The Executioner * (1970, George Peppard, Nigel Patrick, Joan Collins, Judy Geeson, Oscar Homolka, Charles Gray, Keith Michell, George Baker, Peter Bull) – Classic Movie Review 13,653  

The 1970 spy thriller film The Executioner stars George Peppard as a British MI5 agent who tries to prove his colleague (Keith Michell) is a double agent.

Director Sam Wanamaker’s 1970 spy thriller film The Executioner is written by Jack Pulman, based on a story by Gordon McDonnell, and stars George Peppard, Nigel Patrick, Joan Collins, Judy Geeson, Oscar Homolka, Charles Gray, Keith Michell, George Baker, and Peter Bull.

George Peppard seems dull and downcast as a British MI5 spy, John Shay (who grew up in the US, hence his accent), trying to prove to his bosses Vaughan Jones and Colonel Scott (Charles Gray, Nigel Patrick) that his old co-worker Adam Booth (Keith Michell) is actually a double agent for the Russians. When this fails, he turns executioner and kills him.

An inscrutable script is directed at a snail’s pace by Sam Wanamaker, and the welcome cast of the likes of normally reliable Oscar Homolka (as Racovsky, a Russian defector), Peter Bull as Butterfield, Judy Geeson as Shay’s girlfriend Polly Bendel and Joan Collins as Booth’s widow Sarah Booth are thrown away in typecast roles.

It is produced by Charles H Schneer for Ameran Films and released by Columbia Pictures on 2 July 1970 (London) and 16 September 1970 (New York City).

It is shot by Denys Coop in Panavision and Eastmancolor, and scored by Ron Goodwin.

Runtime: 111 minutes.

Cast: George Peppard, Nigel Patrick, Joan Collins, Judy Geeson, Oscar Homolka, Charles Gray, Keith Michell, George Baker, Alexander Scourby, Peter Bull, Ernest Clark, Peter Dyneley, Gisela Dali.

© Derek Winnert 2025 – Classic Movie Review 13,653

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