The Mackintosh Man

The Mackintosh Man. 1973 Warner Bros. Pictures.
Starring: Paul Newman, Dominique Sanda, Ian Bannen, James Mason, Michael Horden, Harry Andrews, Nigel Patrick
Director: John Huston
Available from Amazon only as part of the Paul Newman Collection.

In his review for this movie, Roger Ebert suggested that this was the first "anti-spy" movie, made by a group of people with no real understanding for spy films.

Paul Newman is Joseph Rearden, an agent of British Intelligence who is assigned by Mackintosh (Andrews) and Mrs. Smith (Sanda) to impersonate a jewel thief who transports his stolen goods through the mail to avoid attention. Rearden does this successfully after punching out a postman and taking the diamonds, but is still arrested and sentenced to twenty years imprisonment. After being sent to prison, Rearden starts asking about a former British spy, Slade (Bannen). Slade is kept in high security because he was exposed as a mole for the KGB, but not much information is known about him.

A few weeks later, Rearden participates in a planned escape with another inmate (who turns out to be Slade) engineered by a secret organization in exchange for a large cut of the stolen diamonds. The two escapees are drugged and taken into Ireland, where they're told that's where they'll stay for a week until the manhunt is called off.

Rearden's incarceration turns out to be a planned sting operation intended to expose the secret organization, which is headed by suspected communist spy Sir George Wheeler (Mason), who is posing as a staunchly patriotic right-winger. Wheeler discovers he's being pursued, and he arranges Mackintosh's death. Rearden has to keep undercover while pursuing Wheeler, who has also abducted Slade, but his earlier arrest for the faked diamond robbery may make this task more difficult than it really should be.

Despite the presense of Newman and director John Huston, as well as some decent British character actors, this movie never really gets going. Slightly recommended, mainly for Paul Newman fans, or if there isn't anything better on to watch.