During the Cold War, the chief of a British intelligence code-breaking section falls in love with a new employee and shields an old co-worker accused of Communist affiliations from the wrath... Read allDuring the Cold War, the chief of a British intelligence code-breaking section falls in love with a new employee and shields an old co-worker accused of Communist affiliations from the wrath of the security branch.During the Cold War, the chief of a British intelligence code-breaking section falls in love with a new employee and shields an old co-worker accused of Communist affiliations from the wrath of the security branch.
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaOriginally planned as a reunion between the writer (Leo Marks) and the director (Michael Powell) of Peeping Tom (1960), this was inspired by Marks' own wartime career as an ace code-breaker. However, the notoriety of "Peeping Tom" made it hard to get the project off the ground. Powell became connected with American producer Herbert Brodkin during the making of the television series Espionage (1963), and hoped that Brodkin's interest would get this movie made. When it finally was, he and Marks were replaced. Powell had to be content with a producing credit, while Marks was credited solely with the story.
- Quotes
Miss Elliott: [answering the phone] Abbey nine seven double three...
Rebecca Howard: Is there someone there called, Sebastian... oh... Sebastian someone?
Miss Elliott: Mister Sebastian...
Rebecca Howard: I met him in Oxford in the spring and he offered me a job
Miss Elliott: Hold on
Sebastian: [to Sebastian] A girl who says you offered her a job... in the spring
Sebastian: In the spring?
Miss Elliott: At Oxford
Sebastian: Ah! Licence number 66-0-F-Y-H
[he picks up the handset]
Sebastian: Let me smother you in jewels and furs; let me whisk you to Monte in my Mercedes...
Rebecca Howard: What?
Sebastian: ...Let me teach you the meaning of desire
Rebecca Howard: Sounds a bit old-fashioned to me
Sebastian: Yeah, well it is rather an old-fashioned business
Rebecca Howard: What do you do?
Sebastian: [to Miss Elliott] what do we do?
Miss Elliott: [picks up handset] This is Mister Sebastian's personal assistant. We are a more-or-less sane and respectable department of the Civil Service, appearances notwithstanding. Would you like me to arrange an interview?
Rebecca Howard: Civil Service? Good God! No thank you very much
Miss Elliott: [to Sebastian] Well, you've lost her. Is she any good?
Sebastian: Don't know. Can't tell.
Miss Elliott: You've been doing rather a lot of this stuff recently
Sebastian: A lot of what stuff?
Miss Elliott: Gaily irresponsible stuff. This fart-arsing about. It's time you took a proper holiday
Like a lighter LeCarre story, you get Cold War tension, but with a post-war British self-deprecating viewpoint. They may not be the Empire they once were, but they do have a bit of expertise in cryptography that the Yanks would be willing to compensate them for. Donald Sutherland plays an NSA type at Fylingdale Moor who turns Sebastian on (literally) to the latest intercepts from a Russian satellite. He's immediately impressed when Sebastian hears the embedded signal that carries classified data piggy-back with the normal Sputnik beeps. Mixed in with this main West versus East plot is the late-sixties go-go scene, with Sebastian's former paramour a pop singer a little past her prime, with his right-hand girl a bit of a leftist sympathizer, and with his new girlfriend, Rebecca, a pre-hippy free spirit determined to pry him out of his Oxford Don shell. Susannah York's Rebecca is fun-loving but has a flame-hot temper that reacts explosively to Sebastian's unemotional pomposity. Her true depth is shone later when she quietly removes herself to care for her baby, without the assistance of its father, Sebastian, who has dropped out of her life. I feel it's the best role of York's uneven career.
What really takes the movie a step above, is Jerry Goldsmith's score. His instrumental "First Day at Work" catches just the right combination of urban excitement and spritly spirit that accompanies Rebecca and a bevy of beautiful and brainy girls as they make their way in to begin their work as cryptanalysts working in Sebastian's high-tech sweatshop. While the rest of the soundtrack is not up to his Blue Max or Wind and the Lion standards, this one tune alone puts Goldsmith's soundtrack above most movie music.
I would put this one in my list of top 100 movies for its cast, its atmosphere, its music, and its re-watchability. I hope it comes out on DVD soon.
- tichsuch
- Jan 12, 2002
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
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- Also known as
- Der mysteriöse Mr. Sebastian
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- Production company
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Box office
- Budget
- $1,250,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 40 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1