The most untalented Dirk Bogarde managed to ruin any film he was involved with, no exception in this one. The story is a rather predictable one and the film shows it's age very clearly. It could have been very much better though with a different leading actor. Bogarde seems always to be thinking something else from what is happening, constantly constipated. It was a different time of course, but the fact that this man made a career in the film industry never stops to amaze me. The rest of the crew performs within the standards of the era, no ups and downs really, the story in it's simplicity borrows elements from older similar ones, nothing bad with that. Sylva Koscina is an adequate actress and a great presence, Robert Morley is a delight as in all his performances, the rest just add up to an oldie that could be very different if the lead actor was anybody else. It's very interesting to observe the way the story telling evolved through the entire 20th century and even later on. Films like this show us very clearly the do's and don't's of film making in general. (Sounds like a museum item and it sure is.) Useful for a limited audience.
Review of Agent 8 3/4
