When Eight Bells Toll

watching this film for the first time, I'm enjoying this flick enormously, Philip Calvert as a hard man who gets the job the done, isn't afraid to disobey orders and with the wonderful Robert Morley as his boss. as i write it its all very James bond, Hopkins handling the job very well, Morley hamming it up as only he can. like all Alastair McLean films - I'm finding it very watchable, a pity no more films about Calvert's exploits have been made, as he is everything James bond is, without the gimmicks, and its all home based, no flash locations - just a man with a job to do and he ain't afraid to bend the rules to do it. I'm half way in to the film - i don't want it to end ..

A not bad interpretation of an interesting book by thriller writer Alistair Maclean, who has also written the screenplay in this instance. If this adaptation has anything going for it, it must surely be that it at least attempts to keep to the essential essence of the original novel, which was quite a page-turner. So many adaptations based on books by Maclean have been apparently destroyed in the writing or re-writing stage that little sense remains of the original concept. The thrill is often removed from the thriller. The essence of these books have often been hacked to pieces in an attempt to transform them into something cinematic. When things go wrong, it´s Maclean´s name that gets dragged through the mud!. Were this film to be made today, I believe it could be made much better, but still, it is an enjoyable romp made more enjoyable by the pairing of Anthony Hopkins with the luscious Nathalie Delon. Recommended.