The Man with the Deadly Lens (1982)
"Wrong Is Right" (original title)

A satire of American news reporting, Covert Agencies, and political system. The theft of two suitcase sized nuclear weapons, and their sale to a terrorist group, leads TV Newsman Patrick ... See full summary »

Director:

Richard Brooks

Writers:

Charles McCarry (novel), Richard Brooks (written for the screen by)

Stars:

Sean Connery, George Grizzard, Robert Conrad

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sean Connery	...	Patrick Hale
George Grizzard	...	President Lockwood
Robert Conrad	...	Gen. Wombat
Katharine Ross	...	Sally Blake
G.D. Spradlin	...	Philindros
John Saxon	...	Homer Hubbard
Henry Silva	...	Rafeeq
Leslie Nielsen	...	Mallory
Robert Webber	...	Harvey
Rosalind Cash	...	Mrs. Ford
Hardy Krüger	...	Helmut Unger (as Hardy Kruger)
Dean Stockwell	...	Hacker
Ron Moody	...	King Awad
Cherie Michan	...	Erika
Tony March	...	Abu

Storyline

A satire of American news reporting, Covert Agencies, and political system. The theft of two suitcase sized nuclear weapons, and their sale to a terrorist group, leads TV Newsman Patrick Hale on an international chase to track them down, and uncover the twisting maze of apparent involvement of US Government agencies.

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Plot Keywords:

terrorist group | nuclear weapon | satire | terrorist | arab stereotype | 

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Taglines:

A very funny look at the world.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 April 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Man with the Deadly Lens

Filming Locations:

Alamogordo, New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$1,412,646 (USA) (14 May 1982)

Gross:

$1,412,646 (USA) (14 May 1982)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Rastar Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of a number of movies made during the 1980s that looked at Middle Eastern politics and/or the Israeli-Palestine conflict. The films included The Soldier, The Man with the Deadly Lens, The Delta Force, Witness in the War Zone, The Impossible Spy, The Glory Boys, Hanna K. and The Little Drummer Girl.

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Goofs

The lighting changes between the live and the obvious studio shots of Hale parachuting from the plane in the opening sequence. For example, there are 3 light sources in the studio shot reflected on his helmet (including one from in front of him as he looks out from the plane), rather than just the sunlight from above.

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Crazy Credits

Filmed in New York, Washington, D.C., Texas, New Mexico, France, Italy and Hagreb. [Hagreb is a fictional country featured in the movie, and France and Italy appear only in archive footage.]

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Connections

Spoofs Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

User Reviews

A VICIOUS AND SAVAGE SATIRE

Richard Brooks' "Wrong Is Right" is a vicious and savage satire of many aspects of society. Television, news reporting, politics and pleasure domes are just a few of the targets Brooks' aims at in this truly underrated film.

I really don't want to give away the plot because one of the true pleasures of this movie is Brooks' surprises and payoffs. So let me in a carefully vague way give a hint of what it's all about. Sean Connery plays a television reporter (notice how in many of Brooks' films, that the protagonists are reporters ex: Fever Pitch, In Cold Blood, Bite the Bullet)who gets involved with a terrorist group and ends up in a bigger mess than he anticipated.

But that's not the whole story. But I dare not say anymore because the film depends on the element of surprise.