S*P*Y*S * (1974, Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Zouzou, Joss Ackland, Kenneth Griffith, Vladek Sheybal) – Classic Movie Review 8622

Director Irwin Kershner’s 1974 S*P*Y*S is a fumbled spy comedy thriller, with the stars of MASH (or M*A*S*H) all at sea and totally wasted.

Elliot Gould and Donald Sutherland play CIA agents in Paris, Griff and Bruland, in an incredible plot about the duo botching the defection of a Russian ballet dancer (Michael Petrovich), their murderous, duplicitous bosses, a KGB spy list, the Chinese Communists, and an anarchist terrorist group.

The tone is all wrong, not nearly hitting the light-hearted screwball spy spoof note, and there is scarcely a laugh in sight. Why, though, was there nothing the talented stars and director could do? It is not their fault though, vainly battling with this screenplay, written by Malcolm Marmorstein, Lawrence J Cohen and Fred Freeman.

It runs 100 minutes but the cut version runs at 87 minutes.

The score is by John Scott but Jerry Goldsmith scored the US version.

Also in the cast are Zouzou, Joss Ackland, Kenneth Griffith, Vladek Sheybal, Melanie Ackland, John Bardon, Robert Cawdron, Andre Charisse, Raf De La Torre, Nigel Hawthorne, Andy Ho, Jacques Marin, Pierre Oudrey, George Pravda, Shane Rimmer, Larry Taylor, Kenneth J Warren, Jeffrey Wickham and James Woolley.

It was shot in the UK at Lee International Studios, Kensal Road, Kensal Town, London, England.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8622

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