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IMDbPro

A Dandy in Aspic

  • 19681968
  • ApprovedApproved
  • 1h 47m
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
1K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
30,545
21,738
A Dandy in Aspic (1968)
Official Trailer
Play trailer1:01
1 Video
86 Photos
ActionDramaThriller
During the Cold War, the British and Soviet Intelligence services attempt to out-fox one another using the homesick double-Agent Krasnevin a.k.a. Alexander Eberlin (Laurence Harvey) as a paw... Read allDuring the Cold War, the British and Soviet Intelligence services attempt to out-fox one another using the homesick double-Agent Krasnevin a.k.a. Alexander Eberlin (Laurence Harvey) as a pawn in the complex spy-game.During the Cold War, the British and Soviet Intelligence services attempt to out-fox one another using the homesick double-Agent Krasnevin a.k.a. Alexander Eberlin (Laurence Harvey) as a pawn in the complex spy-game.
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
1K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
30,545
21,738
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Directors
      • Anthony Mann
      • Laurence Harvey(finished film after Mann died)
    • Writer
      • Derek Marlowe(screenplay)
    • Stars
      • Laurence Harvey
      • Tom Courtenay
      • Mia Farrow
    Top credits
    • Directors
      • Anthony Mann
      • Laurence Harvey(finished film after Mann died)
    • Writer
      • Derek Marlowe(screenplay)
    • Stars
      • Laurence Harvey
      • Tom Courtenay
      • Mia Farrow
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 21User reviews
    • 12Critic reviews

    Videos1

    A Dandy in Aspic
    Trailer 1:01
    A Dandy in Aspic

    Photos86

    Mia Farrow in A Dandy in Aspic (1968)
    "A Dandy in Aspic" Mia Farrow
    "A Dandy in Aspic" Mia Farrow
    "A Dandy in Aspic" Mia Farrow
    "A Dandy in Aspic" Mia Farrow
    "A Dandy in Aspic" Mia Farrow
    "A Dandy in Aspic" Mia Farrow
    "A Dandy in Aspic" Mia Farrow
    "A Dandy in Aspic" Mia Farrow
    "A Dandy in Aspic" Mia Farrow
    "A Dandy in Aspic" Mia Farrow
    "A Dandy in Aspic" Mia Farrow

    Top cast

    Edit
    Laurence Harvey
    Laurence Harvey
    • Krasnevin aka Alexander Eberlin
    Tom Courtenay
    Tom Courtenay
    • Gatiss
    Mia Farrow
    Mia Farrow
    • Caroline
    Harry Andrews
    Harry Andrews
    • Fraser
    Peter Cook
    Peter Cook
    • Prentiss
    Lionel Stander
    Lionel Stander
    • Sobakevich
    Per Oscarsson
    Per Oscarsson
    • Pavel
    Barbara Murray
    Barbara Murray
    • Miss Vogler
    John Bird
    John Bird
    • Henderson
    Norman Bird
    Norman Bird
    • Copperfield
    Geoffrey Bayldon
    Geoffrey Bayldon
    • Lake
    Calvin Lockhart
    Calvin Lockhart
    • Brogue
    James Cossins
    James Cossins
    • Heston-Stevas
    Michael Trubshawe
    Michael Trubshawe
    • Flowers
    Lockwood West
    Lockwood West
    • Quince
    Geoffrey Lumsden
    • Ridley
    Elspeth March
    Elspeth March
    • Lady Hetherington
    Richard O'Sullivan
    Richard O'Sullivan
    • Nevil
    • Directors
      • Anthony Mann
      • Laurence Harvey(finished film after Mann died) (uncredited)
    • Writer
      • Derek Marlowe(screenplay) (novel)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Producer and Director Anthony Mann died during production and was replaced by Laurence Harvey.
    • Quotes

      Sobakevich: I mean, if you want to turn this into a gun war, it's all right with us - but our reserves are closer.

      Gatiss: Who do you think you are, Al Capone?

      Sobakevich: Who's Al Capone?

      Gatiss: He was a megalomaniac gangster who murdered anyone who got in his way.

      Sobakevich: Really? Whatever happened to him?

      Gatiss: He changed his name to Stalin and moved to Russia.

      Sobakevich: I thought he sounded familiar.

    • Crazy credits
      Opening credits are shown over a scene of someone moving a marionette by pulling on the various strings.
    • Connections
      Featured in Berlin - The Swinging City (1968)
    • Soundtracks
      If You Want Love
      by Ernie Sheldon and Quincy Jones

      sung by Shirley Horn

    User reviews21

    Review
    Review
    Top review
    6/10
    The hapless Dandy...
    The 1960s, for want of a better word, "vomited" knock-off spy thrillers in the wake of the success of the James Bond films with Sean Connery. Such titles included: Daniel Mann's Our Man Flint (1965); Ralph Thomas's Deadlier Than The Male (1967); and David Miller's Hammerhead (1968), to name but a few. However, this little number, A Dandy In Aspic (1968), based on the novel by Derek Marlowe, has passed through time relatively unnoticed, despite its direction by Anthony Mann, a filmmaker renowned for his work on Westerns and Film Noir thrillers. Moreover, this film boasts quite considerable acting talent of the day. The haunting Laurence Harvey plays the protagonist secret agent, Eberlin, who is given a mission to assassinate a KGB agent, and who is repeatedly haunted by past and present moral crises, very much in the tradition of the characters of John Le Carré and Ian Fleming. The love interest of the film is Caroline (in my opinion, the fairly talentless) Mia Farrow, playing the stereotypical role of a "swinging sixties" photographer, who, rather irritatingly, gets herself caught up in the spy game.

    British acting stalwart, Tom Courtenay, plays the very understated character of Gatiss, a rival British spy who distrusts Eberlin. Look out for appearances by Richard O' Sullivan, of '70s televisual fame in the comedy series, Man About The House. The audience is also treated to a few guest appearances by British satirist, Peter Cook, for once unaccompanied by his partner-in-crime, Dudley Moore. Cook plays a comical womanising spy, Prentiss, who delivers such sexist lines they would make a millennial audience wince. Discussing with Eberlin the fact that his latest sexual conquest is "Eine kleine raver", in her company, is one of them. Still, the film is, naturally, indicative of its time.

    The action sequences in the film are gritty and the film has a suitably brooding atmosphere which is, ironically, sometimes offset by the rather vibrant costumes the characters wear, supplied by veteran stylist, Pierre Cardin. Furthermore, the cinematography by Christopher Challis is tactful and it is accompanied by the appropriately minimalist score by veteran Jazz musician, Quincy Jones, whose scoring work for Sidney Lumet's adaptation of the Le Carré spy thriller, The Deadly Affair (1968), I equally enjoyed. After the film's recent premiere on Blu-Ray by Powerhouse Films, I thought it was timely to unearth this nearly fifty-year-old curio. If anything, watch it for Harvey's performance alone. That is, if you can simultaneously support Farrow's frequently sickly and mopey character.
    helpful•1
    1
    • mbruce007
    • Dec 1, 2020

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 2, 1968 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Languages
      • English
      • German
      • Russian
    • Also known as
      • Dandy in Aspic
    • Filming locations
      • Loseley Park, Guildford, Surrey, England, UK
    • Production company
      • Columbia British Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 47 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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