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Reviews
Where the Spies Are (1965)
Great light hearted easy going film with superb cord car cameo piece
I saw this film for the first time as teenager and thought it great fun and after 20 years I got the chance to see it again via TNT.I have since seen it at least half a dozen times on TNT re runs and its still great fun to watch. The film is a good attempt to provide some good light hearted humour matched against the absurdity of life's wheel of fortune. A south of England middle aged doctor with a passion for 1930s cord sports cars finds himself manipulated into doing a task for British intelligence only to find himself way out of his depth and up to his neck in intrigue.The doctor is played by the polished David Niven who gives a good believable performance and a host of British character actors are thrown in for good measure and depth .Female distraction is provided by the French actress Francoise Dorleac in one of her last films before her early tragic death. The films international locations span as far as picturesque 1960s Beruit in the days when it was the playground of the rich; before it was destroyed by war in 70s and thus provides a rare glimpse of what was. The film is also a good glimpse of 1960s revolution where old society values clash with the modern realisation that Britain is no longer a world superpower even though it likes to hope or think it is. Then there in the middle of it mirroring this duality is David Nivens middle age character trying to rise to the challenge surprised at what he can still do , but struggling to avoid the consequences of the things he cant and perhaps never could even when he was younger. This is presented with humour and its A DELIGHTFUL view and an enjoyable trip into 1960s film.