The Assassination Bureau *** (1969, Oliver Reed, Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas, Curd Jürgens, Philippe Noiret, Warren Mitchell, Clive Revill, Beryl Reid, Kenneth Griffith, Jess Conrad) – Classic Movie Review 8167

Director Basil Dearden’s 1968 British movie The Assassination Bureau stars Diana Rigg as English newswoman Sonya Winter, who sets out to expose a Russian criminal Ivan Dragomiloff (Oliver Reed)’s globetrotting band of terminators by romancing him to infiltrate the gang.

Sonya (Rigg) then pays Ivan (Reed) a fortune to get his gang to kill him, in this busy, often entertaining, but sometimes strained Edwardian comedy-thriller piece of nonsense. Telly Savalas, Curd Jürgens [Curt Jurgens] and Philippe Noiret also star as Lord Bostwick, General von Pinck and Monsieur Lucoville.

The quality actors keep smiling through and the capable Dearden directs energetically, but Michael Relph’s screenplay, taken from the Jack London unfinished novel The Assassination Bureau Limited and a novel by Robert L Fish, is too fluffy and never really gets a grip. The Assassination Bureau is still quite fun though.

Zeppelins, bombs, bordellos and burials are all on the menu. The European grand tour includes a Paris brothel, a Swiss bank, Venice and a German castle, all prettily pictured in Geoffrey Unsworth’s crisp Technicolor cinematography. The many bare breasts on show throughout the movie are removed in the demure TV version.

Also in the cast are Warren Mitchell as Herr Weiss, Clive Revill as Cesare Spado, Beryl Reid as Madame Otero, Kenneth Griffith as Monsieur Popescu, Jess Conrad as Angelo, George Coulouris, Annabella Incontrera as Eleanora Spado, Ralph Michael, Katherine Kath, Eugene Deckers (in his last feature film) as desk clerk, Vernon Dobtcheff as Baron Muntzof, Peter Bowles, Jeremy Lloyd, Maurice Browning, Frank Thornton, Milton Reid, Gordon Sterne, Olaf Pooley, George Murcell, Michael Wolf, William Kendall, Roger Delgado, Clive Gazes, Robert Rietty, Michael Mellinger, Philip Madoc, Fred Emney,  and Gerik Schjelderup.

The Assassination Bureau is directed by Basil Dearden, runs 110 minutes, is made by Heathfield and Paramount Pictures, is released by Paramount Pictures, is written by Michael Relph (screenplay) and Wolf Mankowitz (additional dialogue), based on the Jack London unfinished novel The Assassination Bureau Limited and a novel by Robert L Fish, is shot in Technicolor by Geoffrey Unsworth, is produced by Michael Relph, is scored by Ron Grainer and is designed by Michael Relph.

It was shot at Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, and on location in Paris, Venice, Zurich and Vienna.

Jess Conrad tweets: ‘Remembering my time as guest star on Assassination Bureau. Fond memories arm-wrestling Oliver Reed over lunch, while Diana Rigg tried to sell me her mini. I wasn’t interested as I already had a mustang with red interior which was my passion wagon!’

RIP Diana Rigg.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8167

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