A tantalizing story has been fashioned out of the idea that the American Major Pike might be tricked into spilling the beans about the Allied invasion of France during World War II, if he is made to believe that, because of amnesia, he is unaware of the war's outcome.
Once the plot gets into high gear, it gives the viewer much satisfaction mainly because of the excellent performances of James Garner, Eva Marie Saint and Rod Taylor. The situations that develop are tense, but the trouble comes halfway through. There's not enough tension to keep events in the second hour strong enough to overcome inadequacies in the script. The extra punch needed to wrap up the story just isn't there. I will say, however, that there is a nice final moment in the story where Eva Marie Saint's character is able to shed a tear for James Garner--and it is a moment extremely well played by both actors.
Garner is his usual self in the role of Major Pike, perhaps a bit more subdued but defiant enough when he finds out he is being played for a patsy by Rod Taylor and Saint, whose character undergoes a rather unbelievable turn at mid-point in the story. The expository scene in which she reveals her background, however, is well played by the actress and a bit reminiscent of her Eve Kendall in NORTH BY NORTHWEST.
A tighter script would have been more forceful instead of the almost two hours of time needed to tell the story. And more tension should have been drawn from pitting the two leads (Garner and Saint) against each other in the noir style of, say, a Bogart and Bacall. Some melodramatic music in the style of a Warner Bros. composer like Franz Waxman would have spiced things up more than the sparingly used music of Dimitri Tiomkin.
Still, worth watching for its fascinating story idea.
Once the plot gets into high gear, it gives the viewer much satisfaction mainly because of the excellent performances of James Garner, Eva Marie Saint and Rod Taylor. The situations that develop are tense, but the trouble comes halfway through. There's not enough tension to keep events in the second hour strong enough to overcome inadequacies in the script. The extra punch needed to wrap up the story just isn't there. I will say, however, that there is a nice final moment in the story where Eva Marie Saint's character is able to shed a tear for James Garner--and it is a moment extremely well played by both actors.
Garner is his usual self in the role of Major Pike, perhaps a bit more subdued but defiant enough when he finds out he is being played for a patsy by Rod Taylor and Saint, whose character undergoes a rather unbelievable turn at mid-point in the story. The expository scene in which she reveals her background, however, is well played by the actress and a bit reminiscent of her Eve Kendall in NORTH BY NORTHWEST.
A tighter script would have been more forceful instead of the almost two hours of time needed to tell the story. And more tension should have been drawn from pitting the two leads (Garner and Saint) against each other in the noir style of, say, a Bogart and Bacall. Some melodramatic music in the style of a Warner Bros. composer like Franz Waxman would have spiced things up more than the sparingly used music of Dimitri Tiomkin.
Still, worth watching for its fascinating story idea.