The Internecine Project

THE INTERNECINE PROJECT is an intriguing little thriller made as a collaboration between the UK and West Germany. It's one of those films that nobody mentions anymore, but which provides a few surprises and nice elements for film fans. The unusual plot itself is a highlight, as this is a film which explores the meaning of the word 'internecine' (mutually destructive, as it happens).

James Coburn plays an anti-hero, a politician with more than a few skeletons in his closet. In order to tie off some loose ends, he sets a plot in action to kill off people who know a little too much about him. The thrills come from seeing said plot play out, and wondering whether he'll succeed or not.

The spy elements of the storyline give this some decent, Cold War-era paranoia shudders. The cast is very well picked; even Lee Grant is an asset, although her character - a feminist journalist - is extraneous to the storyline, although she does have a jaw-dropping encounter with the chauvinistic Coburn. Harry Andrews continues to delight in his later years, Ian Hendry is memorably twitchy, and the likes of Julian Glover and Keenan Wynn prop up the cast. There's little to dislike and much to enjoy about this thought-provoking thriller.

James Coburn is a slick white collar heavy in this twisty thriller, scripted by future directors Barry Levinson ("Rain Man"), who also produced, and Jonathan Lynn ("Clue"). Coburn again projects incredible cool as Robert Elliot, a "professor" who has a major opportunity for advancement in the government. The catch is, he can't afford to have anybody alive who's got knowledge of his past. There are four of these people, and Elliot arranges for all of them to kill each other over the course of a single night. Despite his intricate planning, things don't always go that smoothly.

The excellent cast is the major draw of this film, capably directed by Ken Hughes ("Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"). It's very well paced and sometimes reasonably suspenseful, with a story that might not stand up to a lot of scrutiny, but does solidly entertain for its duration. Another asset is the eclectic soundtrack composed by Roy Budd ("Get Carter" '71).

Coburn is fun to watch in the role of an anti-hero, a man who initially is taken aback at the idea of eliminating these skeletons in his closet, but quickly makes up his mind to be cold-blooded about the whole affair. Lee Grant is fine (and looks very nice, to boot) as the aggressive, feminist journalist with whom he was once involved. Ian Hendry is wonderfully antsy as the diabetic Alex, Christiane Kruger is delectably sexy as Christina, Julian Glover has a good, brief role as a TV host, and Keenan Wynn is endlessly amusing as usual as tycoon E.J. Farnsworth. But the shining star of the production is Harry Andrews as a masseur named Bert Parsons. The character is an angry misogynist, and the viewer may be intrigued and wonder just how this character came to be this way.

Overall, good entertainment. Nothing special, but there are much worse ways to spend an hour and a half.

Seven out of 10.

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.

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.

The movie begins (and ends) like a political movie,a la Pakula .But if the "hero" is blamed for butchering democracy ,the essential is a thriller ,some very special "domino theory" .To get rid of some people who become embarrassing,the professor (a spy) ,pushes the "divide and rule" concept to its absolute limits and ,although completely implausible (all works out much too well) , displays an implacable logic in his sinister plans.Probably not great,but not derivative,and rather gripping.

Main objection: Lee Grant's character is almost useless and her would be feminist journalist is only decorative.