Luther Starling (Jeffrey Byron) is a superspy for the American government who after completing his latest mission of retrieving stolen documents sets out on a six week vacation across Europe. Luther is picked up at Heathrow airport in London, England by his friend Roger (Larry Cedar) in his Morgan 3-Wheeler to stay with Roger and Roger's Aunt Lydia (Mona Washbourne) for the duration of the London leg of Luther's trip. By chance the two follow a motorcade where British Secret Service agents Bidley and Peters (Roy Kinnear and David Battley respectively) are escorting a recently defected Eastern European scientist, Professor Buchinski (David Kossoff) who possesses a revolutionary new energy formula. However when a team of armed gunmen ambush the motorcade intent on kidnapping the Professor, Luther attempts to intervene but is outmatched but the professor slips a gold ring into his jacket pocket. Upon discovery of the ring, it leads Luther and Roger on an adventure across London as they attempt to rescue the professor from the villainous criminal organization Omega.
The London Connection (AKA The Omega Connection) directed by Robert Clouse and written by Gail Morgan Hickman and David E. Boston is a 1979 TV movie produced for Disney's TV anthology The Wonderful World of Disney, though the film was released theatrically in some markets such as the UK where it appeared on a double-bill with a re-release of The Aristocats. Filmed on location in London and at Pinewood Studios, the movie is undeniably a Disneyfied take on the James Bond/Eurospy formula with the gadgets, cold war intrigue, and even Omega being pretty transparently inspired by SPECTRE. While there is still that expected silliness that comes with Disney's caper fare, The London Connection is surprisingly enjoyable and actually goes above the level of quality from some of Disney's theatrical releases of the day.
Jeffrey Byron makes a solid impression as young superspy, Luther Starling, with a charming good natured charisma that makes him such an appealing lead. Larry Cedar is also well cast opposite Byron as Luther's friend Roger and there's a strong buddy dynamic between the two that makes them fun to have an adventure with. The supporting cast is also quite fun with some solid British talent of the era such as Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory supporting players Roy Kinnear and David Battley playing British Secret Service Agents who find themselves tangled up in Luther and Roger's sleuthing activities with an amusing running gag about their agency loaned cars never lasting more than one day in their care before being destroyed which is paid off with a humorous sight gag in its final usage. David Kossoff is quite fun as the abducted Professor Buchinski as is Mona Washbourne as Roger's absent minded Aunt Lydia who scores some pretty funny moments with Kossoff in the third act as well as against some of the actors playing the villains such as Nigel Davenport playing Omega's Blofeld equivalent Arthur Minton.
Being directed by Robert Clouse who gave us such martial arts fun as Black Belt Jones and Bruce Lee's finest film Enter the Dragon, it should surprise no one that there's a decent amount of action on display. While obviously limited by the fact that it's A) a TV movie and B) a Disney production so it can't get "too intense", the filmmakers find some nice workarounds with their limitations. Despite being a light hearted Disney production Clouse films the movie like he would one of his action films except with more focus on motion and spectacle rather than impact or intensity and Clouse shows a real love of those Bond tropes with a fun chase sequence involving supped up cars and motorcycles complete with machine gun headlights or rear facing rocket launchers to a bevy of gadgets and gizmos that carry the same novelty and fantasy factor from the Bond pictures without the lethal edge. Despite the fact that nobody dies in this movie, the movie does treat its plot with stakes and its villains as threats which is a welcome relief from the generic 1930s type Dick Tracy inspired gangsters that appeared in many of the 70s Disney formula comedies. The one element I didn't like was the soundtrack which I thought often undermined the craft of the movie and made things seem less impactful.
The London Connection may be a family-friendly Bond knock-off, but it's a well made and passionate family friendly Bond knock-off. With a fun sense of adventure, a good cast of capable actors, and some solid craft in its filmmaking. The only real shame is that it's a relatively obscure film and aside from some PAL VHS releases in the UK it's never been released on home video nor is it available on Disney+ at the time of this writing. If you can find a copy of this film it's enjoyable (if a little cheesy), but hopefully it becomes more widely available so it can find renewed life.
