1973. Directed by Henri Verneuil. TAGLINES : "One of these men is working for the C.I.A." "If One of This Group is The Serpent - 13 People Are Going to Die!" - This movie was "based on the famous Philby spy case (and was) a parallel to the famous Philby spy case." A Soviet diplomat hatches a complicated plan to enable him to defect to the West. Colonel Alexei Vlassov (Yul Brynner) is a Soviet spy. In France, he defects. He is whisked to the U.S.A., where Allan Davies (Henry Fonda) takes over the case. After polygraph tests and cross-examinations, Vlassov names several Western European Agents who are also spying for the Soviets. Davies wants to take the listed Agents into custody. Meanwhile, those on the list start dying under mysterious circumstances. Also known as THE SERPENT and in Europe as SPY WAR. This movie was released two years after its source French novel "Le 13e suicidé" (English translation: "The 13th Suicide") by Pierre Nord was published.The opening prologue states: "That which enables a wise ruler and a good general to strike, to conquer and to attain goals beyond the reach of ordinary mortals is "Prior Knowledge" SUN TSU (fifth century B.C.). Some versions of this movie feature the following title card addenda to this movie's prologue: "In the modern world, this 'prior knowledge' is synonymous with 'Secret Services'. Novelists call it...'Espionage'." BEHIND THE SCENES TRIVIA : Spy agencies featured in this movie include the C.I.A., K.G.B., MI6, the French, and the West German Intelligence services. The date in which the most sophisticated and deadly spy network in the world advised the President of the United States to step outside all legal channels to preserve the security of the country was October 15, 1972. The date in which they thought they may have made an incredible mistake was September 15, 1973. In addition to the parallels between MI6's Philip Boyle (Sir Dirk Bogarde) in this movie and Kim Philby in real-life, there is another parallel between the head of the C.I.A. characters. The name of the Director of the C.I.A. in this movie, Allan Davies (Henry Fonda), seems to be a tribute to Allen Dulles, who, in real-life, was the Director of the C.I.A. from 1953 to 1961. Beside their names, the resemblance of facial lines of these two men is remarkable as well.
CAST INCLUDES : Yul Brynner, Henry Fonda, Dirk Bogarde, Virna Lisi, Farley Granger, Philippe Noiret, Michel Bouquet, Elga Anderson, Luigi Diberti, Robert Alda