The Agency (1980) User Reviews (25)

What you see is not what you get

[sol-kay · 6/10 · 11 February 2004]

*****Major Spoilers**** Don't Read If You Did Not See Movie.... Timely movie,especially now when political campaigning never seems to end even after the elections, about the takeover of a large advertising agency, Porter & Stripe, and it's being used to further the agenda of a shadowy and unelected group of power brokers to shape America and the world into what they feel that it should be.

Unknown to the advertising world but with an unlimited amount on money Ted Quinn, Robert Mitchum, buys out the giant Porter & Stripe advertising agency. Quinn soon begins producing and peddling commercials on everything from deodorants drain cleaners and soap products to powered chocolate milk for children. It turns out that the real reason for Quinn's takeover of the agency is not to sell household goods but to sell politicians and even more sinister political ideas to an unsuspecting public.

Quinn slowly starts getting rid of the people working at the agency and begins replacing them with undercover political operatives. One of the people working for the agency as a commercial writer Sam Goldstein, Saul Rubinek, gets wind of what Quinn's plans really are which leads to his death. Sam's friend Philip Morgan, Lee Majors, who at first seemed to be ignorant of what was happening and thinking that Sam was a bid paranoid in his behavior changed his opinion after Sam's death when he comes across a audio tape that Sam recorded just minutes before he died. Marked to be eliminated because he knows too much Morgan is on the run from Quinn's goons throughout the rest of the movie.

Even though dated "Agency" still packs a punch about media manipulation via outside sources and is as good as the many movies made about the same subject since then, 1980. "Agency" is not a top flight Hollywood production with very bad lighting and occasional muffles and drops in the soundtrack but the film still grabs your attention and keeps you interested until the final scene.

Robert Mitchum gives his usual good and workman like performance as Ted Quinn like he did in the many films that he made in the last years of his acting career. Mitchum also gives the movie class and respectability just by being in it.

Lee Majors is surprisingly good with a much more in-depth acting role then what you usually saw him in on TV and in films back then.

Vallerie Perrine is more then adequate as Lee Majors' love interest in the film as well as the damsel in distress. Yet by far the biggest surprise in the movie was Saul Rubinek as Sam Goldstein. Sam who when you first saw him you would think that he's only in the film for comic relief instead became the most pivotal character in the movie.

What I liked most about Rubinek's performance is that the more he got closer to the truth the more his paranoia subsided. As Sam seemed to resigned himself to the fate that was in store for him. Which made Sam both believable and tragic at the same time and which is just the opposite of what you would expect from a part like his in a movie filled with surprises and paranoia like "Agency" to be like.

Mishandling of provocative subject

[Oliver_Lenhardt · 4/10 · 19 July 2002]

AGENCY is another of those Canadian-made pictures posing as an American film, replete with big-name U.S. actors, and featuring Montreal unconvincingly standing in for Washington, D.C.

With a premise that is more intriguing and timely now than ever - subliminal messages in TV ads - one would have wished for a sincere, thoughtful approach. Instead, the wretched script is awash with bad dialogue and, in the second half, silly corporate intrigue scenes involving Lee Majors slinking about the ad agency at night, trying to get to the bottom of boss Robert Mitchum's nefarious political machinations. Mitchum's henchmen are so laughable-looking and inept that they appear to have been recruited straight from a Pink Panther film. Parts of the film border on outright comedy.

Still, the film is not completely without merit. The first half is promising; Majors makes an affable protagonist; Saul Rubinek is quite good as the harried eccentric who first discovers Mitchum's conspiracy (although his open contempt of his boss makes his continued employment at the agency another implausible factor). Valerie Perrine, however, appears in an entirely disposable role as the obligatory concerned wife.

Finally, all production elements are professional, and AGENCY at least turns out to be a diverting, if daft and disappointing, thriller. I was not bored.

I could understand Lee Majors and Valerie Perrine in this one...but how did they get Robert Mitchum to appear in this?!

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 9 February 2012]

As I say in the summary, I had a hard time understanding the casting in this one. As for Lee Majors, he was no longer the "Six Million Dollar Man" and he was most likely desperate for work. And, Vallerie Perrine was an almost star several times...almost. But appearances in this film and turkey's like "Can't Stop the Music" have made her a C-list star--so her being in this low-budget Canadian film isn't a surprise. But, how did they ever get the respected mega-star Robert Mitchum to appear in this one? Was Mitchum broke? Were job offers scarce? Was he willing to do almost anything to appear on film? Did the filmmakers use blackmail or extortion to get him to sign on to this project?" All I do know for sure is that I was shocked to see him in this.

Now I am not automatically assuming "Agency" is a terrible film--but it certainly is low budget and is distributed now on DVD by Alpha Video (a company which seems to only release films in the public domain or with very, very low costs to obtain). Is it a buried treasure or should Alpha have left this one in some basement where it can further degrade and yellow (and, incidentally, the print is just terrible)? In addition to the three stars, the film also features a very young Saul Rubinek. While you won't likely recognize his name, he later gained some fame on "Deep Space 9" and "Frasier" as recurring characters and has appeared in a huge number of TV shows over the years. He's a very good actor--but that hair!! You have just got to see his huge 1980-style hairdo--it's a definite DON'T! Lee Majors works for an advertising agency. He's moving up in the company and seems pretty happy. However, when his friend comes to him with some paranoid rant, Majors tells him he'll talk to him later--but the man is murdered before they can talk. Majors is able to piece together that something EVIL is afoot at the agency--but what?! Well, it all boils down to a plan to use subliminal messages to control people like a flock of sheep.

The plot involves something very timely for 1980 but which has been completely discredited. With the publication of "Subliminal Seduction" in 1974 and "The Clam-Plate Orgy and Other Subliminals the Media Use to Manipulate Your Behavior" (also by the same author), there was a bit of talk about advertising's ability to subconsciously control our minds--making us slaves to the clever advertiser's whims. Well, it made for an exciting book...though none of it turned out to have the least real effect on folks' behaviors. So, while some agencies did experiment with hidden images to make us buy something, research into the topic never panned out--and today you'll have a hard time finding any reputable professional who would believe in it. BUT, in 1980, it was still a rather hot topic--and quite timely. So, despite the plot being scientifically ridiculous, it didn't seem so at the time...or at least not quite as silly.

So is it any good? Well, putting aside the impossibility of the plot, you've got a real mixed bag. The film is, at times, tense and interesting but in the end it's all rather clichéd and silly. I particularly laughed at the James Bond-like moment at the end where the baddie told his plan to the hero before killing him! In real life, a bullet in the head and then, maybe, an explanation!!

Mediocre watered-down thriller

[HotToastyRag · 3/10 · 24 August 2018]

Lee Majors and Saul Rubinek work for the same advertising agency, headed by Robert Mitchum, but all is not as it appears at the office. Saul has a conspiracy theory of subliminal messaging and political tampering through the ads. Lee starts to believe him, and during one scene he shows his sweetie pie Valerie Perrine how they doctor up the print advertisement of an alcohol label to include skull images in the ice cubes. That's the best scene in the movie, because everything else is either boring or typical.

Lots of 1970s movies are pretty bad, and films made in 1980 sometimes bleed into the terrible previous decade. The Agency has that '70s aura to it, like it's a watered down Network, made by a lousy television channel. I'm not trying to be mean, but after seeing thousands and thousands of movies, there's no sense recommending others watch the bad ones.

DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. the opening scene features an advertisement that takes place in a nightclub with strobe lights and odd camera angles, and it might make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"

Good story, bad delivery...

[RealLiveClaude · 5/10 · 4 June 2003]

I have seen Agency the first time on TV many years ago. Even the French version (done in Paris...) was not bad, but couldn't save it...

Again Montreal passes for an American city (too oblivious that Place Ville Marie is shown too much here) in winter. And Lee Majors tried here, even with a beard, to get rid of the typecast of the Six Million Dollar Man he portrayed, along with Valerie Perrine who wanted to pump some gas in her failing career and Robert Mitchum, a veteran now condemmed to roles in bad films...

The story's good, moving. But bad photography, poor editing (some scenes are too dark) and some weak performances spoil everything. At least Saul Rubinek steals the show here as the employee who tries to denounce the scheme but gets killed by Quinn's secret henchmen...

Sad to say the least: even the interesting stories get some bad treatment. And you don't need subliminal messages to tell it...

NO SWEAT! NO SWEAT!

[Wizard-8 · 4 September 1999]

Catch the first few minutes of this movie when it plays on the late show (probably the only place you'll find it) - the opening bit, a commercial for NO SWEAT deodorant, is one of the most unintentionally funny things you'll ever see. Imagine a cross between Dante's Inferno with disco inferno, with people dressed in costumes that look like they are from an S&M shop.

The rest of the movie? Sadly, it doesn't measure up to that. Though there are a few unintentionally funny moments (such as when Lee Majors' character near the end of the movie discovers the secret - which we've LONG deducted before him!), the rest of the movie is pretty much a slow slog, with many contrived scenes or scenes that really aren't needed there. Saul Rubinek provides the better moments, though he isn't in much of the movie.

"Roll it on or spray (spray)....Roll it on or spray (spray)....Roll it on or spray.....or there'll be the devil to pay!.....No Sweat, No Sweat....NO SWEAT NO SWEAT!"

Slow-moving and hard to watch.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 5 January 2022]

In the 1970's and 80's, there were dozens of films made on very low budgets that have obviously not been restored and probably never will be. This Canadian film is one of them, made by an independent company yet starring American actors Lee Majors and Robert Mitchum along with Valerie Perrine. This is the type of film that you would see on a cheaply reproduced DVD label, and it is obvious there are no restored prints of it available. Other than close-ups, the focus is poor and the technical details are hard to decipher.

The other issue is the script which deals with some rather undeveloped characters, an advertising executive played by Majors who finds out from his boss that a new product is being utilized as part of an experiment to influence buyers. It obviously is much more than that as a political scheme to manipulate buyers is being utilized as well. This leads to darker crimes including murder. One interesting artistic element was the use of vintage movie photos, but at times, the print was so blurry I couldn't make out which film was on the poster. An easy film to skip even with the three stars who seem to be walking through their assignments, having obviously I accepted the jobs for a trip to Montreal.

A good premise, have to look past cheesiness

[jeffery47 · 6/10 · 17 November 2008]

Interesting casting, including Ms. Tessmacher from Superman. Mitchum is good as the evil head of an ad agency. Very cheesy 70s elements abound - did people dress like that? Anyway, no mention is made of where this is taking place, but clearly it's Montreal and very cold. But while there are US flags all over the place, Lee Majors' colleague calls Mitchum an American with an unflattering adjective. I'm sure the stars loved the frigid temps! One could imagine this movie being remade, perhaps even in the context of the recent election (hint hint). Since Hollywood has adopted recycling long ago, I wouldn't be surprised to see this remade. Also, the DVD had probably the worst audio I've heard on a DVD. It was just that bad. Some bad editing too, missing frames, gives the impression of an early Youtube video. It's neat to see Lee Majors on screen again, it's been a while and he was trying to rebuild his career at this point, between Million Dollar Man and Fall Guy. Can't go wrong with a little conspiracy theory concept either. I guess it would be a good cover for the CIA to takeover a Canadian ad agency to make ads for the US market. While the rented jet says US AIR Force (with probably sticky letters) I doubt the CIA uses USAF biz jets.

Anyway, maybe the book it's based on is better, but there was nothing better on TV so at least it was new to me.

Canagency

[ArtVandelayImporterExporter · 4/10 · 18 April 2019]

When people talk about ''crappy Canadian movies" they're referring to movies like Agency. Somebody puts his whole life into writing a script and seeing it through the development process. But the subject matter is something dull - curling, the ad business, Anne of Green Gables. So instead of getting big-time Hollywood funding the movie's producers have to bamboozle Canadian dentists into chipping in as a tax dodge. You end up with a cheaply made movie that wouldn't see the inside of a movie theatre without a terrorist threat, and probably got shown on late-night CBC at least once a year for decades. Lee Majors looked good in that beard, though.

Advertising agency used for subliminal TV ads

[robert-temple-1 · 7/10 · 14 December 2011]

In this era of MAD MEN, people are taking a longer look at Madison Avenue advertising agencies and what they did in years gone by. Well, this rare 1980 film starring Robert Mitchum, issued as MIND GAMES, which exists only on video and has not been issued on DVD, should be of interest to anyone making a real study of this subject. Mitchum is as good as ever as the mysterious new boss ('with no background in the advertising business' as people mutter darkly to themselves) of an ad agency which he has just bought at a ridiculously high price. It turns out that Mitchum is up to no good. He eventually admits that he is amply funded by an anonymous group of the financial elite to insert subliminal messages into the ads of commercial sponsors, in order to influence elections. He has just turned round a US Senate race in Arizona by this means, and brought about the defeat of a liberal Senator named Grunsky. I noticed in the credits at the end that Alicia Grunsky was an assistant art director of the film, so this must have been an 'in joke' of the production team. The 'hero' of the story is the creative director of the ad agency, a Jon Hamm figure, who discovers the truth and struggles to stop Mitchum's diabolical plans to manipulate the public and eventually manufacture a president of the sinister elite's choice. Unfortunately, Majors wears one of the most offensively manicured beards imaginable, and is the very image of strutting male vanity, so it is impossible to warm to him. His girl friend is a pathetic, whimpering creature played by Valerie Perrine. Spare us! The only engaging and likable character in the film is an agency employee played by the amusing Saul Rubinek, but he gets killed by Mitchum's goons early in the story, his body stuffed into a refrigerator. The film is based on a novel called AGENCY by Paul Gottlieb, whose other filmed work in 1978 was IN PRAISE OF OLDER WOMEN. The actress Alexandra Stewart appeared in the earlier film and is very effective in AGENCY as well, as Mitchum's sinister and glamorous deputy. Stewart, Canadian by origin, was an alluring ingénue in the sixties in many British films and is still working, having appeared in an astounding 134 titles. She has often specialised in the restrained, aloof, seductive female characters who don't give anything away (except from time to time their virtue). This film is interesting if you are interested. Mitchum glides through it with his usual aplomb, smoothing the wrinkles out of the story by making everything seem convincing, due to his quiet, menacing dominance not only of the agency but of the screen as well.

Not Terrible Enough To Be Good.

[junk-monkey · 3/10 · 27 January 2007]

There's a not bad little thriller here trying to get out, unfortunately the leads aren't strong enough. Perrine is just awful and Majors is adequate but just not good enough, all through it I kept thinking 'this an Elliot Gould part'. The 'secret' that people are willing to kill for is so blindingly obvious from about the third edit into the film. There are a couple of nice moments (which I will not spoil for you) but be warned, it does contain the cat jumping out cliché.

I will be grateful to this film for one thing though. About half-way through I cottoned on to one of those weirdnesses that has bugged me for years about so many of the odd little thriller type films of this period. Why are they always seem to be set at Christmas? In this movie there is only one little touch of Christmas but it was enough for the penny to drop. There is a scene in a mall in which Perrine character escapes from the bad guys by pretending to be heavily pregnant and falling to the floor, one of the people who rush to help her, and get in the baddies' way, is wearing a Santa suit. That's it, the only mention, or hint of Christmas in the whole thing - but it was enough. This film was shot in Canada and it was snowing, and all the extras in street scenes are wearing heavy winter clothing! In Hollywoodland Snow = Christmas. Doh!

Great R Mitchum+Lee Majors' great effort+bad script=80's Guilty Pleasure!

[ballplayer270000 · 10/10 · 22 December 2008]

I remember seeing this film at theater in 1981. I own VHS version and I could not wait to DVD with decent quality to be released. This DVD quality is total joke. It is worse than recorded from TV or transferred from VHS to DVD. I understand this movie was not produced nor distributed by major studio. This is Canadian produced film marketed as an American film. Does it mean this movie is never gonna be released with decent quality on DVD!? I hope not. This movie had a potential to be very powerful thriller film, but script was very one dimensional and failed to develop the story. However seeing late Robert Mitchum and Movie stardom hungry Young Lee Majors was priceless as guilty pleasure here. Even 25 years later, I like to pop this VHS into my old VCR and I can not help thinking about how time has flied so quickly......

Unsurprising but unassuming

[gridoon2024 · 6/10 · 5 November 2015]

This little-known movie (with some famous people in its cast) holds few surprises: its main plot "secret" is given away so early that you wonder why the script keeps treating it as a secret (Saul Rubinek's character has a death mark on his forehead from his very first scene!). And Robert Mitchum is well-cast, but looks bored! The premise in interesting, but it is not used to its full potential. Still, there is at least one smart escape by Lee Majors, the film does have a sense of humor, and it is never less than watchable. Good luck finding a decent print though - mine was from Mill Creek and looked like a transfer from a damaged VHS tape, plus it bleeped out SOME of the four-letter words! **1/2 out of 4.

Don't waste your time watching this movie!

[anthony-callaghan · 1/10 · 22 November 2006]

In 1981 whilst visiting California I had a vacant evening. And so free from visiting friends and amusement parks and not wanting to waste the evening looking at four walls of a motel room or watch the novelty of 24hour TV (remember this was 1981 and TV in the UK still closed at around midnight) I ventured out to the local Cinema to watch "Agency". From the TV trailers this promised to be an exciting story of the deceitful nature of advertisers who manipulate and lie so as to entice us, the unsuspecting general public towards the products. The trailer certainly worked; unfortunately the movie itself was as far from the mark as I was from home. The whole of the story had already been told in the 30 second trailer and there was nothing added to it. Robert Mitchum's character was not given anywhere near the scope to fulfil the potential that such a Hollywood movie idol deserves and the character of Philip Morgan played by Lee Majors could have been played by any of a dozen or more actors.

To sum up - this is without doubt the worst movie I have ever endured at a cinema. Having suffered the 94 minutes (are you sure it was only 94 minutes - it seemed like an awful lot more to me), the four walls of the motel suddenly began to have a certain attraction - and as for 24 hour TV!!!

If you ever get the chance to see this film do yourself a favour - lock yourself in your house and throw the keys out of the window, tape up your eyes, plug your ears or better still stay in your room and look at four blank walls. The overall effect is the same but without the hassle and expense of going out.

Tongue firmly in cheek...

[Pussytiddy · 28 July 2011]

The cast play this movie as a camp comedy....the main plot line that a crooked would be secret government are using subliminal messages in TV ads to sway elections could make for a fine straight political thriller. Agency isn't played as a gripping thriller but it comes across that the cast were having a ball...especially Bob Mitchum as comic book baddie. Lee Majors is okay as 'the hero'. He has his comic moments as he escapes from Mitchum's goofy henchmen...villains straight out of Batman!Saul Rubinek almost steals the film from under Majors and Mitchum's noses...but his witty cat loving character, Goldstein just isn't in the thing long enough. Valerie Perrine as Lee Majors' love interest is pretty much a throw away part. Meanwhile, Alexandra Stewart just exudes a cool Teutonic type beauty...it's noticeable that her character is seen getting on a private jet with the man who was obviously Mitchum's boss/paymaster...as if she was planted at the ad agency to keep an eye on Mitchum. It also left a way open for a sequel! The quality of the print for my DVD was just awful...it seems that no decent print survives and though some might say "Good!!" I think it's a shame because this cheesy and cheap Canadian flick is not so bad as long as you don't expect a stellar movie...this was obviously not a film to boost any actor's reputation, merely to pay the rent check, played with tongue firmly in cheek...

What the Hell?

[arfdawg-1 · 5/10 · 22 January 2019]

A mysterious millionaire buys an ad agency and begins to replace its employees with his own people, who don't appear to be advertising types at all. A copywriter begins to suspect that the man isn't interested in selling products, as much as he is in inserting his own sinister political beliefs into the commercials the agency runs on television in order to subliminally brainwash an unsuspecting public into supporting the causes and candidates he wants. When the copywriter confides his suspicions to a friend and soon afterwards is mysteriously killed, his friend begins his own investigation.

Could have been a really good movie in more capable hands. As it is, it is rather slow and interest wanes mid way.

Robert Mitchum is barely in it. It's really a lee Majors movie. Valerie Perinne had already lost her looks and is not a particilarly good actress.

Good idea... terrible quality, terrible directing, bad soundtrack

[midge56 · 5/10 · 7 March 2010]

I was actually being quite generous with the stars on this one. The quality of this video was really about 2 stars, but the original author and actors deserved better than that.

Spoilers! So don't read further unless you want to know what the movie was about.

A much better movie with a similar theme would be "Looker" with Susan Dey. Both movies are about subliminal messages in TV advertising with murders and subterfuge.

They had a good idea with this story. I'm sure the original author was mortified when he saw what was done with his story. Even with Mitchum and Majors, this director, producer and film crew managed to destroy this movie. It could have been quite good but I was in shocked disbelief from the moment the movie started until the very end.

I strongly suspect that Mitchum and Majors had no idea how bad this movie was going to turn out until after it was processed. I'm sure they were both horrified with the results. It wasn't their fault. It might have been a good movie with a completely different film crew and film executives.

Bad sound; bad script & screen writing; bad directing; bad lighting; bad camera work; bad video quality; bad transfer; bad dialogue...

The screen writing was a disaster. When it started out with that "no sweat" commercial in demonic attire... I actually grabbed the DVD box because I thought it was some kind of drag p0rn0 based on the opening scene. I somehow pictured the entire theater emptying out with this scene. There was no excuse for the way this script was written and laid out.

I'm not sure they used a script for this movie. I think they just decided on a scene the night before and handed out the dialogue just before each shot. I really felt sorry for the actors. They really did their best. From the sound, there was obviously no "voice over" to clean up the sound of the dialogue, what little there was of it.

Bad directing of the worst kind. I really mean this quite literally when I say a high school kid could have done a better job with a hand held camera in their garage. A 12 year old could have done better... and I'm not sure where the producer was hiding out while all of this was taking place.

The sound quality was so terrible and distorted, we could have used a cassette recorder in a purse and done a better job with the sound. It was painful just to attempt to listen to this butchered, difficult to understand sound track. It was muffled, distorted and constantly fluctuating.

The video and lighting were terrible. It was dark. The quality was worse than a 1950's TV show. There was no semblance of professional lighting. I mean this quite literally. I'm not being unkind. The cameras looked like old hand-held 1960's TV cameras which required extremely bright, hot lights to obtain a decent image.

When there was something to see... such as the suicide in the refrigerator... the director did not have the camera stay on it long enough for you to absorb what you were seeing. But the ridiculous notion that someone would have killed himself by clearing out the refrigerator, cramming inside, then leaving a note was dumb enough. But the added disbelief that the police detectives didn't see anything suspicious about the situation was simply too much to bear.

Then we had the same "suicide" victim leave a reel to reel recording of about 6 scenes of the movie... really sounded more like something we would expect to hear from a director on planning out scenes to be filmed and then ran out of money. So, instead of filming the scenes, they had this character record the details of what was going on at the Ad Agency as if he had tracked down the entire plot of the movie. We also could not understand half of what he was saying due to the bad soundtrack. A cheap way to do half of the movie without filming it.

As for the graphics on the subliminal messages in the commercials, the core plot of the movie, it was so childish, nightmarish and filled with ridiculous roars and distorted sound… not to mention "crayon style animations" (no kidding), I could not believe my eyes.

If you watch the movie "Looker" you will see a much better rendition of subliminal messaging. "Agency" had the right idea... but did not have a film or production crew who could do this movie in a professional manner.

I did appreciate the story the original author was trying to tell. And I did enjoy the efforts of the actors. I watched the movie for their sake... and I felt really bad for how they must have felt when they saw the finished product. I honestly don't know how this movie was ever printed and distributed for public consumption.

If you have a choice... watch "Looker" instead. You will enjoy that movie. It was well done and had a similar theme with much better special effects. However, if you are intent on watching this movie, "Agency" then I would recommend having a couple drinks to wash it down. It is watchable if you can tolerate the terrible soundtrack and bad lighting.

I would like to extend my apologies to the actors, their families and the original author of this story. If the movie had been handled by a different film company, crew, director & producer... and a better DVD transfer company... I think it could have been a good movie. It could certainly be remade into a very enjoyable movie but that would never make up for the duress the actors and the writer must have endured at the hands of this director and production company when they saw the final product.

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[dmsesquire · 5/10 · 21 July 2017]

Silly action yarn about the new boss at an ad agency (Robert Mitchum) who wants to plant subliminal messages in commercials, with political intent. Inoffensive enough, but to call this more than a time-passer would be kind. Music is sometimes too over-the-top for the subject of the shot.

So bad it's entertaining.

[mm-39 · 7/10 · 6 November 2022]

Agency is so bad it's entertaining! I remember watching Agency as a teenager and I liked it! With Covid and too much time on my hands I decided to give Agency another try! Agency is a made in Canada production, with that kind of grade B film production, any Canadian like myself, could not help but notice. Many films, back in the day, filmed in Canada were film more for the tax ride offs than quality production; What works with Agency is the makers knew the filming was done for tax reasons and had lot's of fun filming Agency. I believe it was Montreal impost ring for another American city!?! This tax ride off movie, has the formulated story of a conspiracy murder mystery and flips the genre in a comic way. Agency was not filmed on serious level and Lee Majors ran with the character as a silly I am making this up as I go along character. Majors is the butt of many jokes and rolls with many awkward scenarios. Robert Mitchem, has a walk on role, which adds a serious balance as the heavy. The issue of special interest and media influence is balanced out with memorable comic scenes. The toughs with Major in the car with the bikers was solution was hilarious. Major handling the world of advertising at the office made me laugh. Agency's no sweat jingle is catchy too. If you take Agency for what it is direction, acting, and sets it's actually good. 7 stars.

Chocolate Planet: A Dystopia.

[rmax304823 · 5/10 · 8 May 2013]

It's something along the lines of "The Parallax View" but much more light hearted. The staff of a large advertising agency in the well-known American city of Montreal, Canada, do a good deal of walking around in a colossal tall glass tower of a building, amid so many such towers. And why not? The cubicles and offices are heated. Outside, they have to cope with the deep freeze of a northern winter. I always wondered how the Iroquois managed to survive.

Anyway, a trimly bearded Lee Majors and his sidekick, Saul Rubinek, are trying to adjust to the new ownership of the agency, headed now by the millionaire Robert Mitchum. He wears a dark, three-piece business suit and his hair is finely coiffed down to the last millimeter, an appealing curl drops negligently across his forehead. Okay. Canadians are known to dress more carefully than Americans, but with Mitchum, I just don't know.

The plot has the new owners planting subliminal ads in their television commercial for Chocolate Planet, a new kind of cocoa. And it works too, however implausible that seems. They manage to get a Nazi elected senator from Arizona, and Mitchum plans to embed these messages in ads designed for children's products too, capturing the minds of the next generation and, ultimately, putting the right kind of man into the White House -- one that will provide the desperately needed "leadership" that Mitchum describes.

There are a couple of murders along the way, as Majors and his girl friend, Valerie Perrine, try to figure out what's up and steal the evidence. Rubinek, for instance, winds up frozen in a grotesque position inside a refrigerator. But nobody grieves much. The pace is too fast and the wisecracks can't wait. Some of the wisecracks are pretty enjoyable. A security guard is mugged and gets a syringe full of some sort of barbiturate that knocks him out. He protests to the police: "They stuck a needle in my ass! What was I supposed to do?" The detective replies: "Turn the other cheek."

I must have seen this years ago because I remembered one scene. Near the beginning, Rubinek rushes into Majors' office, a nervous wreck, and begins explaining that he's just discovered that something secret is taking place within the ad agency. Majors believes none of it and sits behind his desk, resigned and bored. During his rant, Rubinek remarks that Majors' office plant has mealy bugs. Majors leaps to his feet in alarm and says, "MEALY bugs! What are mealy bugs?" It has the production values of a TV movie, several reasonably executed action scenes that lack logic, and a villain who dresses in a black leather coat and black fedora, like some kind of Gestapo. It's a good part for Lee Majors because little is demanded of him except that he be likable, and Mitchum puts little effort into a stock part. It's no more than diverting, and the script has its occasional bright spot.

Not one of Mitchum's best movies!

[JohnHowardReid · 6/10 · 16 December 2017]

A few years ago, this film could often be found in the retail store's $2 bin, but the movie turns out to be somewhat less dazzling than you would expect, despite the welcome presence of Robert Mitchum and a potentially exciting setting.

In fact, "Agency" actually emerges as a rather disappointing thriller. True, the action spots are excitingly handled, but director George Kaczender is a total loss in the movie's many lifelessly extended dialogue spots.

Glum acting from the expressionless hero, Lee Majors, and his buddy, Saul Rubinek who is inclined to mumble, doesn't help. Fortunately, what Rubinek has to say does not seem to really matter. Far more disappointing is the fact that Alexandra Stewart is wasted in a minor role.

On the other hand, George Touliatos does come across effectively as a down-to-earth police sergeant. (The movie was formerly available on a very good Westlake DVD).

The Idea Is Nothing New

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 10 July 2007]

Agency is a film based on an interesting premise about subliminal advertising. Too bad the production was so shoddy, even with Robert Mitchum in a juicy role as the mysterious millionaire who buys an advertising agency for his own nefarious purposes.

I remember seeing this exact same premise on a Saved By the Bell episode where Zack and Screech plant audio subliminal messages in tapes of favorite rock group so that boys can present these tapes to the girls of their dreams hoping for a match. It actually does work for a while.

Mitchum's after much bigger game, in some commercials that saturated the state of Arizona a noted liberal Senator went down with subliminal visuals placed in some ads about some product. Saul Rubinek catches on and he gets killed for his trouble.

Rubinek's friend Lee Majors also catches on, but he proves a lot more difficult to deal with.

Mitchum is deliciously evil in this film, unfortunately the film itself is just not worthy of him.

And the premise is kind of dumb. Who's to say the other party won't start using it. It's hard enough to get people to the polls in the USA let alone vote for the candidate with the best subliminal advertising.

And if they could use the plot on Saved By the Bell..................

Good Little Thriller

[ladymidath · 8/10 · 6 February 2023]

After the schlock fest that was Hospital Massacre, I needed a palate cleanser. The Agency aka Mind Games on video is just that. Lee Majors, Robert Mitchum, Valerie Perrine and Saul Rubinek all star in this very good Canadian thriller. An ad agency is taken over and is using subliminal messages to brainwash viewers into doing what the agency wants them to do or buy.

Majors, who play a creative director discovers this with the help of a copy writer, played by Rubinek. That is when the movie's action really ramps up. Valerie Perrine is great as a doctor and love interest while Mitchum is always good.

The action scenes are great and I like the way that the dialogue is low key and intense which adds to the tension and atmosphere of the film.

It's not perfect by any means, some of it can be a bit improbable, but it is a better film than many of the early eighties.

They should have used subliminal advertising to sell this film.

[Bernie4444 · 3/10 · 16 February 2024]

A person with dubious background purchases an ad agency. There he meticulously replaces the long-standing staff with his own. He buys targeted ad space.

We have already figured out what has happened and what is going to happen so the only thing left is to watch the movie for the particular acting and maybe some twists and details. (Fat chance)

This has all the qualities of the 1960s ... oops, 1980s television program. This movie has everything from cheap sets to stilted statements. The only redeeming feature is looking at the old tiny cars and something called a VCR.

They did think to include Valerie Perrine who is a lot more interesting in Steambath ) TV adaptation of Bruce Jay Friedman's off-Broadway play.

It's one of a kind (spoiler?)

[No Nukes · 15 March 2003]

"Agency" is one of those films that's equal parts cheese, espionage, and paranoia-truly something that could only be a product of the 70's. It's not exactly earth-shattering but a must-see in my book. The "revealing point" is so funny/messed-up...well, just one hint. Wait for them to play the "Chocolate Planet" tape and you'll see for yourself. But I'm warning you...you might die laughing. *PHNERK!*

-No Nukes, The Satanic Pikachu