The Marseille Contract (1974)

Director:

Robert Parrish

Writer:

Judd Bernard (written by)

Release Date:

4 September 1974 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

They Live the Sweet Life But They Play a Game of Sudden Death!

Plot:

When a US intelligence agent (Anthony Quinn) is unable to bring a ruthless drug baron (James Mason) to justice...

Plot Keywords:

Place Name In Title | Marseille | Switchblade | Merry Go Round | City Name In Title

Cast

Michael Caine	...	John Deray
Anthony Quinn	...	Steve Ventura
James Mason	...	Jacques Brizard
Maurice Ronet	...	Inspector Briac
Alexandra Stewart	...	Rita
Maureen Kerwin	...	Lucienne
Catherine Rouvel	...	Brizard's Mistress
Marcel Bozzuffi	...	Calmet
Patrick Floersheim	...	Kovakian
André Oumansky	...	Marsac (as Andre Oumansky)
Georges Beller	...	Minierini
Jean-Louis Fortuit	...	Fortuit
Jerry Brouer	...	Kurt
Georges Lycan	...	Henri
Pierre Koulak	...	Wilson

Also Known As:

Marseille contrat (France)
The Destructors (USA)

Runtime:

USA:89 min

Country:

UK | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 (video rating) | UK:A (original rating) | West Germany:18 (nf) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, France

Company:

Kettledrum Films

Trivia:

This film was released as "The Destructors" and is listed as such in "The Films of Anthony Quinn" written by Alvin Marill.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in GoldenEye (1995)

Soundtrack:

'Round Midnight

Bog-standard 1970's thriller that is dull despite the cast

Police officer Steve Ventura has tried and failed to catch Jacques Brizard – a respectable businessman who deals drugs. In his frustration he hires a hitman to kill Brizard – the hitman turning out to be old friend John Deray. As Deray starts to get close to Brizard, Ventura strengthens his case.

I watched this back to back with another Michael Caine movie – Without a Clue. In that his presence lifted an average film into something better….however here he can't manage it. In fact, three big names can't do it. The plot is straightforward and is similar to many other 1970's thrillers. The action and the characters could also be in any other of hundreds of cheap thrillers. There are few scenes that make the film interesting – Deray showing how ruthless he is on top of a building site is one of the highlights, the car chase/romance is also interesting as it was copied (but extended) for Mission: Impossible 2.

Caine appears to be in a different movie from Quinn – he's happy go lucky, enjoying romantic dinners etc while Quinn is gritting it out on the streets with informers etc. It creates a split feel to the movie – but it's better when the two come together. Neither are good enough to make the film better than average – nor is James `The Voice' Mason, who looks like he's asleep for most of it.

Overall, there are plenty of good 1970's thrillers out there that contain these actors separately (Quinn in Across 110th Street for one) – here the three can't manage to lift this out of being average and a bit dull.