Charlie Muffin (1979) (TV)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Jack Gold

Writers:

Brian Freemantle (novel)
Keith Waterhouse (writer)

Release Date:

12 October 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller

Plot Keywords:

KGB | Spy | Cold War | Based On Novel | Character Name In Title

Cast

David Hemmings	...	Charlie Muffin
Sam Wanamaker	...	Ruttgers
Jennie Linden	...	Edith
Pinkas Braun	...	Valery Kalenin
Ian Richardson	...	Cuthbertson
Ralph Richardson	...	Sir Archibald Willoughby
Christopher Godwin	...	Snare
Shane Rimmer	...	Braley
Tony Mathews	...	Harrison
Norwich Duff	...	Cox
Rohan McCullough	...	Janet
Donald Churchill	...	Wilberforce
Frederick Treves	...	Wilcox
Clive Revill	...	Berenkov
Phillip Joseph	...	Bayer

Also Known As:

A Deadly Game (USA)

Runtime:

USA:104 min

Country:

UK | West Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:M (video rating)

Company:

Euston Films

Goofs:

Continuity: The VW blown up at the checkpoint was a pre-1970 model, whereas in other scenes it was a post-1970 model.

Quotes:

Valery Kalenin: [to Cuthbertson] You really were incredibly stupid, Sir Henry. Charlie Muffin was one of the few real operatives in your service; his capture of Berenkov was brilliant. Yet you set him up to be shot in Berlin, you vilify him when he comes home unscathed, you demote him.
[smiles]
Valery Kalenin: How can you expect loyalty when you treat a man like that?

Exceptional cold-war spy story

Charlie Muffin is an exceptional cold-war spy story. Our title hero is not very glamorous by James Bond standards: no spying gadgets, no Pussy Galores, no megalomaniac enemies with crocodile farms. It's simply the old West vs. East story during the cold war. Charlie is an exceptional spy with exceptional methods and exceptional results, but that is not much appreciated by his peers who want rules and not exceptions.

Although this spy story is set in the real world and not in comic book land, we have the odd chase, explosion and deception here and there, and although they are perhaps slightly less spectacular than in the world of Derek Flint their impact is larger, because they happen in a context we can relate to. Not only that, but the story keeps us also guessing. In our traditional spy film we know who's going to win (the good guys, of course) and how our hero will cope at the end (with a bottle of champagne under one arm and a glamour puss under the other). But this world is not that black and white and right up to the end one could imagine many outcomes, and the actual ending makes a fitting climax to a great film.

David Hemmings plays the title character understated: intelligent but inconspicuous, moderate but stylish. Generally the cast is excellent; I especially loved Pinkas Braun as the defected Kalenin.