Target for Killing (1966)

"Target For Killing" undoubtedly has one of the best casts of all 1960's Eurospy movies: Stewart Granger (who was making a habit out of playing veteran secret agents around that period), Klaus Kinski (as a bad guy, of course, but a bad guy with a conscience this time), and no fewer than 4 (!) James Bond connections: Karin Dor ("You Only Live Twice"), Curt Jurgens ("The Spy Who Loved Me"), Adolfo Celi ("Thunderball"), and Molly Peters (also "Thunderball" - remember the nurse at the clinic?) With all those names, you might expect the film to be something special, but it isn't - it's pretty formulaic. That said, it does have a sense of humor, and some interesting touches, like the criminal organization's headquarters being located in a monastery! The most memorable character is not played by any of the names mentioned above - it is Scilla Gabel's playful, stylish and sadomasochistic Tiger; unfortunately, her exit is an inglorious one. ** out of 4.

I have always been since my teens an avid fan of Stewart Granger, eagerly waiting for his next film to hit the screen. And I have been on the alert for films of his post-Hollywood period, to complete my collection. When this film came my way, I snapped it up eagerly. My disappointment was all the greater. What a waste of talent. Stewart Granger, Curt Jurgens, Adolfo Celli, Klaus Kinski in a minimal role, Karin Dor, all of them mixed up in a nonsensical and incomprehensible story, with any connection to reality being by pure chance. An awful soundtrack completed the disaster. I gave the film 3, not that it was worth it but for purely sentimental reasons. What a pity! I am sure that with better direction and a straightening up of the story, the film would have been quite a good one.

Stewart Granger is after a generally evil organization run by Curd Jurgens but the real story has to do with Jurgens' efforts to kill Karen Dor and get the money she is soon to inherit.Granger is again an FBI agent and indeed, is even supposedly the same man who thwarted the smuggling racket in "Red Dragon" but he has a different name; James Vine. Luckily, this time the results for viewers are much improved as the groovy credit sequence will attest. Hip graphics and a cool rock song kick things off nicely. Here Granger isn't quite the smarmy character he was in "Red Dragon" but he is still the unlikely beneficiary of a relationship with a pretty young thing, even pledging to marry her in the end!Director Manfred Kohler (From Beirut With Love) has made a vast improvement on Granger's previous spy outing and the talented cast is a real asset to the film's modest successes.

The story is dumb (pilots of airplane bail out while passengers don't even notice), the setting is usually inside a studio, but the number and combination of extraordinary actors is quite unusual. Karin Dor and Stewart Granger make such an intriguing couple that one would just wish they should have been used much more often. The more precious is this rare specimen of their and Curt Juergen's artistry. - A piece of historical interest to the old movies enthusiast.