The Spy Who Never Was (1976) Tod eines Fremden (original title)

Directors:

Reza Badiyi
Uri Massad

Writers:

Carjen Alexis
Paul Hengge (story)

Release Date:

June 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Cast

Hardy Krüger	...	Arthur Hersfeld
Jason Robards	...	Inspector Barkan
Gila Almagor	...	Amina
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Haim Bashi	...	Youseff
Mike Burstyn	...	Uri
Peter Capell	...	Mahmoud
Eva Christian	...	Karin
Eli Cohen	...	Raz
Sabi Dorr	...	Rauf (as Sabi Dor)
Blandine Ebinger
Dudu Elharar	...	Halil (as David El-Harrar)
Youseff Farrah	...	Amir
Georg Hartmann	...	Taxi Driver
Michael Hinz	...	Martin
Efrat Lavie	...	Ronit
Peter Neusser	...	Inspector
Jörg Pleva	...	Zui Adam
Arieh Sachs	...	Naftali
Ingeborg Schöner
Itzik Weiss	...	Arab Boy
Rolf Zacher	...	Student
Zadok Zarfati	...	Said
Jennifer Jason Leigh	...	Girl playing with a rubber ball (uncredited)

Directed by
Reza Badiyi
Uri Massad

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Carjen Alexis
Paul Hengge		story

Original Music by
Hans-Martin Majewski

Cinematography by
Tomislav Pinter

Art Direction by
Mario Stock

Production Management
Eric Dichne	....	production manager
Arik Dichner	....	production manager
Herbert Kerz	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Eva Ebner	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Wolf Dieter Peters	....	sound recordist
Bernard Reichardt	....	sound re-recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Avraham Leibman	....	gaffer

Production Companies

• Delta Commerz
• Willy Gafni Ltd.

Distributors

• Burbank International Pictures (1976) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• BFS Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Tod eines Fremden" - West Germany (original title)
"The Mad Killers" - USA (reissue title)

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

West Germany | Israel

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:PG

Company:

Delta Commerz

All I have left is hate! Please don't that that away from me!

***SPOILERS*** Slow boring and disjointed spy thriller with Jason Robards Jr who's between or just finished making the film "All the Presidents Men" as tough as well as handicapped,he walks with a crutch, Isreali anti-terrorist inspector Barken. Inspector Barken is barking up the wrong tree in him trying to track down an Arab terrorist ring in Jerusalem if he thinks that Jewish/German corporate lawyer Arthur Hersfeld, Hardy Kruger,is of any help in helping him get the job done. Robards to his credit kept himself scarce during most of the movie hoping that people watching it will by either falling asleep or walking out, before he comes on the scene, completely forget that he was ever in the movie!

As for Hersfeld he gets involved with all this cloak & dagger stuff almost by accident when he's mistaken at the Hamburg Airport in being Israeli super spy Hurzog by the Arab terrorist waiting for him there in order to knock him off! We find out early in the movie that this Hurzog fellow in nothing but a fake or plant by the Israelis in order to draw the Arab terrorists out in the open and then have the Israeli Mossad and special forces finish them off.

Kruger who looked and acted like he didn't really want to be in the film, even as its leading man, but needed the money does his best to be convincing as a man on the run from both the Arabs & Israelis. But he's so bad in doing it that he comes across as if he's gotten confused by getting off the wrong stop on his bus instead or running for his life with danger lurking in every twist and turn that he makes.

We also get to see, with and without her clothes on, beautiful and deadly Gila Almagor as rich and spoiled as well as Arab terrorist diva or femme fatal Amina. It's Amina who ends up having an affair with the half Jewish and son of holocaust survivors Arthur Hersfeld who despite given order by her superiors in the terrorist organization to knock him off, in them thinking that he's Israeli super spy Hurzog, just can't bring herself to assassinate him.****SPOILER ALERT*** That's until he movie gets so boring and ridicules with Arthur or Hardy Kruger having difficulty keeping a straight face in the dialog he's been given that he's finally killed off, by Amina & friends, so that the audience, or whatever is left of it, can finally be speared any more suffering.

P.S Check out little Jennifer Jason Leigh as the girl with the bouncing ball in her debut movie role.