As a bespectacled spy Michael Caine established a firm reputation as a low-key but determined government agent in FUNERAL IN BERLIN and MILLION DOLLAR BRAIN. Now he is Harry Sanders, a former MI6 agent trying to lead a quiet, unruffled existence as the owner of a seedy jazz club in Soho. Then Stacy, the glamorous wife of an Amnerican diplomat, bumps into his vehicle before moving into his bed.
Before you can say "Hellzapoppin", Harry is up to his neck in a murder mystery following Stacy's plea to help in tracing a bothersome lover. The 'lover' turns out to be involved in a shady arms deal. Harry's old mate Detective Osgood is killed after a stakeout. As if things were not bad enough, the Old Bill thinks the whole affair is Harry's fault, and somebody intends to torture him for that ha has learned...
There have been dafter plots, but seldom can they have felt so contrived as this. Sean Young seems too remarkably composed to have willingly thrown herself into the arms of a man so down-at-heel as Harry. Caine's talent is in keeping the audience's eyes on him while all the nonsense is going on around him, and he manages to steal all the best quips. The whole picture as such however, is far from being rewarding.
Before you can say "Hellzapoppin", Harry is up to his neck in a murder mystery following Stacy's plea to help in tracing a bothersome lover. The 'lover' turns out to be involved in a shady arms deal. Harry's old mate Detective Osgood is killed after a stakeout. As if things were not bad enough, the Old Bill thinks the whole affair is Harry's fault, and somebody intends to torture him for that ha has learned...
There have been dafter plots, but seldom can they have felt so contrived as this. Sean Young seems too remarkably composed to have willingly thrown herself into the arms of a man so down-at-heel as Harry. Caine's talent is in keeping the audience's eyes on him while all the nonsense is going on around him, and he manages to steal all the best quips. The whole picture as such however, is far from being rewarding.