The Executioner (1975) User Reviews

The man who decided death

[dcarbajales · 7/10 · 7 July 2000]

This movie is a classic spying movie, but with the "kitsch" touch of the 70's. It mixes a lot of elements that can disturb the main link of the script, but at the last moment it resolves very well the meaning of the movements of the characters. Dirk Bogarde is splendourous, such as always and the rest of the actors makes me feel that the movie is happening actually.

My forbidden past

[dbdumonteil · 26 October 2010]

Intended as a political movie (shades of Costa-Gavras' "Z"),"permission to kill" is a mess ,not only the "political " background remains very vague ,not to say simplistic but the plot is so confusing it's sometimes difficult to understand the characters' motives;a cosmopolitan cast does not help: Americans (Forrest),English (Bogarde who surprises Timothy Dalton in bed with another man ,and not an "honest "man to be precise ,French (Nicole Calfan ,not really convincing as the "hitwoman",who appears twice in the nude and a brat who has nothing to say)plus Albanian Bekim Fehmiu who died a few months ago.The ending is the perfect cliché of the political assassination.

It was the second time Bogarde had teamed up with Ava Gardner after " the angel wore red" (1961),and once again they made the bad choice.Ava Gardner,although aging,was still fascinating and the reason why I did not give up watching before the end.

Poor directing and editing make this nigh on unwatchable

[liammurphy1 · 3/10 · 23 March 2004]

Don't listen to the other comments - Permission to kill has got to be one of the WORST films ever made, The directing from Frankel is appaling, The story is needlessly complicated and confusing, and the actors (especially Bogarde) look like they'd rather be somewhere else, but above all absolutely NOTHING happens, There's no one Iota of tension this is mainly down to the editing of Ernest Walter, the movie is chopped to pieces are we are left with Boring after boring scene when nothing of interest happens. With a title like 'Permission to kill' I was expecting a top-class spy thriller in the vein of Bond, But the producers forgot to add any action or suspense leaving this one of the most pointless movies ever made, Ok it's nice to see the Austrian landscape and classic film stars such as Dirk Bogarde and Ava Gardner and a young pre-bond Dalton, but this waste of celluloid sadly wastes everybody's time and talent

My vote 3/10

Despite being about espionage, the film is incredibly slow and a bit dull.

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 3 January 2019]

I watched "Permission to Kill" because I have long thought Dirk Bogarde is one of the finest actors of his age. Sadly, however, the plot and slow pacing made this more an endurance contest as opposed for a showcase for his immense talents.

Alan Curtis (Bogarde) is a master manipulator. During the initial part of the story, he entraps a variety of people in order to force him in his latest project--to stop a dissident from returning to his home country. However, they resent him and it's doubtful that the plan will come off as Curtis has planned.

The big problem is that the film took forever for anything significant to happen. Instead, it was talky and ponderous...moving at a glacial pace and providing little in the way of fun or entertainment.

Lack of action takes its toll on the viewer

[malcolmgsw · 3/10 · 25 May 2020]

I rarely give up on a film half way through but I did on the one.The film is boring.Nothing of Interest happens.The music gives the impression that there are sinister happenings but this is just a mirage.Neither Bogarde or Gardener can bring any life to the corpse that is this film.

One of the best spy movies I've seen

[Ffolkes-3 · 10/10 · 30 November 2000]

Permission to Kill, filmed entirely in Austria, is actually one of the best spy films I have ever seen. That's because its plot isn't unbelieveable like in many such films but very realistic. Bekim Fehmiu, leader of the "National Freedom Party", is due to return to his dictator-controlled country but Dirk Bogarde, chief of "Western Intelligence Liaison", wants to stop him. In order to do that, he gathers all the old friends of Fehmiu, including Ava Gardner and Timothy Dalton... The point of the film is to show spying as a very dirty and dubious business, whose victims are especially people who have high ideas. I'm positive it's one of the most interesting Cyril Frankel films. Despite it's not an action movie there's one fantastic action scene - the escape of Timothy Dalton. He jumps out of the fast riding car and runs through the woods. Believe me it's very engaging. Speaking of Timothy Dalton I must say that he gives a marvellous performance, probably the best of all actors involved in the film. His acting is very enthusiastic but still very natural and convincing. I presume it's thanks to his long-lasting theatre experience, but of course You be the judge. Generally the film is a definite 'must see'. Grade 10/10.

Excellent and taut espionage programmer from UK

[searchanddestroy-1 · 9/10 · 13 July 2022]

I don't know why, but I always confound this film with another one: THE LOOKING GLASS WAR, also a British spying film speaking of Cold War and I remember speaking of a close topic too. Also made in the seventies. This is sensitive, brilliant, rather a bit complex, as any other espionage movie, but that's not THE KREMLIN LETTER either. And what an awesome Dick Bogarde in a delicious nasty manipulator, the kind of character whom you wish to kill by smashing your TV set.