Where the Spies Are (1966)

When one of their agents is killed the British intelligence agency known as MI6 is suddenly confronted with a huge manpower shortage in Lebanon. This results in their contacting a person who served with them during World War 2 as a combat physician by the name of "Dr. Jason Love" (David Niven). But in order to recruit him for this special assignment they have to offer him something that is very rare—a 1937 Chrysler LeBaron. He eagerly accepts and heads off to Rome where he meets an attractive secret agent at the airport by the name of "Vikki" (Françoise Dorléac). Wanting to spend a little time with her he reschedules his flight to Beirut. He then watches in horror as the flight he was supposed to be on explodes in mid-air and realizes that this assignment may not be as simple as he was led to believe. At any rate, rather than reveal any more of the film and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a fairly good spy movie for the most part. Although it slightly resembled a "James Bond" film it was a bit more light-hearted in comparison and wasn't quite as polished. Even so it was still somewhat enjoyable and having an actress as beautiful as the aforementioned Francoise Dorléac certainly didn't hurt in any way. Slightly above average.

A good, Bond like thriller, far removed from the standard 60s spy spoofs. Far more serious than even The Ipcress File, this features some very realistic deaths and torture sequences, and a climactic 'tricking the KGB plane' bit that is really nasty indeed. Niven plays it totally straight, with none of the comedy mannerisms that you feel familiar with from films like Casino Royale. A true gem. Bears comparison with The Spy who Came in From the cold.Niven's character is a doctor who once spied during the war. The British Secret Service are desperate for someone who could justifiably visit Beirut to check on one of their spies who's gone missing (he's been shot) and there happens to be a medical conference there. Niven is a car fanatic, and is bribed with the promise of a very rare Cord Le Baron, which is his dream car. The Cord he drives, incidentally, is very similar to Bond's Bentley Continental, which is probably deliberate.The plane he is due to get from Italy to Beirut blows up, and from then on he's really up against it. A very, very well written, well shot and performed movie, with terrific performances all round.

I happened across this film whilst channel surfing late at night. At first, I thought it was a parody, a bit like 'Casino Royale' -- which Niven must be a lot more proud of! Sadly, I soon came to the realisation that this was not playing for laughs but wanted to be taken seriously. I will concede that Niven, Davenport & others do their best, but the wooden plot, corny lines & truly terribly dated music ruin any efforts by them. This film came out just a couple of years after "From Russia with Love" & is obviously trying to compete with the Bond series. Sadly, it fails miserably. Watch it if you have trouble sleeping, but only if you tire of watching the paint dry!

Cold War hi-jinks of an implausible nature. David Niven plays the civilian who turns out to have an aptitude for being a secret agent when plunged into the role by accident.The studios were obviously still trying to convince people that David Niven could be a dashing man of action as well as suave and debonair, but unfortunately this line was always doomed, and this picture gives convincing evidence why.The plot is arrant nonsense from beginning to end, played by a puppet theatre of cliched stereotypes.Where The Audiences Are this certainly isn't.