Oct. 24, 2002 - 1:23 pm
yes, that's right. i know you've never heard of or seen this film. there are only 10 votes for it currently on the IMDb. see, this is when i feel like my voting on there really makes a difference. i think only hardcore Patrick McGoohan and/or Danger Man fans have probably watched this film. it was originally designed as two separate episodes that would begin the fourth season of the Danger Man series. when Patrick McGoohan decided to go on and start work on The Prisoner, leaving Danger Man behind, the two episodes were meshed together and worked into a full-length film that was released to the public.
the story is that secret agent John Drake flies to Japan to investigate a secret band of assassins who are bent on murdering various government officials. he has to find out who murdered the British operative that was previously there, and then attempt to infiltrate that organization. he eventually is able to stop the Tokyo syndicate and poses as a defected British Intelligence agent in order to get to the leaders of the organization which are located on a mysterious offshore island.
this is really just classic Danger Man. if you enjoy the series, you'll probably like this film fairly well. it is a rather strange lead-in to The Prisoner though. everything seems tied up nicely at the end of this film and it seems rather strange that John Drake would leave his career as an agent after the success of this mission. (that is, if you're one of those people who believes that Number 6 is the same agent as John Drake.)
i think my favorite scene from this movie is where Drake is inspecting the suitcase of the electronics specialist which has been just smuggled into the Tokyo airport. the case is filled with hidden compartments which are used to conceal various transistors, circuit boards, and other electrical equipment. as the viewer, you see a lot of close up shots of Drake's hands opening up the compartments very carefully and discovering the different components. then in the audio track, you hear his classic humming and singing under his breath. it's hilarious. he starts sort of half singing The Twelve Days of Christmas. "on the first day of christmas my true love sent to me....five thousand dollars (pulls out $5000 from a secret compartment)...and a partridge in a pear tree...on the second day of christmas my true love sent to me...some fabricated circuitry (pulls out large circuit board)" great stuff.
watch for another entry possible this evening. and more Ginger Rogers somewhere in the next few days.