Sebastian (1968)

During the Cold War, the chief of a British intelligence code-breaking section falls in love with a new employee and shields an old co-worker, accused of Communist affiliations, from the wrath of the security branch.

Director:

David Greene

Writers:

Leo Marks (original screen story), Gerald Vaughan-Hughes (screenplay)

Stars:

Dirk Bogarde, Susannah York, Lilli Palmer

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dirk Bogarde	...	Sebastian
Susannah York	...	Rebecca Howard
Lilli Palmer	...	Elsa Shahn
John Gielgud	...	Head of Intelligence
Janet Munro	...	Carol Fancy
Ronald Fraser	...	Toby
Margaret Johnston	...	Miss Elliott
Nigel Davenport	...	Gen. Phillips
John Ronane	...	Jameson
Hayward Morse	...	Gavin
Donald Sutherland	...	Ackerman
Ann Beach	...	Pamela
Susan Whitman	...	Tilly
Ann Sidney	...	Naomi
Veronica Clifford	...	Ginny

Storyline

British mathematician Sebastian (Sir Dirk Bogarde), working on code decryption, unexpectedly falls in love with decrypter Rebecca Howard (Susannah York). This leads them to a complicated intrigue within the codebreakers.

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Plot Keywords:

eurospy | britain | british intelligence | code breaking | security chief | 

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Taglines:

Nobody knows what he does... just that he has 100 girls to do it with!

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Director David Greene suggested Dame Helen Mirren for the role of Rebecca Howard. Michael Powell cast her in his next movie, Age of Consent (1969).

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Quotes

Rebecca Howard: What's Sebastian like?
Elsa Shahn: He's a poor lost lamb like the rest of us.

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Connections

Referenced in Endeavour: Canticle (2017)

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Soundtracks

Out of My Mind
Performed by Max Baer & The Chicago Setback

User Reviews

To me, this is like a 60s version of "SaturdayNight Fever"!

I am sure that my summary above is confusing and I'll need to decode what I am talking about here. If you are looking for a quintessential 1970s film that is completely soaked in what the 70s looked like and sounded like, it's hard to find that better represents it than "Saturday Night Fever". And, when it comes to the 60s, I think "Sebastian" is THE quintessential film of that decade as well-- beginning with the weird opening credits and continuing throughout. Whatever you think of these sorts of films, they are all style, music, glitz, attitude, morals and pizazz--like films created less by scriptwriters and more by fashion designers and pop artists. This isn't at all a complaint--just an observation about style. In "Sebastian", you get all of what made the late 60s so goofy--the clothing, the colors, the sounds, the editing...everything. I think the film looks like a joint project by Peter Max and Twiggy!

Sebastian (Dirk Bogarde) is a mathematical genius. He spends the beginning of the film recruiting more ladies to join his giant government think tank--ladies who can think outside the box and have quick minds. Throughout this process and once they begin their jobs, it soon becomes obvious that Sebastian just ain't normal--he lacks many social skills and is a very independent thinker. This ends up causing problems with the government, as he resists their attempts to control his department and rid it of 'undesirables'. Oddly, however, a new woman to the department, Rebecca (Susanna York) is intrigued by Sebastian and decides very quickly she wants to seduce him--even though his personality is seriously quirky and flawed to say the lest (he shows some signs of Asperger's). The film is about this affair as well as Sebastian's frustrations dealing with folks outside his department who are meddlers...and along the way is another plot, more sinister, involving an old mistress.

So is all this any good? Well, I'd say that the setup for the story is quite good and very intriguing. However, over time the film seemed to lose momentum. Part of it was because occasionally the film showed a bit of a misogyny--such as when Sebastian slapped his new girlfriend across the face. Overall, it's not a bad film but promised to be so much more at the start.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 January 1969 (France)

Also Known As:

Sebastian

Filming Locations:

Great West Road, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$1,250,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Maccius

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Recording System)

Color:

Color (Prints by Technicolor) Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1