Istanbul Express
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Istanbul Express |
| Original title | Istanbul Express |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1968 |
| length | 93 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Richard Irving |
| script |
Richard Levinson William Link |
| production | Richard Irving for Universal Television |
| music | Oliver Nelson |
| camera | Benjamin H. Kline |
| cut | Richard G. Wray |
| occupation | |
| |
Istanbul Express is a 1968 crime and agent film by Richard Irving, made for US television . The main roles are played by Gene Barry , Senta Berger , John Saxon and Werner Peters .
action
The Istanbul Express is being cleaned and scrubbed in Paris' Gare de Lyon when the railway detective Cheval inspects the train and discovers a suspicious worker he is chasing after. After he has rendered him harmless, Cheval discovers a package under the train that contains an explosive device. Cheval defuses it with a flick of the wrist. The following night the Orient Express departs for Istanbul. Among the guests is the art dealer Michael London, who is supposed to buy an art object, a valuable tapestry , at any price for a very wealthy Parisian client . All sorts of strange guys cavort on the train: there is, for example, the drunk American McCord, a pudgy old Englishwoman and London's lover Peggy. Peggy tells him there is another job for London. In the Turkish metropolis he was supposed to bid for important papers for Washington that were in the possession of a certain Kapel, a notorious middleman for international secrets, and that various governments are obviously after, since they were the records of an important scientist who had recently died . At each stop of the Orient Express, according to Miss Peggy, for security reasons, London only receives a single number, which at the end would result in a five-digit sequence. This is an account number for a cash deposit in an Istanbul bank, with the contents of which Michael London is to bid for the secret documents in question. Peggy gives him the first digit, it's 7. Any contact with a new number would identify themselves under the code name “Macbeth”.
Right at the start of the train ride, London becomes dizzy in front of your eyes, because obviously something has been poured into his drink. He goes back to his compartment and asks for a doctor on the train. A certain Dr. Lenz and now completely checkmate London with a syringe. Cheval, who worries about London, discovers him passed out in his compartment. London will soon be well again and the incident has long been forgotten when the train arrives in Milan. Here London receives the next digit from a newsboy, it is 3. Then the compartment of McCord, who works as a reporter for a US newspaper, is also devastated. He immediately assumes that it must have to do with London and the wrong doctor. London, who does not want to inaugurate McCord, casts him off and relegates his conjecture to the realm of journalists' imagination. In Venice, London sees the ominous “doctor” Dr. Lenz leaves the train and takes a water taxi to the old town. London follows him on the same path. The path leads both men to a language school run by the young, attractive Mila Darvos. There London sees Lenz again, who obviously belongs to Miss Darvos. She says straight to London that she knows about London's order to bid for the secret papers and also about the individual account numbers that London receives at every stop. She wanted him to deliberately fail the bid in Istanbul, for which she was willing to pay him $ 50,000. As expected, Michael London rejects the immoral offer with a snappy “njet” (Russian for “no”). Lenz and another agent then return to Miss Darvo's office with their revolver drawn and are supposed to shoot London. However, with a trick he can get away unscathed and returns to the Istanbul Express. In front of the train station, an unknown blonde with a white dog named “Macbeth” kisses him and gives London the next number: it's 6.
During the train journey there is another attack attempt: London is lured into the baggage car, where a killer is already waiting for him. But during a scuffle in the dark, he shoots himself. Suddenly Cheval appears, and London suspects that he too could be one of those who want to kill him. In fact, Cheval says he knew about the upcoming auction. But he also explains that he is only interested in "his" train arriving safely and without problems in Istanbul. For this reason, Cheval London is also helping with the removal of the body. Both throw the body out of the train while driving. At the next stop, Belgrade, the bearer of the following number is insidiously shot down from behind and appears to die in London's arms before he can find out the new number from him. To make matters worse, the Orient Express continues without London. London drives into downtown Belgrade, and McCord, who had also missed the train when he saw London with the dying carrier, follows him. McCord suspects a hot story behind everything. However, London does not really trust its compatriot and claims to the reporter that there is no interesting story. It is agreed that if McCord would help him, London, there might be a story for McCord's readers after all. In fact, the American newspaper man has a contact on site, the Yugoslav police officer Granicek. They are reluctant to help. McCord knows that the bearer of the last digit was only badly wounded and is lying at Granicek's police station. London can question him, but the messenger is too weak to answer. But he shows the number 2 with his fingers.
London travels to the Istanbul Express by plane and gets on again at the next stop. There the bizarre old Englishwoman speaks to him from the start of the train journey and speaks about Macbeth. London is very astonished that the old lady is also involved. She tells him where he can find the next number of the Istanbul safe deposit box: In a shop window. The Express finally reaches Istanbul. The owner of a jewelery shop is currently putting a valuable grandfather clock on his display and setting one of the dials to 8. In the bank, London awaits a cash deposit well filled with one million dollars under the complete number, with which he can now bid at the auction. In the auction building he also meets Mila Darvos again. She offers to increase the bribe price if he does not bid. And again London refuses. He has to bid the full one million dollars to compete against Miss Darvos, but Mila also beats this amount with the fixed $ 25,000 increase. London asks for a respite, which he receives from Kapel despite Mila's protest. The documents should be brought in for review within an hour, because only then will London show itself ready to outbid the Darvos bid. Nobody knows that London just wants to buy time to get more money for the documents via Washington. Since no contact person can be reached by phone, London tries to raise the money he needs through his tapestry client in Paris, and in fact the latter provides him with an additional $ 100,000. Michael London can bid for the papers for $ 1.1 million.
The US Consulate General is not overly enthusiastic that London actually bought the documents. Because when he discovers Peggy in the next room, the buyer realizes that he has been abused for a charade. London promises her and the consul Shepherd, who is also present, that the documents are probably forgeries that they wanted to pass on to the other side, and that neither of the two present protests. London's persistence ultimately ruined this US ruse. He therefore suggests giving the other side the opportunity to take these documents away from him on the way to the flight to Washington. After visiting an Istanbul nightspot, Dr. Ambushed Lenz and his people in front of the entrance, beat them up and kidnapped them in a taxi. At the end of the taxi ride, Mila waits and again asks London to hand over the documents. Again Lenz drugged London to get information about the whereabouts of the papers. Under the influence of drugs, London gives the bank's five-digit deposit number where the papers are now to be stored. When Mila knows what she wanted to know, she orders Lenz to kill Michael. Before that can happen, Lenz is shot by Cheval, who secretly followed London. While Mila Darvos can pick up the fake papers as planned the following day, London returns to the Orient Express, where Cheval and Miss Peggy are already waiting for him.
Production notes
The exterior shots for Istanbul Express were made in Paris, Milan, Venice, Belgrade and Istanbul. The film first aired on October 22, 1968. The German premiere was on March 7, 1969, the television premiere was on July 31, 1971 late in the evening on ARD .
The film structures were designed by John J. Lloyd , the costumes by Grady Hunt . Bud Westmore was a makeup artist here.
useful information
The route of the “Istanbul Express” used in this story corresponds to that of the Direct Orient Express , which until 1977 drove from Paris via Lausanne, Simplon Tunnel, Milan, Venice, Belgrade and Sofia to Istanbul.
Istanbul Express was made a few months after another Universal Television production, the legendary first Columbo crime film Murder by Prescription . A considerable part of the Columbo crew was also active here: director Irving, the screenwriters Richard Levinson and William Link , the film editor Richard G. Wray and the leading actor Gene Barry, who had played Peter Falk's antagonist in Murder by Recipe . For Senta Berger, Istanbul Express ended her five-year permanent stay in Hollywood.
Reviews
In the Lexicon of International Films it says: “An art dealer receives a political assignment for a trip on the Istanbul Express, which the other side threatens to destroy with a series of assassinations. Moderately exciting crime entertainment with a lot of clichés. "
Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide called the TV movie a "tired spy adventure ... inconsistent ... average."
Individual evidence
- ↑ Istanbul Express. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 7, 2019 .
- ^ Leonard Maltin: Movie & Video Guide, 1975 edition, p. 285
Web links
- Istanbul Express in the Internet Movie Database (English)