The Secret Agents (1965) User Reviews (3)

Three Tales Of Modern Espionage

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 15 August 2011]

Only the connecting character of Robert Ryan is involved with all three stories of modern espionage during the Cold War in The Dirty Game. Ryan narrates all of them and appears as a character in the last story.

In the first the Allies use an Italian scientist who has invented a new type rocket fuel but is unwilling to give over his patent to either side as a kind of bait in a kidnapping scheme. Vittorio Gassman serves as a double agent who does the kidnapping and the Americans come to the 'rescue' and the scientist is eternally grateful. This first episode lives up to the title.

A clue that takes us into the other is found in the first and second stories. In the second one, two nuclear powered submarines are on top secret maneuvers in the Gulf of Aden and French Intelligence takes this story as Bourvil foils a plot to take them out by a pair of double agents working for his country's spy service. Comic actor Bourvil proves surprisingly adept at a role with few laughs.

The third episode is the weakest. It has little dialog, but when Henry Fonda opens his mouth he sounds no more convincing as a deep cover CIA agent than he did as a Russian in War And Peace.

This one is a no frills espionage film and the life of a spy certainly isn't what Ian Flemming made it out to be. It's been little seen since it's initial release and for completists of the work of Henry Fonda and Robert Ryan that is a pity. The overall narrative between the three stories is structured nicely and the players even the terribly miscast Fonda all deliver sincere performances.

Spy anthology improves as it goes on.

[vjetorix · 11 November 2002]

Three quickies for the price of one and you get what you pay for. The plots of the individual segments are necessarily simple but each short film is better than the last. Robert Ryan is peripherally involved in each and his cynical narration seems appropriate only for the last story where even the good guys are bad. Italian, French, and British filmmakers each take their turn in presenting the trio of espionage tales.

The Seamy Side of Espionage

[zardoz-13 · 8/10 · 3 January 2023]

The truncated anthology of three espionage outings is better than most give it credit for being. Apparently, "The Dirty Game" suffered from savage editing and a fourth segment was eliminated in hopes of improving the film's box office performance. Originally clocking in at two hours, the producers slashed it to barely 90 minutes. Nevertheless, this fast-moving, nimbly edited, black & white effort benefits from sturdy production values and a robust cast. The quirky orchestral soundtrack is catchy. The first two segments about the abduction of a scientist who has created rocket fuel which enables a jet to circle the globe on a cupful of propellant and the routing of double agents in an elaborate ploy to destroy two nuclear U. S. nuclear subs are exciting because they are escapist oriented. The final segment features Henry Fonda as a deep cover secret agent who defects to the West, and this episode epitomizes the grim title as Fonda doesn't survive the ordeal. After making a miraculous escape from East Berlin is eliminated by double agents. Robert Ryan links the three segment as a high-ranking American general who provides narration that links the stories. The Fonda segment reminded me of the Richard Burton classic "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. Perhaps the liveliest segment involves a French secret agent who is far from handsome, but who handles his mission with surprising aplomb. Altogether, "The Dirty Game" refers to the compromises that the the West endure to keep the Soviets at bay in an amoral world. Mind you, nothing about this film is remotely pornographic.