The Mackintosh Man (1973)

THE MACKINTOSH MAN  (1973)  ¢ ¢ ¢ 1/2
    D: John Huston
    Paul Newman, Dominique Sanda, James Mason,
    Harry Andrews, Ian Bannen, Michael Hordern,
    Nigel Patrick, Percy Herbert, Peter Vaughan
Paul Newman plays an agent working for British intelligence (his nationality changes with every new fake passport) in an espionage caper that involves a diamond heist, a prison break, a communist operative played by Ian Bannen and a sanctimonious politician played by James Mason. It's good, escapist spy work, and Newman's second collaboration with John Huston, following "The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean" the year before. Walter Hill's screenplay, based on a novel by Desmond Bagley, teases you along with just enough information to keep you guessing, and Huston directs with a wink, a nod and a practiced eye. Maurice Jarre's zithery musical score echoes, at least faintly, "The Third Man".