Customer Reviews

Scorpio

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Retirement is not always possible for a spy, particularly an agent caught in the no-man's-land between the two superpowers... Cross (Burt Lancaster) is such a spy in Michael Winner's 'Scorpio.'

Released at a time when disclosures about CIA and FBI abuses were receiving wider acceptance, 'Scorpio' might have become a controversial success, but was forestalled by Costa-Gavras' more factual 'State of Siege.'

A melodramatic and threatening spy film, 'Scorpio' had two rival protagonists: Cross, an experienced CIA agent being hunted by his former colleagues, and a former French paratroop officer, Jean Laurier (Alain Delon), now a 'CIA contract button man,' a professional assassin, code-name Scorpio...

Irritated by the Frenchman's independence, the CIA chief McLeod (John Colicos) has had heroin planted in his bedroom to make the hired killer more pliable... Threatened with a drug arrest, Scorpio has no choice but to accept the assignment to kill Cross, although McLeod sugars the pill with promises of a fat bonus and Cross' job as the CIA's man in the Middle East...

Although told that Cross has been a double-agent working for the "opposition," Scorpio remains doubtful... In the meantime, by a series of clever tricks and tactics, Cross has not only managed to evade the CIA men following him, but has arrived in the favorite city for cinematic intrigue, Vienna, Austria...

The most part of the film's action and some of its best sequences take place in the country on the Danube River where the mystery surrounding Cross deepens... In a nighttime rendezvous on a deserted street, Cross is met by a Viennese worker who is whistling, perhaps as a signal or out of habit, the "lnternationale."

The husky-voiced Cross says, "It's been a long time since Spain," to which the man responds, "The best died there," and gives Cross directions to meet two more "cut-outs." This kind of political reference occurred frequently in the film's dialog as part of the sympathetic characterization of Cross as envisioned by an intelligent and well written script...

In a sequence that was easily the equal of some of the best spy films, Cross and his Soviet counterpart, Sergei Zharkov (Paul Scofield), laughingly discuss their mutual reject for their bosses and the identical young men who support both the CIA and KGB... While Cross accepts Zharkov's evaluation of themselves as a pair of premature anti-fascists, he can not understand Zharkov's professed belief in Communism after years spent in a Stalinist labor camp and the recent invasion of Czechoslovakia... In a later scene when Zharkov tries to get help from his superiors and is refused, the embassy official is given a dose of Zharkov's irony when told of his resemblance to another man 'who didn't leave his name, but was trying to build socialism in one country out of the bones from a Charnel house' -as strong an indictment of Stalin's Russia as any Cold War film, but more intelligent and more skillfully presented...

The film's major element was the state of tension in which the audience was held, until the final minutes viewers could be certain of Cross true identity, and CIA director, the eccentric hated human being represented by McLeod...

The CIA chief appeared more ruthless than any other character... He was willing to frame Scorpio on a false charge, to endanger his own agents needlessly and even to have Cross' wife murdered in an unsuccessfully burglary attempt...

There was even a hint of Nazi persecution, since one of Cross' wartime friends, Max (Shmul Rodensky), was killed during an interrogation conducted by a local Viennese thug who had laughed cleverly at the mention of Max's imprisonment in a concentration camp...

The problem of Cross's guilt or innocence concentrated on Scorpio, who knew enough to distrust McLeod yet is pushed to fulfill his assignment... In a nighttime scene shot in a huge enclosed botanical garden, Scorpio meets Cross and their dialog is a clever mixture of plot development and characterization... To the Frenchman's direct question whether he is a traitor or not, Cross tells Scorpio that he reminds him of a little girl in her white Communion dress looking for God, but that since Scorpio has the soul of a torturer his need is even greater... Cross denies being a double-agent and tells Scorpio that McLeod wanted him eliminated as well...

Scorpio's conversations gave the film its uniquely complex political coloration... Lancaster gave his character the air of a worldly wise cynic whose ties to the Russians were as mercenary as they were emotional..

With considerable assets in three separate bank accounts, Cross' dismissal of Zharkov's Communist blind faith had a firm basis... Yet, Cross had all the 1930's liberal hypotheses: The whistled "Internationale," the reference to Spain, the twenty-year friendship with Zharkov, his obvious affection for Max and Cross' contacts among Washington, D.C. area Blacks were all hints of his real political sympathies... His warnings to Scorpio were justified, and Cross's treason seemed minor compared to the CIA's criminal behavior... The traditional reference points (affection for his wife and friends) all proclaimed Cross' innocence, and in fact, the CIA stood more condemned in the film...

If it hadn't been for its irregular pacing, the juxtaposition of slow, talky scenes with far too gymnastic thriller consequences, 'Scorpio' might have been a domestic 'The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.' The spy film that did eventually serve this role appeared in 1975, in Sydney Pollack's 'Three Days of the Condor.'

Burt Lancaster plays an aging CIA agent who's finally had enough of the spy life and wants to quit the business so he can spend more time with his family. But his trecherous Bosses don't want him to quit so they assign Alain Delon A.K.A SCORPIO to eliimate him. Fantastic script Delon's performance in the film is one of his best even if his english is sometimes off a bit. the highlight of the film is the chase sequence between Lancaster & Delon throughout the Streets and Alleyways Of Venice. It's a captivating spy film done with the right amount of action and suspense. Most Of Today's spy films don't even come to this masterpiece. And even if they could they would still fail. This film was a true gem for it's time and cannot and will not ever be replaced or duplicated.

Though the plot is somewhat muddled, locations change at a dizzying speed between Washington, Vienna, and Paris, has some improbable situations, and occasionally stilted dialogue, it's highly entertaining, and has an excellent cast, especially Alain Delon.
He's fabulous as "code name: Scorpio", conveying so much meaning with the subtlest of gestures. He's also superb in the action scenes, so lithe and fast, and seems to be doing all his own stunt work...and he certainly must be one of the most spectacularly gorgeous actors to have ever graced the screen.
To top it off, Scorpio has a sensitive side: He likes flowers, and most of all, cats...enough to make a woman's heart flutter !

Lancaster is very good as Cross, the spy who wants to get "out of the game", Paul Scofield is great as always as his Russian cohort, and Joanne Linville lovely as Cross' wife.
The cinematography (Robert Paytner) is exceptional, and Jerry Fielding's marvelous score is atmospheric and at times almost symphonic.

You may have to see it several times to make any sense of the plot, but this is a very watchable film, has a lot going for it in many ways, and it has to be Delon's finest English speaking performance, which is a good enough reason to make this one a keeper.

Excellent espionage movie from the 70's with two great action stars from both sides of the Atlantic..Would recomemd it to all Delon's and Lancaster's fans..good DVD quality with excellent sound...

A cold war thriller with an emphasis on genuinely motivated suspense and action. Burt Lancaster, Paul Scofield, and John Collicos, along with J.D. Cannon are part of a superb cast in this spy film. Great score by Jerry Fielding.

This was an excellent deal on a movie that is both suspenseful and entertaining to watch! Burt lancaster is a great on screen persona in this one. The price is right, the movie is great and this is an unbeatable deal!

In this minor masterpiece of Spy Cinema, Burt Lancaster plays Cross, an aging CIA Agent who wants "out of the game," but his superiors think he knows too much and may be ready to flip sides. The CIA dispatches Alain Delon, a.k.a. Scorpio, to take him out. What they don't count on is Scorpio's grudging respect for Cross, and the fact that an aging old boy network of spies are growing indifferent to the new, suited and computerized agencies they now report to.

In particular, the great Paul Scofield plays KGB agent Zharkov and Vladek Sheybal plays Holocaust survivor Max Zemetkin, who undercut their roles with an understanding of what all were fighting for during World War II. They are all disillusioned that their jobs are no longer about their countries or their peoples, but as Cross puts it a game where the "object is not to win, but not to lose." Scorpio feels the same, but as a paid assassin whom the CIA frames after he refuses to hit Cross, now finds himself conflicted between the force of duty and his loyalty to one of the few men in the world of espionage he trusts.

Filled with twists, turns, crosses and double crosses, "Scorpio" is both a high powered action film and a talky, intellectual political thriller. The International cast and locations play wonderfully in a movie that, if it were made today, would feature more violence, a cuter spy and dumber dialogue. While not as good a watch as Three Days of the Condor or a reading of The Spy Who Came In from the Cold, "Scorpio" is in their class.

My title says it all, i almost fell sleep a couple of times..The actors, burt lancaster, and alain delon, don`t save this senseless film,

Scorpio, 1973 film

Cross is in trouble. McCloud has put out a contract on him to silence him. Now Cross is on the run to flee the country. A French assassin has been imported to do the job. But somebody planted heroin in his room and he is arrested until he agrees to work for McCloud. "Scorpio" was picked for this job because Cross trusts him. Cross is accused of being a double-agent, a traitor. Scorpio is offered the price he asked for; he knows where Cross will go. In Vienna Cross gets rides by strangers to a safe house; there he meets Zharkoff. Will he make a deal? Are the old guys being pushed out by newer men? Scorpio knows Cross' thinking and can anticipate his actions. Cross plans to get his wife out next.

Scorpio is summoned to meet Cross for a talk, but Scorpio was followed, and is blamed for not getting Cross. They are closing in, all the telephones are tapped to intercept messages. Cross speaks with Zharkoff over various topics. [The story drags here.] Land the cellist won't talk now. There is chase after Cross in broad daylight. [Gunshots don't attract attention?] There is an explosive scene, and Cross escapes again. Back in Washington Cross' wife Sarah sees some lights in her house. Shots are fired! [Note the wide-open space in Vienna, so unlike New York city.] It seems that Cross has "gone over". [Or has he?] Cross learns what happened to Sarah, and makes plans. Jean has an insurance policy. There is an accident on a Washington street when a man is hit by McCloud's car. Then there is another hit. "You want proof?" All their evidence is circumstantial. But Scorpio recognized a face in a surveillance photo. "I'm sorry about the girl." There is a final showdown in a garage, like some opera where the actors come to a bad end.

This is an average story that has a lot of foreign scenes, but lacks something to make it a better story. There are films with more action and a more complex or believable story. The range of actors suggests it was made for a European audience; the story also has an ambiguous point of view. The talk about Spain implies some background knowledge that is not in this movie.

Ten years after their encounter in Luchino Visconti's THE LEOPARD, Burt Lancaster and Alain Delon starred together in Michael Winner's SCORPIO, a solid spy thriller released in 1973. And the alchemy between the fine French actor and the imposing American star worked one more time.

SCORPIO is a good example of this peculiar period that produced such masterpieces as Pollack's THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR or Pakula's THE PARALLAX VIEW and KLUTE, all paranoiac movies featuring government subgroups which are able to kill innocent people with an harrowing impunity.

But Michael Winner isn't an author of the same caliber of Sydney Pollack, John Huston or Alan J. Pakula, hence SCORPIO is nothing more than a good spy thriller which doesn't offer additional food to the mind of the curious movie lover.

A DVD zone stars of the past.