When Eight Bells Toll (1971)

A British secret service agent (Anthony Hopkins) is assigned to stop the ruthless pirating of gold bullion in the Scotland seas. His search takes him to a small port in the Hebrides where numerous fishing boats, yachts and people have mysteriously disappeared. Based on the novel by Alistair MacLean (who adapted his novel for the screen) and directed by Etienne Perier (BRIDGE TO THE SUN). In the 1960s and early 1970s, the books of Alistair MacLean were popular enough to almost inevitably reach the big screen. Among them GUNS OF NAVARONE, WHERE EAGLES DARE, ICE STATION ZEBRA and this rather routine action adventure which seems to mimic the James Bond movies. The producer Elliott Kastner intended a big prestige production but what we end up with is a noisy routine programmer. Watchable but forgettable almost immediately. The Scottish coastal locations are handsomely shot in wide screen by Arthur Ibbetson (ANNE OF A THOUSAND DAYS) and there's a pleasant pop jazz underscore courtesy of Angela Morley (credited here as Walter Stott, her pre-transition moniker). With Nathalie Delon, Robert Morley, Jack Hawkins, Corin Redgrave and Ferdy Mayne.