The first 70 minutes of "The Delta Factor" are essentially all setup: Christopher George (a convict asked to help the government in exchange for 20 years of imprisonment written off) and Yvette Mimieux (an agent) meet, travel to a Caribbean island, check their hotel room for bugs, organize their mission, get in touch with their local contacts, give and take messages in coded form, etc. This is all fine for a spy flick, but when it takes up more than 3/4 of the total running time, there is a problem. The budgetary constraints are pretty obvious, especially when we keep hearing all the time about this terrible storm that has cancelled all transportations, but we never see any of it! The movie finally picks up in the last 20 minutes, with a prison riot / escape, followed by a pretty cool car chase, followed by George shooting and throwing grenades at the remaining bad guys. All this climactic action does not include Yvette, by the way, but when she is on-screen she is irresistibly gorgeous, with a variety of hairstyles, a knockout face and a fit body. Though she was never really classified as a "sex symbol" in her career, "The Delta Factor" makes it easy to argue otherwise! (**)
9 Reviews
Nothing to see here
Leofwine_draca6 February 2011
This routine thriller, based on a Mickey Spillane novel, sees action-man Christopher George paired up with a female CIA agent to help rescue a kidnapped scientist from a remote island jail. It sounds pretty exciting, but unfortunately it isn't, thanks to a sluggish script and by-the-numbers direction. The film's major fault is a limited budget which excludes any decent intrigue or action sequences up until the last twenty minutes, during which a prison break and a car chase are crammed into a breakneck climax. Up until then, it's a boring affair, with the actors struggling to make sense of senseless dialogue and dull attempts to be 'cool' and modern.
Up until now, I'd only seen George in '80s-era exploitation fare, so seeing him as a handsome, slick super-agent in the Bond model was a bit of a surprise. I couldn't help but find the script beneath his talents, though. Mimieux, so well remembered as Weena in THE TIME MACHINE, doesn't get a great deal to work with either – other than some mild flirting in those excruciating drawn out scenes of hotel bed-hopping. I looked out for Yvonne De Carlo but sadly couldn't spot her without her MUNSTERS makeup. Director Tay Garnett, at the end of a long career in TV and film, displays a talent that can be best described as 'workmanlike'.
Up until now, I'd only seen George in '80s-era exploitation fare, so seeing him as a handsome, slick super-agent in the Bond model was a bit of a surprise. I couldn't help but find the script beneath his talents, though. Mimieux, so well remembered as Weena in THE TIME MACHINE, doesn't get a great deal to work with either – other than some mild flirting in those excruciating drawn out scenes of hotel bed-hopping. I looked out for Yvonne De Carlo but sadly couldn't spot her without her MUNSTERS makeup. Director Tay Garnett, at the end of a long career in TV and film, displays a talent that can be best described as 'workmanlike'.
It's all Greek to me
kapelusznik1820 January 2015
Warning: Spoilers
***SPOILERS*** Framed for a 40 million robbery of US currency Morgan, Christopher George, is given a chance to redeem himself and cut his sentence down from 25 to 5 years by FBI Agent Ames, Ted de Corsia, by being given the task to not only recover the cash but rescue this important US nuclear scientist Art Keefer, Ralph Taeger, who's held captive on the Caribbean island fortress of Nvevo Cudiz. With pretty FBI Agent Kim Stacy, Yvette Mimieux, acting as Morgan's wife he used their honeymoon as cover to rescue Keefer as well as recovering the stolen money.
As it soon turned out Morgan found himself involved with a web of corruption on the island from the Governor General and Police Commissioner on down that made his task of rescuing Keefer and recovering the money far more difficult then he ever expected it to be. There's also the fact the the island is being used as a gulag like prison for political dissidents that are being kept in line and in a zombie like state by being shot up with drugs by the Commandant and his stooges running it.
***SPOILERS*** Acting as a drug dealer to gain entrance in Nvevo Cudiz Morgan guns down those in charge and starts a major prison revolt with the hundreds of junkies imprisoned there crashing out. It's during the massive jailbreak that the man who framed Morgan his former army buddy Sal Dekker, Joseph Sirola, who had his face altered with massive plastic surgery pops up trying to retrieve the stolen cash, that Morgan recovered, that he framed Morgan for. Planning to used the airplane that the FBI/CIA provided for Morgan as well as Keefer together with Stacy to escape Dekker, badly injured in the car chase in trying to kill Morgan, in not being quite up to it in being able to hold his gun correctly ends up being blown away by Morgan instead. As Morgan is out of trouble and in the air he's given a chance to escape, from serving time for the 40 million dollar heist, by Kim, who's now in love with him, to make a clean getaway by her looking the other way. With Morgan and the 40 million exiting the plane by parachute and swimming to safety to a boat prearranged in the Caribbean Sea that was there to rescue him.
As it soon turned out Morgan found himself involved with a web of corruption on the island from the Governor General and Police Commissioner on down that made his task of rescuing Keefer and recovering the money far more difficult then he ever expected it to be. There's also the fact the the island is being used as a gulag like prison for political dissidents that are being kept in line and in a zombie like state by being shot up with drugs by the Commandant and his stooges running it.
***SPOILERS*** Acting as a drug dealer to gain entrance in Nvevo Cudiz Morgan guns down those in charge and starts a major prison revolt with the hundreds of junkies imprisoned there crashing out. It's during the massive jailbreak that the man who framed Morgan his former army buddy Sal Dekker, Joseph Sirola, who had his face altered with massive plastic surgery pops up trying to retrieve the stolen cash, that Morgan recovered, that he framed Morgan for. Planning to used the airplane that the FBI/CIA provided for Morgan as well as Keefer together with Stacy to escape Dekker, badly injured in the car chase in trying to kill Morgan, in not being quite up to it in being able to hold his gun correctly ends up being blown away by Morgan instead. As Morgan is out of trouble and in the air he's given a chance to escape, from serving time for the 40 million dollar heist, by Kim, who's now in love with him, to make a clean getaway by her looking the other way. With Morgan and the 40 million exiting the plane by parachute and swimming to safety to a boat prearranged in the Caribbean Sea that was there to rescue him.
The Worst of the Sixties on your screen now!
dillo17 April 2007
From the sky-blue eyeshadow that all the women wear to the rugged, steely hero who is too tough to actually act, this movie is the 1960s distilled. No cliché is left unused. The script is full of 'busters' and 'bud' and other masculine dialogue; the women are large of bust-line and and disposable as Kleen-Ex; the cinematography resembles a lesser episode of 'Bonanza' in its realism.
Oh, why bother? It's a Mickey Spillane film. That means it comes with expectations and it delivers all of them in the execrable fashion of the Master.
Auteur, my right hind hoof. But if you're a Mickey Spillane fan this could be your cup of coffee (tea is for sissies, buster).
Oh, why bother? It's a Mickey Spillane film. That means it comes with expectations and it delivers all of them in the execrable fashion of the Master.
Auteur, my right hind hoof. But if you're a Mickey Spillane fan this could be your cup of coffee (tea is for sissies, buster).
Hello auteur theory!
Sorsimus11 May 2002
Tay Garnett was never a pantheon director in the true sense of the word, but at the height of canonisation his name was mentioned. He was a workmanlike director of entertaining pictures peaking in the forties.
The Delta Factor underlines the collectiveness of Hollywood filmmaking: when Garnett was at his best he had a good script and the best crew the studios could offer. Also the help of charismatic stars must be remembered. Garnett then operated as a sort of "foreman" to keep everything in schedule and producers happy.
In the fifties the auteur theorists (Truffaut, Sarris) tried to attribute the good things in cinema to the personal talents of the director, thus helping to create myth of a film director as an artists comparable to novelists or painters.
The Delta Factor is a low budget effort made late in Garnett's career. He has also adapted the screenplay and produced the piece. The result is disappointing. Not much talent is evident in the finished product. The only redeeming feature is the car chase towards the end which is technically above the level of the rest of the film.
Watch this and remember Truffaut!
The Delta Factor underlines the collectiveness of Hollywood filmmaking: when Garnett was at his best he had a good script and the best crew the studios could offer. Also the help of charismatic stars must be remembered. Garnett then operated as a sort of "foreman" to keep everything in schedule and producers happy.
In the fifties the auteur theorists (Truffaut, Sarris) tried to attribute the good things in cinema to the personal talents of the director, thus helping to create myth of a film director as an artists comparable to novelists or painters.
The Delta Factor is a low budget effort made late in Garnett's career. He has also adapted the screenplay and produced the piece. The result is disappointing. Not much talent is evident in the finished product. The only redeeming feature is the car chase towards the end which is technically above the level of the rest of the film.
Watch this and remember Truffaut!
Colorful trash is still compost.
mark.waltz3 November 2021
Warning: Spoilers
The adventures of Mickey Spillane really spilled some toxic waste in this stinky adventure that has no real Point other than to show a bunch of overly made-up women of all ages parading around showing their midriffs and any other exposed body parts that they could get away with. It's embarrassing to realize that this film was directed by Tay Garnett who directed some very entertaining if minor screwball comedies in the 1930's and 40's as well as a few classic Greer Garson movies ("Mrs. Parkington", "The Valley of Decision"), and features right before her Broadway triumph singing "I'm Still Here" in "Follies" the high haired Yvonne de Carlo who walks through her scenes without a care in the world as if she's just satisfied to get a paycheck.
The film, involving a kidnapping and taking its stars to an exotic South American locale, is not a good vehicle for its stars, Christopher George and Yvette Mimieux, tactless and poorly written with such ridiculous bits of dialogue as George talking about an old lady doing something obscene with her umbrella to some sleazy guy lying on a gurney. This is followed by a little bit of plot here and there in there yet mixed with a parade of hideous fashions where there's basically hardly any material there. How anybody can refer to this as a movie rather than just a piece of garbage on celluloid is the question I have to ask after watching this. Attempts at a bit of like comedy fall flat and the film goes instantly on to my list of worst movies of the 1970's let alone all time.
The film, involving a kidnapping and taking its stars to an exotic South American locale, is not a good vehicle for its stars, Christopher George and Yvette Mimieux, tactless and poorly written with such ridiculous bits of dialogue as George talking about an old lady doing something obscene with her umbrella to some sleazy guy lying on a gurney. This is followed by a little bit of plot here and there in there yet mixed with a parade of hideous fashions where there's basically hardly any material there. How anybody can refer to this as a movie rather than just a piece of garbage on celluloid is the question I have to ask after watching this. Attempts at a bit of like comedy fall flat and the film goes instantly on to my list of worst movies of the 1970's let alone all time.
A seldom seen gem in dire need of a remastered re-release to DVD.
big_bellied_geezer24 August 2005
I will not give away the plot of the film, but I will say that if you are a fan of any of the major stars in this film and/or Mickey Spillane stories, you will get a kick out of seeing it. After viewing a nice full screen print, I can say that all the ingredients are there for a fine circa 1970 action/adventure flick, and even though it appears to have been made on a limited budget, the director did just fine with what he had in my opinion.
Christoper George and his co-stars including Diane McBain, Yvette Mimieux and Yvonne DeCarlo all put in fine work here, and the humor and sexual tension and pacing of the film make for a fun diversion.
This is highly recommended if you can find a copy.
Christoper George and his co-stars including Diane McBain, Yvette Mimieux and Yvonne DeCarlo all put in fine work here, and the humor and sexual tension and pacing of the film make for a fun diversion.
This is highly recommended if you can find a copy.
Pretty good but strange.
wkozak2217 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I saw this on tv a long time ago. It is pretty good. It keeps you interesting and moving along. However, some of the lines are bizzare. I am surprised they were left it. Telling your 'partner' that we should have sex so I don't have to rape you. Really?! Unbelievable. Should have been rewritten.
Only for the fans of the beautiful blonde!
RodrigAndrisan8 October 2021
Yvette Mimieux is beautiful as usual, even super sexy when she only appears in a swimsuit, but she doesn't have a real consistent role here. Action film, not who knows what action, banal story, déjà vu and so on. Watch it unless you have something better to do.
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