Mann's last film

After a career which encompassed expert film noir B-flics, James Stewart westerns ('Winchester 73', 'The Naked Spur') and Samuel Bronston epics ('El Cid', 'The Fall of the Roman Empire') it is perhaps surprising that Anthony Mann's last movie should turn out to be a Cold War thrillerfilmed in London and Berlin, made in 1967 when the American companies were still pouring money into British studios. The thriller is the genre in which Mann did some of his very best work (see particularly 'Raw Deal' with Dennis O'Keefe, Claire Trevor, Marsha Hunt and Raymond Burr) and 'A Dandy in Aspic' is a superior example with interestingly shot locations in colour (though black and white, one feels, might have been more effective).Some unusual casting (Peter Cook and John Bird turning up as various espionage agents) but good work from Harry Andrews and Lionel Stander.

The rather reptilian Laurence Harvey (who completed the direction of the film when Mann died) was not perhaps the ideal choice for the Russian double agent hero, but the production credits are first class. Music by Quincy Jones - no less!. Definitely worth a look. It would have been nice if they could have got the Russian names right, though.