalist, maybe that's not quite true – but it is a delicious pay-off and a fitting fate for an urbane character who is totally lacking in scruples.

I'm amazed that THE INTERNECINE PROJECT has received less than 100 votes . I saw it a couple of times in the early 1980s and despite not seeing it for almost 25 years it's still lodged in my mind as being a clever thriller . Perhaps I shall never watch it in case it's not as good as I remember . The plot centres around former secret agent Robert Elliot ( Played suavely by James Coburn in one of his best roles) gaining a White House promotion , just the first step in a long and successful political career . There's just one thing and that is there's several people who know about Elliot's past and Elliot can't allow his dirty secrets to be revealed by anyone

I won't reveal the plot but it's smart and there's a twist at the end . But for me the best part of the movie is where Elliot visits the home of military veteran Albert Parsons played by Harry Andrews . Parsons and his collection of cats warmly greet Elliot , but it's obvious by his mannerism that Elliot has something on his mind :

" We've got a problem "

" A problem sir ? " asks Parsons

" It's to do with a woman "

Parsons is shocked " A WOMAN SIR ? "

Elliot rubs his chin and studies Albert " She's a sort of high class whore "

By now Parsons is having convulsions and spitting his hatred " THEY'RE ALL WHORES THE WHOLE LOT OF THEM , YOU CAN'T TRUST ANY THEM SIR , NOT ANY OF THEM "

Hmmm I wonder if Albert Parsons is a repressed homosexual ?

Ingenious British-made corporate thriller with an impressive cast well-versed in this sort of thing – James Coburn, Keenan Wynn, Ian Hendry, Michael Jayston and Harry Andrews; Lee Grant provides both a feminist viewpoint and a romantic partner for Coburn. The plot involves Coburn’s rise in the political stakes, abetted by ruthless bigwig Wynn; however, he needs to put his shady past behind him and, to this end, organizes an intricate scheme by which his four former associates will eliminate one another on the same night!

Those expecting action, comedy, sex and colorful scenery a' la Coburn’s “Flint” pictures will be sorely disappointed by this low-key, intelligent but humorless character-driven piece – filmed against drab European settings (albeit by the great Geoffrey Unsworth); composer Roy Budd, another genre fixture, delivers an appropriately moody score. Still, the murder sequences themselves (with Coburn bemusedly ticking away each carefully-timed step of his plan) – particularly Andrews’ vicious shower murder of the Christiane Kruger character and the hesitation at carrying out his part of the bargain by the typically angst-ridden Hendry – generate the requisite amount of suspense during the film’s second half.

While Grant’s reporter character seems an intrusion at first, her presence (or, rather, Coburn’s callous mistreatment of her) eventually threatens to jeopardize his ‘mission’ – on finally getting wise to his machinations, she’s willing to suppress her affections and expose him for what he is! The film, however, provides a delicious twist ending, which sees the over-confident Coburn getting his come-uppance – even if the audience is clearly rooting for him – at his moment of glory (by the person he least expected it from)!

Regrettably, this is only available via a reportedly substandard pan-and-scan R2 DVD; then again, I did watch it in this aspect ratio myself – and dubbed in Italian to boot!