Another Harry Alan Towers production, which makes me wonder where he gets the money from to do these low-budget flicks as surely even Mickey Rooney wasn't cheap in those days, perhaps not as much as Lex Barker. Towers had hired Barker before (Code 7, Victim 5). Rooney is the perpetrator of his own misgivings in this one, as a conniving little con-artist/smuggler to put it mildly, pursued by international villains he owes. Interestingly, as others have said, set in 60s Beirut before the near-destruction of the city just 20 years later and a flavour of culture and sophistication, that indeed it was at the time. There's plenty of Euro-crumpet along the way, as we're talking about a flight crew whose plane has been grounded from flying on to London due to a dickie engine - hence the '24 hours 'to fix-kill'', leaving Rooney (as 'Norman Jones') tailed by the villains in question.
Barker does his best as the dashing flight captain, to inevitably protect Jones among his own little romance with Helga Sommerfeld and ultimately his crew from the fez-wearing Walter Slezak character and his foreign minions. There isn't much typically Lebanese apart from the location, just hoodlums with guns, fisticuffs, Barker's avuncular approach to Rooney's character before his patience wears thin on him, and, as I've said a nice bevvy of beauties along the way.
It's standard fare, watchable but only just and special attention as mentioned to Beirut of the 60s - it wouldn't make it into the Oscars by any stretch, I hope they got some money back on it, but would think with the international cast (including the excellent bird-chasing Michael Medwin, he of my title quote) that was the idea to flog it around the English-speaking and European world - perhaps even the Lebanese went to see it! Again, no-one can fault the location shooting, may be worth it for that alone.
