An obscure Cold War spy comedy, despite several recognizable names in the cast, "Catch Me A Spy" is meandering and unfocused for the most part, and there is an entire 20-minute segment, with Kirk Douglas and Marlene Jobert stranded at a remote and closed for the winter hotel, that just stops the movie dead in its tracks. However, the boat chase at the end is pretty good, and on the whole the film is not a bad time-filler, thanks mainly to Jobert; apart from being beautiful and having a fantastic body (or, to put it in her own character's words, "Nobody has ever complained about my legs before!"), she is also cute and charming; while it's true that her heavy French accent makes her hard to understand at times, I found it adorable just the same. ** out of 4.
Add a Review
-
TheFearmakers6 January 2022In one scene where French starlet Marlène Jobert plugs her nose for a mousy-sounding voice to thwart cat-and-mouse counterpart Kirk Douglas, it's actually less annoying than her real one...
But she's super cute, probably all that mattered to director Dick Clement in his spy-spoof followup to the spy-spoof OTLEY that starred Tom Courtenay in his penultimate big-screen role until THE DRESSER...
Herein Tom's a bumbling spy trying to follow before befriending Jobert; the latter (whose pop Trevor Howard is vastly underused) on a honeymoon interrupted by her enigmatic husband's arrest, connected to Douglas's vain attempts to retrieve Russian microfilm from the couple's luggage...
And while Kirk's not bad doing lightweight action/comedy, his role should have gone to Courtenay, not only befitting the slapdash pace but with far better chemistry with Jobert, who Douglas seems to be babysitting (as opposed to parenthetically romancing) throughout this semi-entertaining yet entirely-uneven cold war romp. -
barnabyrudge30 April 2006A light and completely inoffensive spy spoof, To Catch A Spy is not the kind of film that demands high calibre acting talent. Yet for reasons best known to themselves, established stars like Kirk Douglas, Trevor Howard, Marlene Jobert and Tom Courtenay lend their skills to this 1971 potboiler, making it seem a bigger and better picture than it really is. The first three quarters of the movie are virtually a total loss, with dispirited plotting and pacing, but it perks up into something resembling life during the final quarter as the action shifts to a secluded, deserted Scottish hotel. By this time, most viewers will have given up the ghost - but for the handful still watching these climactic scenes are actually quite amusing.
Married couple Fabienne (Marlene Jobert) and John (Patrick Mower) are honeymooning in Bucharest when the latter is arrested by the secret police. The anxious Fabienne is forced to return to Britain without him. Meanwhile, it is revealed to the viewers that John is actually a spy working for the Russians, and that his arrest was just an elaborate deception created so that they could contact him. Fabienne is duped into believing that John is now a hostage, his only hope of release being that the British secret service might release one of their Russian prisoners in exchange for him. Still unaware of the double-cross, Fabienne works tirelessly with her uncle Sir Trevor (Trevor Howard) - a foreign office diplomat - to get the British government to trade a Russian spy for her husband. Just when it seems that a deal has been struck, the spy they choose to bargain with is accidentally killed. Fabienne instead sets her sights on Romanian spy Andrej (Kirk Douglas), but as she tries desperately to trap him in order to use him in the exchange, she discovers herself to be falling in love with him. All is resolved in a last-minute revelation at an exchange-rendezvous-point near the Iron Curtain.
To Catch A Spy was penned by the expert comedy script duo Ian La Frenais and Dick Clement (the latter also directed), but they seem to be having an off-day. The film looks terribly dated, with a storyline that resurrects all the clichés of the spy movies and caper movies that were popular at the time. Of the main actors, Tom Courtenay registers best, providing some mirth as an inept agent. The others don't disgrace themselves, but they're stuck with nothing roles and can't really get across characterisations worth caring about. The film is occasionally pleasing to the eye, with some interesting locations, but on the whole it is a rather uninspired and unremarkable time killer. Everyone involved has certainly done much better. -
planktonrules13 February 2016This terrible little film is clearly among the worst Kirk Douglas ever made. It's not as bad as "Saturn 3"...but what is?!
When the film begins, a couple in honeymooning in Bucharest (???). What they don't realize is that the guy working in the hotel is NOT an employee but a smuggler (Kirk Douglas). Because of his actions, the husband is arrested and his wife (Marlène Jobert) is left wondering what happened. Even though it makes no sense at all, she later ends up handcuffed with the smuggler and then on the run with him...and it's all supposed to be kooky and romantic. Well, to me it just comes off as annoying and nonsensical...and Jobert's voice often grated on me. The smuggler says at one point "...you are such a child"...and her voice does sometimes sound like one. Poorly written, poorly acted and boring. -
mark.waltz11 July 2017Between the 1960's and 1980's, practically every American movie star took a vacation to Europe on the pretext of making a movie. These films usually were not very good, formula romance or convoluted espionage or sex comedy or even an epic. This film is a combination of the first three, a rather messy mixture of spy thriller, sex comedy and light romance. Agent Kirk Douglas follows newlywed Marlene Jovert from England to Hungary and back, to the seemingly frozen Russian front and all sorts of picturesque European landscapes. All in the name of spying, sex and silliness.
This is enjoyable in spite of a convoluted, messy structure, oddball characters and rather easy women of various mainland European backgrounds. Douglas, while dashing, isn't exactly the stud muffin he makes himself out to be here, and his efforts to get into Jovert's bed just give off a feeling of unnecessary perversion. Yet, the locations are gorgeous, some of the plot twists amusing, and Jovery's performance clever. But for the life of me, I can't figure out whatever happened to her husband, why she found it necessary to try to seduce the British equivalent of Inspector Clouseau, and why she fell for Douglas's lecherous advances. This is one of those stinkers that you can find a lot of amusement in but still as yourself, "What the heck was that all about?" -
bkoganbing11 October 2011When the Citadel Film Series book The Films Of Kirk Douglas was first issued, To Catch A Spy had been released in Europe, but not in America. It seems to have had very limited showings on this side of the pond.
The film is a lightweight spoof of the Cold War with Marlene Joubet a French girl married to a British subject trying desperately hard to get her husband back who has been arrested for espionage. Turns out he's made a deal with the Soviets and was deliberately arrested so they could affect a prisoner exchange. When the original exchange doesn't work out due to the most hilarious sequence in the film, Joubet looks to affect her own exchange and settles on Kirk Douglas, a most mysterious Romanian who keeps showing up all the time. She has to because her uncle, a member of Parliament played by Trevor Howard can't seem to close the deal.
Some nice location shooting in several spots in Europe is the best thing this film. The players look truly bored with this project and just phone in the performances.
To Catch A Spy will never make anyone's top 10 list of best Kirk Douglas films. -
JohnHowardReid11 March 2016One way you can tell if a movie was unsuccessful on its theatrical release is to find that it has accumulated at least two or three titles. This one, for instance, was quickly re-issued as To Catch a Spy and then Keep Your Fingers Crossed, when the original title failed to draw the crowds. I very much doubt if Keep Your Fingers Crossed initiated a box office stampede either. Admittedly, the movie is watchable, thanks mostly to the presence of Marlene Jobert and the on and off infiltration of Kirk Douglas and – very occasionally – Trevor Howard and – even less occasionally – Tom Courtenay. It's just a so-so comedy thriller until the climax. This is particularly well staged and really exciting – but it's a case of too much too late! By this time, most viewers will have switched to another TV channel or another DVD. My DVD came in Mill Creek's excellent Hollywood Comedy Legends Collection.
-
You wouldn't guess from this film that the writers were amongst the most talented in the UK.Also come to it what is Kirk Douglas doing.Was he that desperate for work.Robert comes across best though it is not much of a contest.Avoid this.
-
myriamlenys29 May 2022The foreign honeymoon of a young couple is rudely interrupted when the groom is dragged away by the secret police. Having returned to the Western side of the Iron Curtain, the wife moves heaven and earth in order to free her spouse. After a while it is proposed to exchange him for a Communist agent eager to return to the East. Things do not turn out as expected...
"Catch me a spy" is a comedy making fun of espionage stories, especially espionage stories about spy exchanges or the Iron Curtain. Although not wholly without interest, it is a fairly tepid affair. There's a good joke or line here and there, but the plot is too slight to sustain a whole movie. Moreover, many of the actors involved seem to perform in different styles or registers. This is especially true of the central Marlène Jobert / Kirk Douglas duo, which is not a match made in cinematic heaven. (Mind you, Jobert is at her most beautiful and elfin here, capable even of transcending a variety of problematic outfits.)
The movie features a brief, and very funny, appearance by French actor Bernard Blier, as a Communist spy with a keen appreciation for the charms of decadent and imperialist capitalism. If only the rest of the movie had been as funny - we'd be talking about a classic masterpiece...
Unlikely to stick in the memory. -
cwpaul9 April 2000Jobert's Gallic charm radiates through her voice, eyes and mannerisms. Kirk Douglas seems to look disheartened at his role. He appears flat and strained at times. He does have his moments. Douglas tells a very funny joke to Fabièn (Jobert) about Russian researchers determining the age of a mummy.
A few scenes seem stolen from Jobert's Rider On the Rain (of particular note hiding in the closet and being discovered, peering through a shop window). Jobert's comedic talent comes easily and properly dovetails into the serious aspects of the plot. Sir Trevor's scene stealing butler is absolutely hilarious and rivals Tom Courteny's role as the bungling spy. While the plot may seem a tad contrived, it comes across quite well, if one takes the time to relax and be entertained. The ending does leave you with the feeling that there should have been a sequel. Like "Rider On the Rain", her on-screen husband comes across unappreciative of having a loyal and dedicated beauty such as Jobert for a wife. Also reflecting the cold war times , you have lies, counter-lies and disinformation battering the truth.
Overall, you may find yourself watching this movie a few times for the sheer fun of it! -
boblipton14 January 2024: Kirk Douglas is wandering around the diplomatic parties looking for something. As spies are arrested -- including Marlène Jobert's husband, Patrick Mower -- Douglas approaches the lady and asks her how much she wants for 'the goods'. Soon, they are captured by Soviet agents and fleeing.
This is a comedy starring Kirk Douglas. Director Dick Clement said
Kirk Douglas requested a meeting before filming started. "Being an American, Douglas got straight to the point. He said I can't play comedy. And do you know what - he couldn't.".
I confirm that. Douglas was a fine dramatic actor, but his few attempts at comedy are astonishingly dull. As is this movie, which steals heavily. In one sequence clearly lifted from The 39 Steps, Douglas and MlleJobert are fleeing from the bad guys and hole up at an abandoned hotel in Scotland, where they fall in love. Douglas is not in the least entertaining.
As is the rest of this movie. Trevor Howard, who could play comedy, has a rant about homosexuals. It all ends in a chase which is frantic, rather than funny.
There is some lovely location shooting by DP Christopher Challis. But if you're looking for a comedy, look elsewhere. -
This film doesn't seem to have received much play in theaters or on TV. And, for its age and number of top stars, it has few viewers, based on IMDb voting as of July 15, 2011. That's too bad, because "Catch Me a Spy" (aka, "To Catch a Spy") is chock full of humorous jabs, funny antics, slapstick, and wonderful spoofs.
One reviewer notes the scene-stealing antics of the female lead, Marlene Jobert. She plays the role of a young woman who is both scatter-brained and clever. She, Kirk Douglas, Tom Courtenay and Patrick Mower have some exceptionally hilarious scenes as their characters romp through spy chases and exchanges. One should be able to see the intended humor and spoofing of this film by the cast and the fun that Douglas, Courtney and Trevor Howard seem to be having in its making.
The time of this film was in the midst of the Cold War. Spy, espionage and Berlin Wall escape movies were frequent. The 1960s defections of British spies to the Soviet Union - most notably Kim Philby, Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean - were still fresh in the minds of people at the time. Other security scandals in the U. S., Britain and France gave rise to much ridicule and doubt about their respective spy agencies. Clearly, the writers intended this film as a spy spoof and jab - especially of the British government and its intelligence service.
There are several hilarious scenes with Trevor Howard and the head of British intelligence being interrupted for important messages. They can barely tear themselves away from the trivial games they are playing at the time. Of course, that the heroine is a French niece of Howard, a major British minister, is a subtle jab in itself - of both the Brits and the French. When her husband is arrested on their honeymoon in Romania (another good laugh), the heroine runs to the British embassy, pounds on the door and demands to see the ambassador - as a French- British citizen. Jobert's husband is unknown to her as a corrupt businessman in league with the Soviets. Jobert wants the Brits to exchange a captured Soviet spy for him. While he waits in the relative comfort of his Soviet contact, he pines for the much more lavish comforts of the West.
The first spy exchange scene is a riot, with an outright jab at the Soviets. The Russian spy tries to haul all the material booty he can carry with him. And the final exchange fiasco is one of the funniest "chase" scenes I can recall from decades of movies. The buffoonery of the British and Russians is a riot. All-in-all, "Catch Me a Spy" is a fun, entertaining spoof and parody of espionage and the intelligence services of all sides during the Cold War. -
HotToastyRag20 January 2018In general, I don't usually go in for Cold War dramas. It's just not my generation, so I can't get into the mindset of those who took it desperately seriously, just as I'm sure those in the next generation won't be able to understand movies taking place in the "old '90s". With that disclaimer, I was fully prepared to dislike Catch Me a Spy, and to stick it through for the sake of Kirk Douglas. Boy, was I wrong! It's now one of my favorite of his movies!
First off, it may take place during the Cold War, but this movie is not a drama. It's a delightful, hilarious spoof on the very tired dramatic genre. Dick Clement, co-writer and director, must have known audiences were tired of the same old "Russians are bad, secret spying" movie. I was especially impressed by the humor of this movie, because I would have expected it to rely on silly 60s gags, like John Goldfarb, Please Come Home. Instead, it's a thoroughly planned, adorable situational comedy.
The comic timing and chemistry between the cast is fantastic. He's been paired up with many leading ladies, but I've never seen Kirk Douglas as vibrant and all-around cute as he is with Marlène Jobert in Catch Me a Spy. They are so darling together! I could write out every sweet and sizzling scene they share together, but that would take up too much room. Just watch it for yourself and get ready to giggle.
Obviously, I highly recommend this movie. It'll cheer you up when you're blue, give you a laugh on a sunny afternoon, and make a great atmosphere for date night. Plus, if it won me over and I don't even like these types of movies, you know it's great!