Breezy, light Ralph Thomas entertainment, like a glass of cool lemonade on a hot day - there's colour photography, location shooting in Europe and an amiable plot which has unemployed writer Dirk Bogarde forced to look for work and his skill at speaking Czech sees him wind up as a spy. Only the thing is he doesn't know he's a spy for a while, meaning he's passive - one of several problems this movie has if you're being picky.
It also lacks a genuine sense of danger, and humour - for it's basically a spy spoof (it starts with a file clearing out a the belongings of a dead agent, 007... how did they get clearance for that?). So the end result is it lacks an identity - not quite a spoof, not quite a thriller. It's probably best described as a very light entertainment.
Syvla Koscina is stunning - hot enough to be a Bond girl herself (I'm sure she was considered for the series), although Bogarde's never quite believably into her. There's an excellent support cast that England can pull out at times: Robert Morley, Derek Fowlds (a great bug eyed spy), Leo McKern (an ideal Commie baddie), John Le Mesurier, etc. It's worth watching if you like colourful entertainment and happen to catch it on television.
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