The High Commissioner (1968)

An Australian outback police detective is sent on a special assignment to the UK, to return an Australian citizen accused of murder. Only this is not an ordinary man, he is a UN high commissioner for peace talks taking place in London.

Director:

Ralph Thomas

Writers:

Jon Cleary (novel), Wilfred Greatorex (screenplay)

Stars:

Rod Taylor, Christopher Plummer, Lilli Palmer

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rod Taylor	...	Scobie Malone
Christopher Plummer	...	Sir James Quentin
Lilli Palmer	...	Sheila Quentin
Camilla Sparv	...	Lisa Pretorius
Daliah Lavi	...	Maria Cholon
Clive Revill	...	Joseph
Lee Montague	...	Denzil
Calvin Lockhart	...	Jamaica
Derren Nesbitt	...	Pallain
Edric Connor	...	Julius
Paul Grist	...	Coburn
Burt Kwouk	...	Pham Chinh
Russell Napier	...	Leeds
Ken Wayne	...	Ferguson
Charles 'Bud' Tingwell	...	Jacko (as Charles Tingwell)

Storyline

Rod Taylor plays a policeman sent to return a sensitive case; An Australian citizen, currently acting as high commissioner for peace talks who is wanted for an old charge -- of murder. The talks are too sensitive to be disturbed, so Taylor ends up watching Christopher Plummer as he conducts his talks, and discovers that some want the talks to fail enough to think that killing Plummer is an obvious way to stop them.

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Plot Keywords:

conspiracy | murder | detective | based on novel | independent film | 

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Taglines:

In A Moment He Could Be Dead! - and the only man who could save him was going to arrest him for murder!

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

First time that Australian actor Rod Taylor got to play an Australian again on screen in five years, the last having been in The V.I.P.s (1963). Taylor had been playing Americans. One of this movie's production companies was co-star Rod Taylors own company, Rodlor Inc.

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Goofs

During the discussion with the police after the shooting, the gun barrel is protruding from the camera lens on some shots but not on others.

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Connections

Referenced in Rod Taylor: Return to Oz (2005)

User Reviews

Doesn't live up to early promise

This gets off to a cracking start with Rod Taylor's no-nonsense outback cop, Scobie Malone, engaged by the New South Wales premier - played by an oddly uncredited Leo McKern - to arrest Australia's High Commissioner in London, a former political rival, accused of murdering a former wife.

The stage is set for a taut political thriller, but once Malone reaches London the tension gradually dissipates as he finds himself acting as Commissioner Christopher Plummer's bodyguard in a meandering cold war plot involving a peace conference and assassination attempts. The sort of thing you could see regularly in second-rate episodes of the likes of The Saint or Jason King back in the day. Hard to figure how the Calvin Lockhart character fitted in, nor Franchot Tone in his final film, in a brief cameo as an ambassador confined to bed. Among the baddies are the familiar faces of Burt Kwouk and Derren Nesbitt, the latter with hardly a word of dialogue.

True, Rod Taylor is very good in the lead, and it was a shame he was never given another chance to reprise the character. Plummer and Lilli Palmer are convincing under the circumstances, Camilla Sparv and Daliah Lavi provide plenty of glamour and there's a fitting score from Georges Delerue, but all these hardly compensate for what seems a missed opportunity.

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 August 1968 (UK)

Also Known As:

The High Commissioner

Filming Locations:

All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Church Road, Wimbledon, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Rank Organisation, Katzka-Berne Productions, American Broadcasting Company (ABC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) (uncredited)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1