Danger Has Two Faces

The premise of this TV movie is a good one. A look-alike character assumes the identity of another person. "Danger Has Two Faces," was one of many espionage films made in the first three decades of the Cold War. But, this one suffers from many weaknesses.

The plot is weak and bounces all over the place. The direction, camera work and editing are poor. In places they seem almost amateurish. One thing that stands out as amateurish are the fight scenes. I'm always amazed at how Hollywood makes fisticuffs seem so real – in all genres. Well, these TV folks needed many lessons. Robert Lansing's fights with East Germans are phony. We can clearly see several swings that don't appear to hit a person. He seems to pull punches and the reaction timing is terribly out of sync.

The acting is OK at best. There are some scenes when Lansing does very well as Peter Murphy and Mark Wainwright; but at other times he seems wooden. Dana Wynter also seems wooden at times. Perhaps those instances were due to lapses in the low-quality script. The actors seem at times to be waiting for a line response or for a scene cut.

My comments seem to be the first review by viewers of this film. At this time, only 18 other users have rated the film and it has an average 7.8. Everyone's entitled to their opinions and their likes and dislikes. But I suspect that most other people who may watch this film will find it worthy of no more than five stars.