Ankara, 1944. The valet to the British Ambassador to Turkey starts selling military and diplomatic secrets to the Germans. If acted upon, some of these secrets could change the course of the war.
Largely based on actual events, the basic plot to the movie was very intriguing and the movie had the potential to a be a tense espionage-drama classic. There is a degree of intrigue throughout the movie but, other than the final few scenes, it is never that tense and is never compelling viewing.
The main problem is that the main character, Cicero, is not that engaging. James Mason does well in the role but it is not the performance that leaves you cold. It is the fact that he's not someone you want to support: he's a spy, a spy for money, and he's spying for the Nazis. There's not that much to like about him.
The writer and director try to colour Cicero's character by introducing a love interest but all that does is slow the momentum of the film. You'll have a reasonably intriguing plot development, piquing your interest, followed by a romantic scene which is dull and is just filler.
This all said, the final few scenes are quite exciting and there's a good twist right at the end. The final few scenes turned what was an uneven, dull movie into a watchable one.
Largely based on actual events, the basic plot to the movie was very intriguing and the movie had the potential to a be a tense espionage-drama classic. There is a degree of intrigue throughout the movie but, other than the final few scenes, it is never that tense and is never compelling viewing.
The main problem is that the main character, Cicero, is not that engaging. James Mason does well in the role but it is not the performance that leaves you cold. It is the fact that he's not someone you want to support: he's a spy, a spy for money, and he's spying for the Nazis. There's not that much to like about him.
The writer and director try to colour Cicero's character by introducing a love interest but all that does is slow the momentum of the film. You'll have a reasonably intriguing plot development, piquing your interest, followed by a romantic scene which is dull and is just filler.
This all said, the final few scenes are quite exciting and there's a good twist right at the end. The final few scenes turned what was an uneven, dull movie into a watchable one.