Telefon (1977)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Don Siegel

Writers:

Walter Wager (novel)
Peter Hyams (writer) ...

Release Date:

16 December 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Action | Thriller

Tagline:

They'll do anything to stop Telefon. The operation that can trigger 51 human time bombs.

Plot:

The KGB's looking for one of their people, a man named Dalchimsky cause he has stolen something important...

Plot Keywords:

KGB | Brainwashing | Poem | Sabotage | Hypnosis

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Charles Bronson	...	Major Grigori Borzov
Lee Remick	...	Barbara
Donald Pleasence	...	Nicolai Dalchimsky
Tyne Daly	...	Dorothy Putterman
Alan Badel	...	Colonel Malchenko
Patrick Magee	...	General Strelsky
Sheree North	...	Marie Wills
Frank Marth	...	Harley Sandburg
Helen Page Camp	...	Emma Stark
Roy Jenson	...	Doug Stark
Jacqueline Scott	...	Mrs. Hassler
Ed Bakey	...	Carl Hassler
John Mitchum	...	Harry Bascom
Iggie Wolfington	...	Father Stuart Diller
Hank Brandt	...	William Enders

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Iceland:16 | West Germany:16 (nf) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (1978) | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Atrium Lobby, Hyatt Regency Hotel - 5 Embarcadero Center, San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

While shooting in Helsinki, a young Renny Harlin was there watching 'Don Siegel (I)' and Charles Bronson working. After seeing two big Hollywood names working, he announced to his friends that he is going to be a film director.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Sergeant in KGB office is pulling out unloaded gun to shoot everyone in the room. The gun is revolver which used to be Soviet Army official gun but was changed soon after WWII to Makarov (clip type). Hence quite unlikely general would have such an obsolete weapon in his office minding all the security and control in KGB.

Quotes:

Nicolai Dalchimsky: The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, but I have promises to keep. And miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep. Remember. Miles to go before I sleep.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Grindhouse (2007)

Does Anyone Else Get The "Naked Gun" References?

This isn't the most well-known movie in the world, so I really wonder if anyone realized that the Zucker/Zucker/Abrams team that made the original "Naked Gun" copied the whole idea of everyday people activated as assassins with bizarre catchphrases directly from this movie (remember the scene in which Ricardo Monalban "activates" his sweet elderly secretary, played coincidentally by the Zuckers' own mother, to go on a shooting rampage). I have no doubt about it: I went to the U.S. premier of "Naked Gun 33 1/3" in Milwaukee (the hometown of myself and the filmmakers) at which David Zucker said that for each of their movies, they would copy plot lines directly from serious, sometimes obscure genre films like this. I thought of this movie immediately when I saw "Naked Gun" for the first time. When you think about it, the central idea of everyday people becoming murderous robots just by hearing a stanza from Robert Frost is pretty funny by itself, and the Zuckers milked all the absurdity they could from it.

I have rather fond memories of watching this film when it was broadcast at odd hours on a local independent television station. The ideas this movie adapted from Walter Wager's original novel were quite creative, but I recall the acting of everyone here to be pretty bad (especially leads Bronson and Remick). The old-fashioned '70s computers and Cold War ultra-seriousness further diminish its effectiveness. This isn't the kind of movie MGM is probably anxious to reissue on a deluxe DVD - probably because its two stars and director are all deceased, but it is a reasonably entertaining film to catch on television.