Escape to Nowhere (1973)

Who is Anton Haliakov, who has just been abducted by the M.I.5 in London? A Soviet scientist apparently. But sixteen years before the man had another identity, Clément Tibère, and another ... See full summary »

Director:

Claude Pinoteau

Writers:

Jean-Loup Dabadie (scenario), Claude Pinoteau (scenario)

Stars:

Lino Ventura, Leo Genn, Suzanne Flon

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lino Ventura	...	Anton Haliakov / Clément Tibère
Leo Genn	...	Chief of M.I.5
Suzanne Flon	...	Jeanne
Robert Hardy	...	Chief of M.I.5's assistant
Lea Massari	...	Maria Menela
Pierre-Michel Le Conte	...	Boris Korodine
Annie Dejean-Jodry	...	Tania (Violonist)
Bernard Dhéran	...	M.Chat
Pierre Zimmer	...	Le nouveau mari de Maria
Roger Crouzet	...	Un agent de la D.S.T.
Lucienne Legrand	...	La libraire
Pierre Collet	...	Le garagiste
André Falcon	...	Le commissaire de police
Jerry Brouer
Richard Saint-Bris

Storyline

Who is Anton Haliakov, who has just been abducted by the M.I.5 in London? A Soviet scientist apparently. But sixteen years before the man had another identity, Clément Tibère, and another nationality, French. So what led him to become Russian and to change identity? And why are the British secret services interested in him?

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Plot Keywords:

car driving | car damage | hillside | stolen car | hotel | 

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French

Release Date:

4 August 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Great Manhunt

Filming Locations:

8 rue de Castiglione, Paris 1, Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gaumont International, Medusa Distribuzione, Trianon Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

French visa # 36860 delivered on 22-2-1973.

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Connections

Featured in Fantôme avec chauffeur (1996)

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Soundtracks

Ouverture pour une fête académique, opus 80
Composed by Johannes Brahms
(1880)

User Reviews

looking for the lost life

I decided to see 'Le Silencieux' especially for Lino Ventura, an actor whom I greatly admired in the 60s and 70s. Specializing in 'rough' characters from one side or the other of the law, Ventura played in feature films. action - detectives and spy - of which few have passed the Iron Curtain, the other side of which we are in those years. So I have quite a lot of his films from that period to be recovered through watching, including this film made in 1973 and directed by Claude Pinoteau, a director whom I know nothing about, who was at the time his first feature film. I have nothing to regret, because 'Le Silencieux' is a well-written film, and Ventura's acting performance lives up to expectations.

Viewers will find themselves immersed in a spy film, but it is not an action movie like the James Bond series (which had already recorded a decade of success at the time) but rather a psychological film. The main hero played by Lino Ventura, a French scientist kidnapped 16 years earlier by the Soviets and recovered by the British intelligence, could very well be mistaken for a hero of John Le Carre's novels, a hero inadvertently involved in the secret wars, who's life is stolen and who finds himself obliged to act in the service of causes in which he does not believe. His attempt to recover his life or even to reconcile himself with his own conscience is similar to the dilemmas of heroes of the spy films of the last part of the career of Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense, quoted quite copiously in this film, especially in the natural scenery backgrounds and the use of music.

Today's viewer has plenty of reasons to enjoy this movie, apart from Ventura's excellent acting game. The spectacular scenes are not lacking but the attention is drawn to the hero's fate and turmoil. The 1970s France and Switzerland are as beautiful as today, minus the crowds on the roads at a time when there were probably 1% of today's cars. The spy movie is a genre in which a movie can become very quickly out of date, especially if it focuses on the volatile political issues in contemporary history where enemies and friendships disappear and appear quickly.'Le Silencieux' avoids this trap by focusing on the fate of the main hero, and thus manages to maintain interest despite the passage of time.