Innocent Bystanders

A reasonably entertaining spy thriller but certainly not the swinging fun the poster would have you believe. Stanley Baker, 44 years old but looking very long in the tooth, is a once great British spy about to be put out to pasture by nasty boss Donald Pleasence. He's given one last assignment (tracking down an ex-Russian POW who may or may not be a traitor) to prove he still has some life left him. Baker beats up about a 1/2 dozen men along the way, kidnaps Geraldine Chaplin and allows for the shooting death of a colleague. This is not a particularly nice movie. Baker does journeyman work in a role that could easily have been played by Sean Connery. Chaplin, not who she appears to be, is given little to do. Dana Andrews is an American CIA boss and Pleasence's chief adversary. It's directed by Peter Collinson, who brings none of the wit or style he showed with the earlier classic THE Italian JOB.

This one came in kind of late in that period of all the 007-imitation movies. Some of them were terrible, like "Operation Kid Brother" (which starred Sean Connery's brother Neil!). And some were pretty good, like "Innocent Bystanders". It is well-directed and its cinematography is excellent. Its rapid editing is really neat at first, but it gets kind of annoying after a while. Baker is excellent as a cold-blooded agent who has been double-crossed by his own people. I was amused by the constant bickering of Baker's two rival agents. "Innocent Bystanders" also has a couple alumni from the 007 movies: Donald Pleasence from "You Only Live Twice" (the original Dr. Evil!) and Vladek Sheybal from "From Russia With Love". If you in the mood for a dark spy adventure, "Innocent Bystanders" is for you.