A US secret agent is sent to Berlin to pretend to be a spy for the USSR.A US secret agent is sent to Berlin to pretend to be a spy for the USSR.A US secret agent is sent to Berlin to pretend to be a spy for the USSR.
Clete Roberts
- Narrator
- (voice)
Jimmy Bates
- Russian Student Spy
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFilm debut of Ted Knight.
- GoofsThe K-9s look straight at the cameras and even move towards them, instead of walking with the actors who are meant to be their handlers.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Going Attractions: The Definitive Story of the Movie Palace (2019)
Featured review
A decent time passer with one giant problem
This is a decent Cold War film about a Russian film director working in the United States. While he is not a Communist, his "friends" are and while he tells himself he isn't working for them, he has accepted favors and naively thinks it will all somehow work out. However, when he is confronted by the CBI(?) (a fictional US government agency), he realizes he's become a Communist stooge and agrees to help the US in a counter-espionage mission behind the Iron Curtain.
While the film is a decent enough time-passer and the last 1/3 of the film is pretty exciting, it has one giant problem and a few small ones. Oddly, they decided to cast Ernest Borgnine as the Russian Director yet he never even sounds the least bit Russian and you can STILL detect his New York accent. This makes the entire film seem rather cheesy and very tough to believe. Had they recast the film and perhaps punched up the first 1/3, it could have been an exciting spy yarn. Oddly, just a few years later, Borgnine was cast as a Russian in ICE STATION ZEBRA and he was able to do a decent Russian accent! Additionally, when Borgnine's character went to Moscow, it looked like a bad travelogue with all the stock footage inserted rather haphazzardly into the movie. As it is, it's just passable entertainment and a mildly interesting curio of the Cold War.
By the way, don't get the idea I hate Cold War films--I am a history teacher and naturally love a good espionage film and could recommend several good ones such as I MARRIED A COMMUNIST and ASSIGNMENT Paris.
While the film is a decent enough time-passer and the last 1/3 of the film is pretty exciting, it has one giant problem and a few small ones. Oddly, they decided to cast Ernest Borgnine as the Russian Director yet he never even sounds the least bit Russian and you can STILL detect his New York accent. This makes the entire film seem rather cheesy and very tough to believe. Had they recast the film and perhaps punched up the first 1/3, it could have been an exciting spy yarn. Oddly, just a few years later, Borgnine was cast as a Russian in ICE STATION ZEBRA and he was able to do a decent Russian accent! Additionally, when Borgnine's character went to Moscow, it looked like a bad travelogue with all the stock footage inserted rather haphazzardly into the movie. As it is, it's just passable entertainment and a mildly interesting curio of the Cold War.
By the way, don't get the idea I hate Cold War films--I am a history teacher and naturally love a good espionage film and could recommend several good ones such as I MARRIED A COMMUNIST and ASSIGNMENT Paris.
helpful•137
- planktonrules
- Aug 27, 2007
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Ten Years a Counterspy
- Filming locations
- West Berlin, Berlin, Germany(city streets)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 32 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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