Innocent Bystanders (film)
Encyclopedia
Innocent Bystanders is a 1972 spy thriller directed by Peter Collinson
. It stars Stanley Baker
and Geraldine Chaplin
. The screenplay was written by James Mitchell based on his 1969 novel of the same name. Mitchell had previously written several John Craig spy thrillers under the name James Munro.
scientist, Kaplan (Mayne) who has swapped science for a modest life as a goat herder in Turkey
. Craig faces opposition from his boss, his younger replacements, an American secret agent, a Turkish hotel keeper and an organization of Russian Jews hostile to Kaplan. Craig's mission is complicated by Miriam (Chaplin), an innocent bystander that is taken hostage.
was dissatisfied with what he termed the "general inconsequence" that the script evokes. However, Greenspun expressed that Chaplin's performance was "so reticent and so appealing as to constitute a small personal triumph...She is granted the film's only moments of quiet intelligence. She fills these moments with delicate intimacy that contrasts with everything else in the film that really does suggest a reservoir of feeling to oppose the lives around her that are wasted in mere action."
Peter Collinson (film director)
Peter Collinson was a British film director probably best known for directing the 1969 movie The Italian Job.- Early life :...
. It stars Stanley Baker
Stanley Baker
Sir Stanley Baker was a Welsh actor and film producer.-Early career:William Stanley Baker was born in Ferndale, Rhondda Valley, Wales. In the mid-1930s his parents moved to London, where Baker spent most of his formative years...
and Geraldine Chaplin
Geraldine Chaplin
Geraldine Leigh Chaplin is an English-American actress and the daughter of Charlie Chaplin.Chaplin first came to prominence for her Golden Globe-nominated role of Tonya in David Lean's Doctor Zhivago . She received her second Golden Globe nomination for Robert Altman's Nashville...
. The screenplay was written by James Mitchell based on his 1969 novel of the same name. Mitchell had previously written several John Craig spy thrillers under the name James Munro.
Plot
John Craig (Baker) is an ageing British secret agent that is tasked with bringing back alive a defected RussianRussians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
scientist, Kaplan (Mayne) who has swapped science for a modest life as a goat herder in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. Craig faces opposition from his boss, his younger replacements, an American secret agent, a Turkish hotel keeper and an organization of Russian Jews hostile to Kaplan. Craig's mission is complicated by Miriam (Chaplin), an innocent bystander that is taken hostage.
Cast
- Stanley BakerStanley BakerSir Stanley Baker was a Welsh actor and film producer.-Early career:William Stanley Baker was born in Ferndale, Rhondda Valley, Wales. In the mid-1930s his parents moved to London, where Baker spent most of his formative years...
as John Craig - Geraldine ChaplinGeraldine ChaplinGeraldine Leigh Chaplin is an English-American actress and the daughter of Charlie Chaplin.Chaplin first came to prominence for her Golden Globe-nominated role of Tonya in David Lean's Doctor Zhivago . She received her second Golden Globe nomination for Robert Altman's Nashville...
as Miriam Loman - Donald PleasenceDonald PleasenceSir Donald Henry Pleasence, OBE, was a British actor who gained more than 200 screen credits during a career which spanned over four decades...
as Loomis - Dana AndrewsDana AndrewsDana Andrews was an American film actor. He was one of Hollywood's major stars of the 1940s, and continued acting, though generally in less prestigious roles, into the 1980s.-Early life:...
as Blake - Sue LloydSue LloydSue Lloyd was an English model turned actress with numerous film and television credits.-Biography:...
as Joanna Benson - Derren NesbittDerren NesbittDerren Nesbitt is an English actor. Possibly his best known role was as SS Major von Hapen in Where Eagles Dare.In 2008 he was writing a book on "biblical myths and falsehoods".-Acting career:...
as Andrew Royce - Vladek SheybalVladek SheybalVladek Sheybal , born Władysław Sheybal, was a Polish character actor, whose career lasted from the 1950s into the 1980s. He was probably best known for his portrayal of the chess grandmaster Kronsteen in the 1963 James Bond film From Russia with Love, a role for which he had been personally...
as Aaron Kaplan - Warren MitchellWarren MitchellWarren Mitchell is an English actor who rose to initial prominence in the role of bigoted cockney Alf Garnett in the BBC television sitcom Till Death Us Do Part , and its sequels Till Death... and In Sickness and in Health , all of which were written by Johnny Speight...
as Omar - Cec LinderCec LinderCec Linder was a Polish-born Canadian film and television actor. In the 1950s and 1960s he worked extensively in the United Kingdom, often playing American characters in various films and television programmes.In film, he is probably best remembered for his role as James Bond's CIA counterpart...
as Mankowitz - Howard Goorney as Zimmer
- J. G. Devlin as Waiter
- Ferdy MayneFerdy Mayne-Early life:He was born Ferdinand Philip Mayer-Horckel, in Mainz, Germany. His German father was the Judge of Mayence, and his half-English mother gave singing lessons. Because his family was Jewish, he was sent to England to protect him from the Nazis, and he stayed with his aunt, the photographer...
as Marcus Kaplan - Clifton JonesClifton JonesClifton Jones is an actor, mostly known for his roles on British television.His most prominent role is probably that of David Kano during the first season of the science fiction series Space: 1999....
as Hetherton - John CollinJohn Collin (actor)John Collin was a British actor frequently seen on UK television during the 1960s and 1970s mainly in supporting roles. John Collin's best known role was as Detective Sergeant Haggar in the long running BBC police series Z-Cars...
as Asimov
Reception
Roger GreenspunRoger Greenspun
Roger Greenspun was an American journalist and noted film critic. He is best known for his work with The New York Times in which he reviewed near 400 films, particularly in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and for Penthouse in which he was a columnist throughout much of the late 1970s and 1980s...
was dissatisfied with what he termed the "general inconsequence" that the script evokes. However, Greenspun expressed that Chaplin's performance was "so reticent and so appealing as to constitute a small personal triumph...She is granted the film's only moments of quiet intelligence. She fills these moments with delicate intimacy that contrasts with everything else in the film that really does suggest a reservoir of feeling to oppose the lives around her that are wasted in mere action."