The MacKintosh Man (1973)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

John Huston

Writers:

Walter Hill (screenplay)
Desmond Bagley (novel)

Release Date:

25 July 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller

Tagline:

Only Mackintosh can save them now - And Mackintosh is dead!

Plot:

A member of British Intelligence assumes a fictitious criminal identity and allows himself to be caught, imprisoned, and freed in order to infiltrate a spy organization and expose a traitor.

Plot Keywords:

Traitor | Spy | Ireland | Malta | Safe House

Cast

Paul Newman	...	Rearden
Dominique Sanda	...	Mrs. Smith
James Mason	...	Sir George Wheeler
Harry Andrews	...	Mackintosh
Ian Bannen	...	Slade
Michael Hordern	...	Brown
Nigel Patrick	...	Soames-Trevelyan
Peter Vaughan	...	Brunskill
Roland Culver	...	Judge
Percy Herbert	...	Taafe
Robert Lang	...	Jack Summers
Jenny Runacre	...	Gerda
John Bindon	...	Buster
Hugh Manning	...	Prosecutor
Wolfe Morris	...	Malta Police Commissioner

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | UK:15 (video rating) (1988) | UK:AA (cut) (theatrical rating) (1973) | Canada:14A (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | West Germany:16 | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

County Galway, Ireland

Company:

Newman-Foreman Company

Trivia:

During a break in filming, James Mason took a evening stroll around Dublin. He noticed that he was being followed by a woman, obviously someone who recognized him. Eventually she approached him and asked "Excuse me sir, but would you be Mr. James Mason in his later years?"

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Reflected in the side window of the truck when Rearden drives off to meet the airplane at the airfield.

Quotes:

Sir George Wheeler: Even the best of politicians have to compromise sometimes.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Poliziotto senza paura (1977)

Decent spy thriller

A well-made espionage thriller, THE MACKINTOSH MAN has all the necessary elements for a real knockout spy yarn – only it's never quite as involving as it should be. The screenplay by highly-respected writer Walter Hill features a solid premise and plenty of interesting twists and turns, and the various UK locations are used to great effect, bringing a character of their own to the film. The cast is also well-chosen, and portray their roles with respectable conviction, yet something still seems off about the picture. It's almost as if the whole enterprise lack that special "oomph" that is necessary to really sell a spy picture.

Perhaps the problem is that, after years of James Bond movies and various Cold War thrillers, too many of the film's elements have simply been done before and done better, and the ominous feeling of déjà vu is too immense for the film to survive. Or maybe the problem is that we expect a lot more from a director with clout of John Huston, who seems to take a strangely apathetic approach to the material which makes the film's recycled elements feel even more trying. For whatever reason, the film never seems to grip us in the way a good thriller is supposed to. As a whole, THE MACKINTOSH MAN is a fine film for a rainy evening, but it stands as not only a wasted opportunity, but also as possibly the least distinctive film of director Huston.