rodrig58 A bunch of very good actors gathered in something hard to define (Action, Adventure, Comedy?) I was not amused at all, the adventure is missing out and the action is lamentable. A more idiotic scenario harder to figure out. Much too bad because I really love Oliver Reed, Telly Savalas, Diana Rigg. Curd Jürgens and Philippe Noiret are also very good actors but not in this movie, this is just a waste of time.

HighlanderArg I was watching TV and I caught the beginning of this film. I said "Why not?", considering the other choices were gossiping shows. And I don't regret that.The movie revolves around an aspirant to journalist who looks forward to get big news to finally allow women to have their place in press. Note that it's Europe pre-1st WW. After some apparently unconnected murders, she finds the common pattern, and ends up meeting with the group in charge of it: The Assassination Bureau. He meets its chairman, Ivan Dragomilov, and offers 20 thousand pounds sterling to kill... Ivan Dragomilov. Instead of taking it as a joke, Ivan agrees to the proposition, and sets all his men to hunt himself. They will kill him, or he will kill them. Meanwhile, the aspirant to journalist is sent to follow Dragomilov by her boss, who turns out to be the vice-president of TAB, who wants the big chair for him.Oliver Reed plays Dragomilov, a rather arrogant and self-confident guy, and he is convincing and hilarious. He should have had a chance as James BOnd (rather than Lazenby...). Diana RIgg plays the journalist (Miss WInter, to the point I recall). She's a tough female, reluctant to show her physical attributes. Some sort of Miss Emma Peel but without leather. The rest of the cast is as good.I think the key of this film is that they don't take themselves too seriously. Of perhaps they did, but looking back now it seems silly. It's an interesting movie that must be remade, with someone like Jude Law or Colin Farrell playing Dragomilov, and some pretty Brit girl (Saffron Burrows?) as the journalist. Trust me, it's better than watching some of the dreadful recent films that have come out.7/10

Theo Robertson Many , many years ago I remember seeing a film that had The Master from DOCTOR WHO in it ( In fact many of the characters looked like The Master to me ) and the climax took place upon a zeppelin but I had no idea what the film was called untill today when BBC 2 showed THE ASSASSINATION BUREAU Well yes THE ASSASSINATION BUREAU does have a sort of late 1960s charm to it and is very very inoffensive and I can understand why many of the reviewers on this page like it but it probably won`t appeal to anyone half as cynical as me . I don`t suppose I can criticise the unconvincing banter between Oliver Reed`s hero and the baddies or point out how really crap the special effects and the back projection are can I ? Nope thought not I`m not an assassin . I`m a critic

dbdumonteil This is the kind of movie made with care and respect for the audience:lavish sets,dazzling costumes,and a very attractive cast including Diana Rigg,Telly Savalas -both teamed for "on her majesty's secret service" the same year-,Philippe Noiret,Curd Jurgens and the sadly missed Oliver Reed.The screenplay is often full of wit and humor,with such lines as "if there's a war,people will kill each others for a penny,and we will have to shut up shop (our "assassination bureau").Actually the whole movie is a long chase through a chocolate-box Europa with a lot of traps,bombs and disguises.Diana Rigg's appearances run the whole gamut from a Victorian prude resembling Mary Poppins to a femme fatale,from a widow in deep mourning to a nun,she's astonishing.So does (and is )Oliver Reed,who plays some British Arsène Lupin.History is given a rough ride when Francis-Ferdinand is murdered in Vienna (instead of Sarajevo) but who cares?Best scene:Diana Rigg is alone in her hotel bedroom in Venice,Italy:she can hear a ticking.No,it's not the clock.So she rushes into her bathroom where a tap(faucet) is dripping.But when it's closed,the noise still remains.Is-it a bomb? .The brothel scene where Rigg is mistaken for a hooker is also great fun!Two movies made in the seventies might have been influenced by Basil Dearden's amusing comedy:Douglas's Hickox's "theater of blood" (1973) also starring Rigg- a treat that should not be missed-and Ted Kotcheff's "who's killing the great chefs of Europe?" (1978)-Jacqueline Bisset cooks a bombe glacée here-.The people who liked this movie could do worse than picking those delightful black comedies.