| Permission to Kill | |
|---|---|
 Original
film poster by Robert Tanenbaum
[1] | |
| Directed by | Cyril Frankel |
| Written by | Robin Estridge |
| Produced by | Paul Mills |
| Starring |
Dirk Bogarde Ava Gardner Bekim Fehmiu |
| Cinematography | Freddie Young |
| Edited by | Ernest Walter |
| Music by | Richard Rodney Bennett |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | AVCO Embassy Pictures (in the United Kingdom through Columbia- Warner Distributors [2]) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 93 minutes |
| Countries | Austria United Kingdom United States |
| Language | English |
Permission to Kill (also known as The Executioner and Vollmacht Zum Mord) is a 1975 Austrian/American/British spy thriller film directed by Cyril Frankel and starring Dirk Bogarde, Ava Gardner and Bekim Fehmiu with Timothy Dalton, Nicole Calfan and Frederic Forrest. [3] It was produced by Paul Mills from a screenplay by Robin Estridge, made by Sascha-Verleih and distributed by AVCO Embassy Pictures. The film had original music by Richard Rodney Bennett and the cinematography was by Freddie Young.
Plot
British agents try to stop a communist returning home from the West. [4]
Partial cast
- Dirk Bogarde as Alan Curtis
- Ava Gardner as Katina Petersen
- Bekim Fehmiu as Alexander Diakim
- Timothy Dalton as Charles Lord
- Nicole Calfan as Melissa Lascade
- Frederic Forrest as Scott Allison
- John Levene as Adams
- Klaus Wildbolz as Muller
- Anthony Dutton as Jennings
- Peggy Sinclair as Lily
- Dennis Blanch as Brewer
- Alf Joint as MacNeil
- Vladimir Popovic as Kostas
- Ratislav Plamenac as Pavlos
- Oliver Schott as François
- Erna Riedl as Mme Diderot
- Paul Maxwell as American
- John Serret as Frenchman
- Anthony Forwood as Englishman
- François Baudet as Dr. Giraud
- Bob Sessions as Pete
- Peter Garell as Carlo
- Friedrich Mönnig as Cliff
- Fritz von Friedl as 1st security man
- Erwin Fischer as 2nd security man
Production
The film was shot at the Sievering Studios in Vienna and on location in Gmunden, Austria.[ citation needed]
Critical reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "A suspense thriller entirely devoid of tension since Robin Estridge, from whose novel it is adapted, has failed to provide his protagonist Diakim with an authentic political identity. Lacking the vaguest idea who Diakim is or what he stands for, audiences can hardly be expected to feel strongly about his life or his death. The plot's overall lack of definition is not improved by the tritely ominous secrecy surrounding the character of Curtis, an agent of implausible efficiency and ruthlessness who would have been more at home in a fantasy thriller than in this pretentious political mishmash. ... The film reaches its melodramatic nadir when Lord, his bloody chest uncovered, is laid prominently on a table in the bustling HQ of Western Intelligence Liaison, studiously ignored by the hard-hearted Curtis while a secretary dabs ineffectively at the wound with a minuscule piece of cottonwool. Bogarde, at his best for some time recently in roles requiring understated menace, here shields behind his poker-face and occasionally twitching upper lip. The tousled but still good-looking Ava Gardner, in the thin supporting role of Katina, emotes heavily in a style of acting more suited to the star vehicles of an earlier age." [5]
References
- ^ "Permission to Kill / 30x40 / USA".
- ^ "Permission to Kill (1975)". BBFC. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
- ^ "Permission to Kill". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
- ^ "TV guide from 1988" (JPG). Retrieved 29 September 2016.
- ^ "Permission to Kill". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 42 (492): 266. 1 January 1975 – via ProQuest.
External links
 | This article about a 1970s thriller film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article related to an American film of the 1970s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1975 films
- American spy thriller films
- British spy thriller films
- Austrian thriller films
- English-language Austrian films
- English-language spy thriller films
- Films scored by Richard Rodney Bennett
- Films set in Austria
- Films shot in Austria
- Embassy Pictures films
- Films shot at Sievering Studios
- 1970s spy thriller films
- Films directed by Cyril Frankel
- 1970s English-language films
- 1970s American films
- 1970s British films
- 1970s thriller film stubs
- 1970s American film stubs
| Permission to Kill | |
|---|---|
|
Original
film poster by Robert Tanenbaum
[1] | |
| Directed by | Cyril Frankel |
| Written by | Robin Estridge |
| Produced by | Paul Mills |
| Starring |
Dirk Bogarde Ava Gardner Bekim Fehmiu |
| Cinematography | Freddie Young |
| Edited by | Ernest Walter |
| Music by | Richard Rodney Bennett |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | AVCO Embassy Pictures (in the United Kingdom through Columbia- Warner Distributors [2]) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 93 minutes |
| Countries | Austria United Kingdom United States |
| Language | English |
Permission to Kill (also known as The Executioner and Vollmacht Zum Mord) is a 1975 Austrian/American/British spy thriller film directed by Cyril Frankel and starring Dirk Bogarde, Ava Gardner and Bekim Fehmiu with Timothy Dalton, Nicole Calfan and Frederic Forrest. [3] It was produced by Paul Mills from a screenplay by Robin Estridge, made by Sascha-Verleih and distributed by AVCO Embassy Pictures. The film had original music by Richard Rodney Bennett and the cinematography was by Freddie Young.
Plot
British agents try to stop a communist returning home from the West. [4]
Partial cast
- Dirk Bogarde as Alan Curtis
- Ava Gardner as Katina Petersen
- Bekim Fehmiu as Alexander Diakim
- Timothy Dalton as Charles Lord
- Nicole Calfan as Melissa Lascade
- Frederic Forrest as Scott Allison
- John Levene as Adams
- Klaus Wildbolz as Muller
- Anthony Dutton as Jennings
- Peggy Sinclair as Lily
- Dennis Blanch as Brewer
- Alf Joint as MacNeil
- Vladimir Popovic as Kostas
- Ratislav Plamenac as Pavlos
- Oliver Schott as François
- Erna Riedl as Mme Diderot
- Paul Maxwell as American
- John Serret as Frenchman
- Anthony Forwood as Englishman
- François Baudet as Dr. Giraud
- Bob Sessions as Pete
- Peter Garell as Carlo
- Friedrich Mönnig as Cliff
- Fritz von Friedl as 1st security man
- Erwin Fischer as 2nd security man
Production
The film was shot at the Sievering Studios in Vienna and on location in Gmunden, Austria.[ citation needed]
Critical reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "A suspense thriller entirely devoid of tension since Robin Estridge, from whose novel it is adapted, has failed to provide his protagonist Diakim with an authentic political identity. Lacking the vaguest idea who Diakim is or what he stands for, audiences can hardly be expected to feel strongly about his life or his death. The plot's overall lack of definition is not improved by the tritely ominous secrecy surrounding the character of Curtis, an agent of implausible efficiency and ruthlessness who would have been more at home in a fantasy thriller than in this pretentious political mishmash. ... The film reaches its melodramatic nadir when Lord, his bloody chest uncovered, is laid prominently on a table in the bustling HQ of Western Intelligence Liaison, studiously ignored by the hard-hearted Curtis while a secretary dabs ineffectively at the wound with a minuscule piece of cottonwool. Bogarde, at his best for some time recently in roles requiring understated menace, here shields behind his poker-face and occasionally twitching upper lip. The tousled but still good-looking Ava Gardner, in the thin supporting role of Katina, emotes heavily in a style of acting more suited to the star vehicles of an earlier age." [5]
References
- ^ "Permission to Kill / 30x40 / USA".
- ^ "Permission to Kill (1975)". BBFC. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
- ^ "Permission to Kill". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
- ^ "TV guide from 1988" (JPG). Retrieved 29 September 2016.
- ^ "Permission to Kill". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 42 (492): 266. 1 January 1975 – via ProQuest.
External links
|
| This article about a 1970s thriller film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
|
| This article related to an American film of the 1970s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1975 films
- American spy thriller films
- British spy thriller films
- Austrian thriller films
- English-language Austrian films
- English-language spy thriller films
- Films scored by Richard Rodney Bennett
- Films set in Austria
- Films shot in Austria
- Embassy Pictures films
- Films shot at Sievering Studios
- 1970s spy thriller films
- Films directed by Cyril Frankel
- 1970s English-language films
- 1970s American films
- 1970s British films
- 1970s thriller film stubs
- 1970s American film stubs