Where the Spies Are (1965)

Director:

Val Guest

Writers:

Wolf Mankowitz (screenplay), Val Guest (screenplay),

Stars:

David Niven, Françoise Dorléac, John Le Mesurier

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
David Niven	...	Dr. Jason Love
Françoise Dorléac	...	Vikki (as Francoise Dorleac)
John Le Mesurier	...	MacGillivray
Cyril Cusack	...	Rosser
Eric Pohlmann	...	Farouk
Richard Marner	...	Josef
Paul Stassino	...	Simmias
George Pravda	...	1st Agent
Noel Harrison	...	Jackson
Ronald Radd	...	Stanilaus
Alan Gifford	...	Security
Bill Nagy	...	Aeradio
George Mikell	...	Assassin
Nigel Davenport	...	Parkington
Gábor Baraker	...	2nd Agent

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

pistol | gadget | spy | doctor | airplane | 

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Taglines:

WITH LOVE AND BULLETS from Russia, Beirut, London, Rome and Byblos

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Genres:

Comedy | Adventure

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

May 1965 (UK)

Also Known As:

A caccia di spie

Filming Locations:

Beirut, Lebanon

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to John Heseltine (who restored the car for the film) David Niven couldn't master the idiosyncratic gearbox of the Cord 810 and subsequently it was driven in bottom gear, resulting in it overheating. The scene in the film showing the steaming Cord was hastily rewritten to work around the problem. The car had to be restored from nothing but a rusty collection of parts in just six months to get it ready for filming.

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Goofs

Before Love is sent to Beirut, Jackson checks the papers to be given to Love. The last of them is "a photo of Rosser". Later in Rosser's hotel room in Beirut, however, a very important scene is built around the proposition that Love does not know what Rosser looks like. Love may not be an actual spy, but he should still be able to recognize a man from his photo.

User Reviews

Not bad enough to be funny

I happened across this film whilst channel surfing late at night. At first, I thought it was a parody, a bit like 'Casino Royale' -- which Niven must be a lot more proud of! Sadly, I soon came to the realisation that this was not playing for laughs but wanted to be taken seriously. I will concede that Niven, Davenport & others do their best, but the wooden plot, corny lines & truly terribly dated music ruin any efforts by them. This film came out just a couple of years after "From Russia with Love" & is obviously trying to compete with the Bond series. Sadly, it fails miserably. Watch it if you have trouble sleeping, but only if you tire of watching the paint dry!