The author Jack London is probably best known for his books, ‘Call of the Wild’ or maybe ‘White Fang’ neither of which were particularly original stories so its little wonder that London purchased a bunch of story lines from another author Sinclair Lewis. But part way through writing the novel, ‘The Assassination Bureau’ London died. It lay unfinished in a drawer for years until his wife sold it to Robert L Fish who finished it off and published it in 1963
The novel was set in the US but the film adaptation saw it relocated to London, 1908. When feisty journalist and women’s rights campaigner Sonia Winter (Diana Rigg) uncovers the headquarters of the Assassination Bureau Limited, a clandestine enterprise that has existed for decades by bumping off the rich and powerful – but only if there’s a good moral reason for it – she sets on a path of putting an end to its activities. Bankrolled by her press baron boss, Lord Bostwick (Telly Savalas), she commissions the organisation to undertake the assassination of its very own chairman, Ivan Dragomiloff (Oliver Reed). Being the gentleman that he is, Dragomiloff responds to the assignment with glee, challenging his fellow board members to complete the contract. Only they’ll have to catch him first
Originally intended as a vehicle for either Rex Harrison or Burt Lancaster both left the project with Oliver Reed instead and a whole host of famous faces that included Diana Rigg, Curt Jurgens, Warren Mitchell, Beryl Reid, Kenneth Griffith & Jess Conrad. Intended for release in 1968 it was delayed for over a year due to the assassination of Robert Kennedy and also Martin Luthor King meaning that a film titled, The Assassination Bureau was not going to find an audience transmitted by social upheaval caused by these events. As it was the film never really found its audience which is a shame because it’s a lot of fun – a kind of mash up of Bond, Royal Flash and Kingsman in a steam punk Victorian era. Spectacular set pieces , extravagant production design and a climactic scene on a Zeppelin makes this a very entertaining 110 minutes.
It’s a film that unfairly forgotten and it’s a deserved re-release with bonus features that include:
- High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
• Original lossless English mono audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Audio commentary with authors Sean Hogan and Kim Newman
• Right Film, Wrong Time, a 30-minute appreciation by critic, broadcaster and cultural historian Matthew Sweet
• Original trailer
• Image gallery
• Collectors’ booklet featuring writing on the film by Katherine McLaughlin
• Reversible sleeve featuring two original artwork choices
The featurette with Matthew Swett is informative and the commentary by the always informative film journalist Kim Newman is well worth a listen. If you’ve never heard of the film let alone seen it then give it a whirl. There’s a lot of fun to be had!
related feature : Diana Rigg – OBITUARY
related feature : Machine gunning dinosaurs – Jeremy Piven talks ‘Primitive War’ !
Here’s The Assassination Bureau trailer…….
The post The Assassination Bureau – appeared first on Any Good Films.
from Any Good Films https://ift.tt/vWpoJUT
