Danger Route (1967)

During the Cold War, a British secret agent is ordered to kill a Soviet-bloc defector held by the CIA in England but this straightforward mission turns into a convoluted plot involving double-agents.

Director:

Seth Holt

Writers:

Robert Banks Stewart (additional screenplay) (as Robert Stewart), Meade Roberts (screenplay)

Stars:

Richard Johnson, Carol Lynley, Barbara Bouchet

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Richard Johnson	...	Jonas Wilde
Carol Lynley	...	Jocelyn
Barbara Bouchet	...	Marita
Sylvia Syms	...	Barbara Canning
Gordon Jackson	...	Brian Stern
Diana Dors	...	Rhoda Gooderich
Maurice Denham	...	Peter Ravenspur
Sam Wanamaker	...	Lucinda
David Bauer	...	Bennett
Robin Bailey	...	Parsons
Harry Andrews	...	Canning
Julian Chagrin	...	Matsys
Reg Lye	...	Balin
Leslie Sands	...	Man in Cinema
Timothy Bateson	...	Halliwell

Storyline

Jonas Wilde, a British secret service agent licensed to kill, returns from a successful mission determined to resign. Canning, his London superior, agrees to forward his resignation if Wilde eliminates a Czechoslovakian scientist defector now being held by the Americans. With the help of a housekeeper, Rhoda Gooderich, Wilde kills the scientist but is himself captured and interrogated by CIA agent Lucinda. After Lucinda tells Wilde that someone in his organization is causing fellow British agents to be killed by mistake, Wilde escapes to look for Canning, who mysteriously has disappeared. Accompanied by Canning's wife, Barbara, Wilde heads for the leader's base in the Channel Islands and learns from Stern, a fellow agent, that still another member of their unit, Peter Ravenspur, has been murdered.

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Plot Keywords:

central intelligence agency agent | czech | homosexual subtext | male male relationship | scientist | 

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Taglines:

He Is A Weapon! Government Issue! He killed 39 men, each with a single blow! 6 were mistakes

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 April 1968 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Danger Route

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Studios Road, Middlesex, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Amicus Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (DeLuxe) Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Richard Johnson leads the cast in this 1960s spy film. Johnson was director Terence Young's first choice to play James Bond when casting Dr. No (1962). Johnson also appeared in the 60s spy flicks Deadlier Than the Male (1967) and its sequel Some Girls Do (1969).

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Quotes

Brian Stern: It doesn't matter what country you work for. If you're not a member of the ruling class, you're a sheep.

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Soundtracks

Danger Route
(title song)
Written by Lionel Bart
Sung by Anita Harris

User Reviews

Hit Man for Whitehall

Richard Johnson is a hit man for British intelligence. Literally. He offs them with a karate chop to the neck. He's getting weary of the job and is thinking of leaving the profession when he gets another job. Whitehall wants a Soviet defector, but the Americans have him, so he needs killing. Johnson is assigned to the task. However things go awry. There's more at work than Whitehall setting policy.

There's a lot of Bondian elements here: the beautiful women, and so forth -- Carol Lynley, Barbara Bouchet and Sylvia Sims, and Diana Dors gets the cherished final spot on the credits. It's not just a Bondian romp at the peak of the 1960s spy craze. The darkness and betrayal lend a tinge of John Lecarre to the proceedings as Johnson slowly untangles the tangled web of the plot of the plot -- and finds himself snarled in its slubby mass at the end.

It a good performance and you can see why Johnson had been Terrence Young's first pick for playing Bond in DOCTOR NO. Although the movie works, his depressed character is, in the end, not terribly attractive; however, no one is.