The Mackintosh Man
Encyclopedia
The Mackintosh Man is a 1973
British cold war
spy thriller film
directed by John Huston
and starring Paul Newman
, James Mason
, Dominique Sanda
and Ian Bannen
. It was produced by John Foreman
and William Hill as associate producer from a screenplay
by Walter Hill and William Fairchild based on the novel The Freedom Trap
by Desmond Bagley
. The music score was by Maurice Jarre
and the cinematography by Oswald Morris
. It was made by the Newman-Foreman Company and Warner Bros
.
The film stars Paul Newman
, Dominique Sanda
and James Mason
with Harry Andrews
, Ian Bannen
, Michael Hordern
, Nigel Patrick
, Peter Vaughan
, Roland Culver
, Leo Genn
, Percy Herbert
and Robert Lang
.
and Malta
. It and the book it is adapted from, are loosely based on the exposure and defection of George Blake
, a Soviet agent in British intelligence. The scene where Slade and Rearden escape from prison are inspired by Blake's escape from Wormwood Scrubs in 1966. The jail scenes were filmed at Liverpool Prison and Kilmainham Gaol
in Dublin.
), an agent of British Intelligence arrives in London
and makes a rendezvous with Mackintosh (Andrews
), the head of his organisation in a discreet office located just off Trafalgar Square
. Mackintosh and his deputy, Mrs Smith (Sanda
), inform him of a simple way to steal diamonds which are transported via the post service
to avoid attention. This he does, apparently getting successfully away after punching a postman, and making off with the diamond-filled parcel. However, that evening, in his hotel room he is paid a visit by two Metropolitan Police
detectives who have received an anonymous phone call advising them about the robbery. They are unconvinced by Newman's pretence to be an innocent Australian who had recently arrived in London.
The Judge at his trial is angered by the failure to recover the stolen diamonds from Rearden, who he believes has stashed them away somewhere, and sentences him to twenty years in jail. Rearden is shipped off to a bleak prison in the North of England. He slowly begins to blend in with the other prisoners, and is assigned to laundry-washing duties. A few days after entering he encounters Slade (Bannen
), a former British spy who has been exposed as a KGB
mole
, who is being kept in high security. He makes innocent enquiries of his fellow inmates about Slade - but not a great deal is known about him.
A few weeks after his entry into prison, he is approached by a well-spoken inmate who offers to act as a go-between with an organisation that can spring him from the prison in exchange for a large cut of the stolen diamonds. They are used to helping prisoners escape, and have another exit planned shortly which he can join if he is prepared to put up the money - to which he agrees. Two days later a diversion is arranged, and smoke bombs are hurled over the walls. Using the smokescreen Rearden and a fellow prisoner, who turns out to be Slade, are lifted over the walls by a cargo net and then driven away at high speed. They are then drugged by a needle injection and taken to a secret location - somewhere in wild, deserted countryside. When Slade and Rearden wake up they are told that they will be kept there for a week until the man hunt for them dies down.
In London Mackintosh discreetly monitors the progress of Rearden. His entry into prison has been a planned sting operation to smoke out the organisation. It is now intended that they will be raided, rounded up and Slade returned to prison. Following a speech attacking the handling of the Slade escape by an old friend and war comrade, Sir George Wheeler MP (Mason
) in the House of Commons Mackintosh approaches him and advises him it would be better to remain silent or risk embarrassing himself. Wheeler, however, despite masquerading as a staunchly patriotic right-winger, is in fact a Communist and an agent of the KGB. He immediately tips off the head of the organisation where Rearden is being held. Mackintosh had in fact suspected Wheeler, and had used their meeting to try and flush him out. Before he can act, he is deliberately run down by a car, and dies soon afterwards.
Rearden now falls under suspicion where is being held, and they now began to doubt his claims to be an Australian criminal, beating him violently and savaging him with a guard dog. He manages to eventually fight back and escape the building, setting it on fire. He makes out across country - pursued by his guards and the dog. He is finally forced to drown the dog in a stream to throw his assailants off the scent. He then makes it to a nearby town, where he discovers he is on the West Coast of Ireland and has been apparently staying on the estate of a close friend of Sir George Wheeler. He contacts Mrs Smith in London, who flies to meet him in Galway
. Realising that Slade has been smuggled out of Ireland on the private yacht of Wheeler, they now head to Valetta on Malta
, where Wheeler is now heading.
Once there, they try and infiltrate one of Wheeler's parties and discover the whereabouts of Slade. Wheeler soon recognises Mrs Smith (who is in fact the daughter of his old friend Mackintosh) and drugs her and takes her inside the boat. Rearden tries to get the Maltese police to raid the boat, but they refuse to believe so respected a man as Wheeler could be involved in kidnapping and treason, and instead they move to arrest Rearden - who is still a wanted man for his earlier faked diamond robbery.
Rearden is again forced to flee, but he manages to follow Wheeler to a temple where he is holding Slade. He pulls a gun on them, and orders them to hand over Slade. Presented with a Mexican Standoff
, Wheeler and Slade try and persuade Rearden to let them go unharmed, in return for which they will also spare him and Mrs Smith. Reluctantly Rearden agrees. Mrs Smith takes up a gun and shoots Slade and Wheeler, avenging the murder of her father. She has fulfilled her orders, and bitterly abandons Rearden - angry at the way he has not followed his.
, United States
or Canada
.
1973 in film
The year 1973 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces his second wife, Barbara Blakely. Blakely would later marry actor/singer Frank Sinatra....
British cold war
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
spy thriller film
Spy film
The spy film genre deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way or as a basis for fantasy . Many novels in the spy fiction genre have been adapted as films, including works by John Buchan, John Le Carré, Ian Fleming and Len Deighton...
directed by John Huston
John Huston
John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge...
and starring Paul Newman
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
, James Mason
James Mason
James Neville Mason was an English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. Mason remained a powerful figure in the industry throughout his career and was nominated for three Academy Awards as well as three Golden Globes .- Early life :Mason was born in Huddersfield, in the...
, Dominique Sanda
Dominique Sanda
Dominique Sanda is a French actress and former fashion model.Sanda was born as Dominique Marie-Françoise Renée Varaigne in Paris to Lucienne and Gérard Varaigne...
and Ian Bannen
Ian Bannen
Ian Bannen was a Scottish character actor and occasional leading man.-Early life and career:Bannen was born in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, the son of Clare and John James Bannen, a lawyer. Bannen served in the British Army after attending St Aloysius' College, Glasgow and Ratcliffe College,...
. It was produced by John Foreman
John Foreman (producer)
John Christian Foreman was an American film producer.Foreman was born in Idaho Falls, Idaho. In the late 1960s, he and actor Paul Newman founded Newman-Foreman productions. He went on to produce Winning and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid . He later produced four films in collaboration with...
and William Hill as associate producer from a screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
by Walter Hill and William Fairchild based on the novel The Freedom Trap
The Freedom Trap
The Freedom Trap is a novel written by English author Desmond Bagley, and was first published in 1971. It was loosely based on the escape of George Blake from prison five years before...
by Desmond Bagley
Desmond Bagley
Desmond Bagley , was a British journalist and novelist principally known for a series of best-selling thrillers...
. The music score was by Maurice Jarre
Maurice Jarre
Maurice-Alexis Jarre was a French composer and conductor.Although he composed several concert works, he is best known for his film scores, and is particularly known for his collaborations with film director David Lean. Jarre composed the scores to all of Lean's films since Lawrence of Arabia...
and the cinematography by Oswald Morris
Oswald Morris
Oswald Norman Morris OBE, DFC, AFC, BSC is a British cinematographer. Known to his colleagues by the nicknames "Os" or "Ossie", Morris' film cinematography career spanned six decades.-Early life and career:...
. It was made by the Newman-Foreman Company and Warner Bros
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
.
The film stars Paul Newman
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
, Dominique Sanda
Dominique Sanda
Dominique Sanda is a French actress and former fashion model.Sanda was born as Dominique Marie-Françoise Renée Varaigne in Paris to Lucienne and Gérard Varaigne...
and James Mason
James Mason
James Neville Mason was an English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. Mason remained a powerful figure in the industry throughout his career and was nominated for three Academy Awards as well as three Golden Globes .- Early life :Mason was born in Huddersfield, in the...
with Harry Andrews
Harry Andrews
Harry Fleetwood Andrews, CBE was an English film actor known for his frequent portrayals of tough military officers. His performance as Sergeant Major Wilson in The Hill alongside Sean Connery earned Andrews the 1965 National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor and a nomination for the...
, Ian Bannen
Ian Bannen
Ian Bannen was a Scottish character actor and occasional leading man.-Early life and career:Bannen was born in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, the son of Clare and John James Bannen, a lawyer. Bannen served in the British Army after attending St Aloysius' College, Glasgow and Ratcliffe College,...
, Michael Hordern
Michael Hordern
Sir Michael Murray Hordern was an English actor, knighted in 1983 for his services to the theatre, which stretched back to before the Second World War.-Personal life:...
, Nigel Patrick
Nigel Patrick
Nigel Patrick was an English actor and stage director born into a theatrical family.-Biography:...
, Peter Vaughan
Peter Vaughan
Peter Vaughan is an English character actor, known for many supporting roles in a variety of British film and television productions. He has worked extensively on the stage, becoming known for roles such as police inspectors, Soviet agents and similar parts...
, Roland Culver
Roland Culver
Roland Culver OBE was a British stage, film, and television actor.-Life and career:...
, Leo Genn
Leo Genn
- Early life :He was born at 144 Kyverdale Road, Stamford Hill, Hackney, London, England to a Jewish family. His father, Woolfe Genn, was a jewellery salesman and the maiden name of his mother, Rachel, was Asserson....
, Percy Herbert
Percy Herbert (actor)
Percy Herbert was an English character actor who often played soldiers, most notably in The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Wild Geese and Tunes of Glory. However, he was equally at home in comedies and science fiction...
and Robert Lang
Robert Lang (actor)
Robert Lang was an English actor of stage and television. Laurence Olivier invited him to join the new National Theatre Company, at the Old Vic, Robert Lang was already earning high praise as an actor. From 1971 until his death he was married to Ann Bell, best known for her portrayal of Marion...
.
Production
The film was shot in the UK, Republic of IrelandRepublic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
and Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. It and the book it is adapted from, are loosely based on the exposure and defection of George Blake
George Blake
George Blake is a former British spy known for having been a double agent in the service of the Soviet Union. Discovered in 1961 and sentenced to 42 years in prison, he escaped from Wormwood Scrubs prison in 1966 and fled to the USSR...
, a Soviet agent in British intelligence. The scene where Slade and Rearden escape from prison are inspired by Blake's escape from Wormwood Scrubs in 1966. The jail scenes were filmed at Liverpool Prison and Kilmainham Gaol
Kilmainham Gaol
Kilmainham Gaol is a former prison, located in Kilmainham in Dublin, which is now a museum. It has been run since the mid-1980s by the Office of Public Works , an Irish Government agency...
in Dublin.
Cast
- Paul NewmanPaul NewmanPaul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
- Joseph Rearden - Dominique SandaDominique SandaDominique Sanda is a French actress and former fashion model.Sanda was born as Dominique Marie-Françoise Renée Varaigne in Paris to Lucienne and Gérard Varaigne...
- Mrs Smith - Ian BannenIan BannenIan Bannen was a Scottish character actor and occasional leading man.-Early life and career:Bannen was born in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, the son of Clare and John James Bannen, a lawyer. Bannen served in the British Army after attending St Aloysius' College, Glasgow and Ratcliffe College,...
- Slade - James MasonJames MasonJames Neville Mason was an English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. Mason remained a powerful figure in the industry throughout his career and was nominated for three Academy Awards as well as three Golden Globes .- Early life :Mason was born in Huddersfield, in the...
- Sir George Wheeler MP - Michael Horden - Brown
- Harry AndrewsHarry AndrewsHarry Fleetwood Andrews, CBE was an English film actor known for his frequent portrayals of tough military officers. His performance as Sergeant Major Wilson in The Hill alongside Sean Connery earned Andrews the 1965 National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor and a nomination for the...
- Mackintosh - Nigel PatrickNigel PatrickNigel Patrick was an English actor and stage director born into a theatrical family.-Biography:...
- Soames-Trevelyan - Peter VaughanPeter VaughanPeter Vaughan is an English character actor, known for many supporting roles in a variety of British film and television productions. He has worked extensively on the stage, becoming known for roles such as police inspectors, Soviet agents and similar parts...
- Inspector Brunskill - Jenny RunacreJenny RunacreJenny Runacre is an actress.Runacre was born in Cape Town, South Africa. She relocated to London as a child, attended The Actor's Workshop there, and trained in the Stanislavski System....
- Gerda - Andre Trottier - Jobs
- Roland CulverRoland CulverRoland Culver OBE was a British stage, film, and television actor.-Life and career:...
- Judge - Percy HerbertPercy Herbert (actor)Percy Herbert was an English character actor who often played soldiers, most notably in The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Wild Geese and Tunes of Glory. However, he was equally at home in comedies and science fiction...
- Taafe - Robert LangRobert Lang (actor)Robert Lang was an English actor of stage and television. Laurence Olivier invited him to join the new National Theatre Company, at the Old Vic, Robert Lang was already earning high praise as an actor. From 1971 until his death he was married to Ann Bell, best known for her portrayal of Marion...
- Jack Summers - Noel PurcellNoel Purcell (actor)Noel Purcell was an Irish film and television actor.-Career:Purcell began his show business career at the age of 12 in Dublin's Gaiety Theatre. Later, he toured Ireland in a vaudeville act with Jimmy O'Dea....
- O'Donovan - John BindonJohn BindonJohn Dennis Arthur "Biffo" Bindon was a British actor and bodyguard who had close links with the London underworld. In numerous films, he played gangsters or tough police detective. Bindon has been described as "the archetypal actor-villain, and an all-round 'good geezer'". He was also notable for...
- Buster - Hugh ManningHugh ManningHugh Manning was an English film and television actor. He is best remembered as the Reverend Donald Hinton, in the soap opera Emmerdale, a role he played from 1977 until 1989.-Early life:...
- Prosecutor
Plot
Joseph Rearden (NewmanPaul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
), an agent of British Intelligence arrives in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and makes a rendezvous with Mackintosh (Andrews
Harry Andrews
Harry Fleetwood Andrews, CBE was an English film actor known for his frequent portrayals of tough military officers. His performance as Sergeant Major Wilson in The Hill alongside Sean Connery earned Andrews the 1965 National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor and a nomination for the...
), the head of his organisation in a discreet office located just off Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
. Mackintosh and his deputy, Mrs Smith (Sanda
Dominique Sanda
Dominique Sanda is a French actress and former fashion model.Sanda was born as Dominique Marie-Françoise Renée Varaigne in Paris to Lucienne and Gérard Varaigne...
), inform him of a simple way to steal diamonds which are transported via the post service
Royal Mail
Royal Mail is the government-owned postal service in the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turn operates the brands Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide...
to avoid attention. This he does, apparently getting successfully away after punching a postman, and making off with the diamond-filled parcel. However, that evening, in his hotel room he is paid a visit by two Metropolitan Police
Metropolitan police
Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
detectives who have received an anonymous phone call advising them about the robbery. They are unconvinced by Newman's pretence to be an innocent Australian who had recently arrived in London.
The Judge at his trial is angered by the failure to recover the stolen diamonds from Rearden, who he believes has stashed them away somewhere, and sentences him to twenty years in jail. Rearden is shipped off to a bleak prison in the North of England. He slowly begins to blend in with the other prisoners, and is assigned to laundry-washing duties. A few days after entering he encounters Slade (Bannen
Ian Bannen
Ian Bannen was a Scottish character actor and occasional leading man.-Early life and career:Bannen was born in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, the son of Clare and John James Bannen, a lawyer. Bannen served in the British Army after attending St Aloysius' College, Glasgow and Ratcliffe College,...
), a former British spy who has been exposed as a KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
mole
Mole (espionage)
A mole is a spy who works for an enemy nation, but whose loyalty ostensibly lies with his own nation's government. In some usage, a mole differs from a defector in that a mole is a spy before gaining access to classified information, while a defector becomes a spy only after gaining access...
, who is being kept in high security. He makes innocent enquiries of his fellow inmates about Slade - but not a great deal is known about him.
A few weeks after his entry into prison, he is approached by a well-spoken inmate who offers to act as a go-between with an organisation that can spring him from the prison in exchange for a large cut of the stolen diamonds. They are used to helping prisoners escape, and have another exit planned shortly which he can join if he is prepared to put up the money - to which he agrees. Two days later a diversion is arranged, and smoke bombs are hurled over the walls. Using the smokescreen Rearden and a fellow prisoner, who turns out to be Slade, are lifted over the walls by a cargo net and then driven away at high speed. They are then drugged by a needle injection and taken to a secret location - somewhere in wild, deserted countryside. When Slade and Rearden wake up they are told that they will be kept there for a week until the man hunt for them dies down.
In London Mackintosh discreetly monitors the progress of Rearden. His entry into prison has been a planned sting operation to smoke out the organisation. It is now intended that they will be raided, rounded up and Slade returned to prison. Following a speech attacking the handling of the Slade escape by an old friend and war comrade, Sir George Wheeler MP (Mason
James Mason
James Neville Mason was an English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. Mason remained a powerful figure in the industry throughout his career and was nominated for three Academy Awards as well as three Golden Globes .- Early life :Mason was born in Huddersfield, in the...
) in the House of Commons Mackintosh approaches him and advises him it would be better to remain silent or risk embarrassing himself. Wheeler, however, despite masquerading as a staunchly patriotic right-winger, is in fact a Communist and an agent of the KGB. He immediately tips off the head of the organisation where Rearden is being held. Mackintosh had in fact suspected Wheeler, and had used their meeting to try and flush him out. Before he can act, he is deliberately run down by a car, and dies soon afterwards.
Rearden now falls under suspicion where is being held, and they now began to doubt his claims to be an Australian criminal, beating him violently and savaging him with a guard dog. He manages to eventually fight back and escape the building, setting it on fire. He makes out across country - pursued by his guards and the dog. He is finally forced to drown the dog in a stream to throw his assailants off the scent. He then makes it to a nearby town, where he discovers he is on the West Coast of Ireland and has been apparently staying on the estate of a close friend of Sir George Wheeler. He contacts Mrs Smith in London, who flies to meet him in Galway
Galway
Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...
. Realising that Slade has been smuggled out of Ireland on the private yacht of Wheeler, they now head to Valetta on Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
, where Wheeler is now heading.
Once there, they try and infiltrate one of Wheeler's parties and discover the whereabouts of Slade. Wheeler soon recognises Mrs Smith (who is in fact the daughter of his old friend Mackintosh) and drugs her and takes her inside the boat. Rearden tries to get the Maltese police to raid the boat, but they refuse to believe so respected a man as Wheeler could be involved in kidnapping and treason, and instead they move to arrest Rearden - who is still a wanted man for his earlier faked diamond robbery.
Rearden is again forced to flee, but he manages to follow Wheeler to a temple where he is holding Slade. He pulls a gun on them, and orders them to hand over Slade. Presented with a Mexican Standoff
Mexican standoff
A Mexican standoff is a slang term defined as a stalemate or impasse; a confrontation that neither side can foreseeably win. The term is most often used in lieu of "stalemate" when the confrontational situation is exceptionally dangerous for all parties involved.In popular culture, the Mexican...
, Wheeler and Slade try and persuade Rearden to let them go unharmed, in return for which they will also spare him and Mrs Smith. Reluctantly Rearden agrees. Mrs Smith takes up a gun and shoots Slade and Wheeler, avenging the murder of her father. She has fulfilled her orders, and bitterly abandons Rearden - angry at the way he has not followed his.
Reception
The film received a mixed reception when it was released, and did not perform well at the box office in either the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
or Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.