"The Executioner" is yet another spy drama with George Peppard donning the trench coat. He is supposed to be a British national who left England at an earlier age and was raised in the USA before returning to serve his country. This explains, if you will, his American accent.
Peppard plays John Shay who has detected a "leak" at the top echelons of British Intelligence. He suspects fellow agent Adam Booth (Keith Mitchell) as being the culprit and sets out to prove it. Booth is marries to Shay's former lover Sarah Booth (Joan Collins) while shay is in a relationship with the pert young Polly Bendel (Judy Geeson).
Shay pleads with his superiors, Vaughn Jones (Charles Gray) and Colonel Scott (Nigel Patrick) even to the point of forcing an inquiry into the matter. The inquiry vindicates Booth but Shay carries on. He travels to Greece and Turkey to gain evidence. He meets Russian defector Racovsky (Oskar Homolka) at the American Embassy in Greece who gives him the impression that Booth is indeed a double agent.
One night, back in England, Shay is awakened by a phone call from his friend Philip Crawford (George Baker) who tells him that he has discovered Booth going through secret documents on his desk. Crawford you see, is also enamored by the beautiful Sarah. Shay, now having no doubt about Boot's guilt takes him into the countryside and kills him.
Later Shay goes to Turkey in place of Booth who was supposed to go. He travels with Sarah was to accompany her husband. In Turkey Shay is taken by the Russians who inform Shay that Booth was not their agent and that they were intending to rub him out. Shay is devastated that he has killed an innocent man. The Russians have also taken Sarah prisoner and want to exchange her for Crawford who is a scientist working on the Space Program on behalf of the Americans.
As the exchange is taking place................................................................................
The all British cast, except for Peppard. is excellent as always. Collins is as beautiful as ever and Geeson is a little flighty as Shay's current squeeze. Character actors Gray and Patrick stand out as Shay's superiors as does Mitchell as Booth. Homolka does what he can with what amounts to a cameo role.
And oh yes, wait for the surprise ending.
Peppard plays John Shay who has detected a "leak" at the top echelons of British Intelligence. He suspects fellow agent Adam Booth (Keith Mitchell) as being the culprit and sets out to prove it. Booth is marries to Shay's former lover Sarah Booth (Joan Collins) while shay is in a relationship with the pert young Polly Bendel (Judy Geeson).
Shay pleads with his superiors, Vaughn Jones (Charles Gray) and Colonel Scott (Nigel Patrick) even to the point of forcing an inquiry into the matter. The inquiry vindicates Booth but Shay carries on. He travels to Greece and Turkey to gain evidence. He meets Russian defector Racovsky (Oskar Homolka) at the American Embassy in Greece who gives him the impression that Booth is indeed a double agent.
One night, back in England, Shay is awakened by a phone call from his friend Philip Crawford (George Baker) who tells him that he has discovered Booth going through secret documents on his desk. Crawford you see, is also enamored by the beautiful Sarah. Shay, now having no doubt about Boot's guilt takes him into the countryside and kills him.
Later Shay goes to Turkey in place of Booth who was supposed to go. He travels with Sarah was to accompany her husband. In Turkey Shay is taken by the Russians who inform Shay that Booth was not their agent and that they were intending to rub him out. Shay is devastated that he has killed an innocent man. The Russians have also taken Sarah prisoner and want to exchange her for Crawford who is a scientist working on the Space Program on behalf of the Americans.
As the exchange is taking place................................................................................
The all British cast, except for Peppard. is excellent as always. Collins is as beautiful as ever and Geeson is a little flighty as Shay's current squeeze. Character actors Gray and Patrick stand out as Shay's superiors as does Mitchell as Booth. Homolka does what he can with what amounts to a cameo role.
And oh yes, wait for the surprise ending.