The Mackintosh Man (1973)

A petty criminal (Paul Newman) becomes an intelligence operative for British Intelligence. His assignment is to infiltrate a Soviet spy ring operating in Great Britain. This necessitates going undercover into prison and breaking out with an imprisoned Soviet spy (Ian Bannen). Based on the novel THE FREEDOM TRAP by Desmond Bagley and directed by John Huston (TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE). If I had to sum this movie up in one word, it would be ... forgettable! Three years earlier, Huston had done a much superior and underrated spy thriller THE KREMLIN LETTER and he should have let the Cold War spy genre alone after that. It's an inert movie lacking any suspense or atmosphere. I did like the movie's cold blooded ending but you have to wade through 90 minutes of tediousness to get to that. There's a lot of talent involved including director Walter Hill (who wrote the screenplay), cinematographer Oswald Morris (OLIVER!), composer Maurice Jarre (LAWRENCE OF ARABIA) but none of their talent shows up on the screen. With James Mason, Dominique Sanda, Harry Andrews, Michael Hordern, Jenny Runacre and Roland Culver.