The Rhinemann Exchange (1977)

Robert Ludlum, best known for churning out the Bourne novels, is responsible for this potboiler directed by Burt Kennedy (SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF). There’s a lot of down time to pad out the 4 hour running time including a prologue that goes nowhere and the dullest love scenes. That most generic of actors Stephen Collins is a government agent during WWII sent to a mission in Argentina that deals with Americans selling industrial diamonds to the Nazis while the Nazis provide plans for a gyroscope in exchange. What Collins doesn’t know is that this mission is not sanctioned by either the U.S. government nor the Third Reich. The plot is terribly convoluted and the action of the routine variety. The large supporting cast includes Jose Ferrer, Lauren Hutton, Larry Hagman, Vince Edwards and Roddy McDowall.