George Hamilton is effectively cast against type as a traitor working for the North Koreans to steal important missile secrets back in the USA after refusing a decade before the offer to return to America as a freed POW from a Korean prison. His pretty-boy good looks and breezy manner makes for a far more interesting protagonist than just a stereotypical "turncoat".
He's been training for the mission and is an expert at fooling everyone, but gradually we see that behind the facade of a calculating spy beats the heart and sensitivity of an empathetic human being. Casting grown-up Margaret O'Brien as his potential romantic interest was also a wise decision, as she instantly generates both pathos and because of her child stardom a certain amount of suspicion: could she be as big a fake as George, out to trap him for the good old USA and quash his mission? Completing the fine casting is Carroll O'Connor as a true villain (before Archie Bunker he was terrific in baddie roles) playing George's contact and controller and Jack Weston as his comedy relief new boss.
Bert Leonard's oppressive voice-over narration hurts the show - he doesn't get a credit but that voice is instantly recognizable after recently watching dozens of episodes he narrated for his show "The Naked City" on Tubi.
He's been training for the mission and is an expert at fooling everyone, but gradually we see that behind the facade of a calculating spy beats the heart and sensitivity of an empathetic human being. Casting grown-up Margaret O'Brien as his potential romantic interest was also a wise decision, as she instantly generates both pathos and because of her child stardom a certain amount of suspicion: could she be as big a fake as George, out to trap him for the good old USA and quash his mission? Completing the fine casting is Carroll O'Connor as a true villain (before Archie Bunker he was terrific in baddie roles) playing George's contact and controller and Jack Weston as his comedy relief new boss.
Bert Leonard's oppressive voice-over narration hurts the show - he doesn't get a credit but that voice is instantly recognizable after recently watching dozens of episodes he narrated for his show "The Naked City" on Tubi.
