Innocent Bystanders ** (1972, Stanley Baker, Geraldine Chaplin, Donald Pleasence, Dana Andrews, Sue Lloyd, Derren Nesbitt) – Classic Movie Review 8501

Donald Pleasence and Dana Andrews play the heads of British and US intelligence, and Stanley Baker plays the top British spy-in-action, in director Peter Collinson’s 1972 Innocent Bystanders, a rather feeble secret agent thriller about freeing a Russian agent.

John Craig (Stanley Baker) has not always had a good result from his cases, but Loomis (Pleasence) trusts him on a new assignment – to discover the whereabouts of a Soviet boffin who has flown the nest.

There is a more than fair cast who would certainly have the stuff to make it work. Indeed it is a cast to excite fans of old British movies. But Innocent Bystanders plays like a weary Sixties leftover that just will not come in from the cold. The muddled script and tired direction are the main culprits.

Apart from the cast, some reasonable action tough stuff, some surprises in the story and a quick speed are the main assets, which combined slightly redeem the movie. But, mostly, it is all been-there, done-that, seen-better-days kind of stuff.

Also in the cast are Geraldine Chaplin, Sue Lloyd, Derren Nesbitt, Vladek Sheybal, Warren Mitchell, Cec Linder, Howard Goorney, J G Devlin, Ferdy Mayne, Clifton Jones, John Collin, Michael Poole, Aharon Ipalé and Tom Bowman.

James Mitchell adapts his own novel, writing the screenplay as James Munro. Only two of prolific writer Mitchell’s novels have been adapted for the screen: Innocent Bystanders (1972) and Callan (1974). Mitchell re-wrote the original screenplay for The Last Grenade (1970).

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8501

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