Routine international crime drama with a tedious pace begins with several important figures around the world being killed. Odums (Bradford Dillman), head of the US Drug Enforcement Agency in Hong Kong, calls in over-the-hill lawman Quinlan (Robert Mitchum) to track down the source that is
leaking information, which has led to the deaths of the Agency's contacts. Quinlan leaves his poverty-row flat in London to fly to Hong Kong, where he laconically encounters numerous almost-fatal attacks by parties unknown. His visit to the British Crown Colony offers a perfect excuse for some
gorgeous photography of the exotic port. Several bodies later, Quinlan unearths a single lead, the word Juliana, which leads him to Amsterdam. Here, among the colorful flower beds, he learns that a single person is attempting to take over the world's drug traffic. Quinlan survives a long and
tedious gun battle (if a gun battle can be described as tedious), and discovers the high-ranking traitor, a political kingpin who commits suicide before the authorities can close in.
This film is disappointingly static for a story line that promises a lot of snap. Moreover, Mitchum underplays his role as the aging, world-weary crime fighter--with such sotto voce that he appears at times to be sleepwalking. leave a comment
