Assassination Bureau
by Basil Dearden
(Click here)
Buy this VHS video movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Product details
Actor: Curd J?rgens, Diana Rigg, Oliver Reed, Philippe Noiret, Telly SavalasDirector: Basil Dearden
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog; French (Original Language); Italian (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
Running Time: 110 minutes
Release Date: 1998-11-11
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Publisher: Paramount
Studio: Paramount
VHS Movie Reviews of Assassination Bureau
Movie Review: Review of The AB LTD
Summary: 5 Stars
I received the DVD in a timely fashion and it was in excellent condition - would order from this person again.Movie Review: When Eating, Be Wary Of Exploding Sausages!
Summary: 5 Stars
The basic premise of this movie is that there is a secret organization of assassins that are hard at work plying their trade throughout Europe doing what they do best, but the story is soooooo much more than that.
The central characters in this movie are played by Oliver Reed as the leader of the "Assassination Bureau" and Diana Rigg as the nosy reporter who hires Reed to assassinate himself. Telly Savalas plays a dual role of sorts as the owner of a newspaper and, the second in command at the "Assassination Bureau."
Upon accepting Rigg's request, Reed orders the other members of the "Assassination Bureau" to make every conceivable attempt to kill him. For if they don't, he will surely kill them. This makes for some very interesting shenanigans which take place throughout the movie.
Rigg tags along with Reed in an effort to record his exploits and those of the other men (and women) who are attempting to kill him.
This movie is very well done and quite enjoyable to watch. The actors all do a commendable job and work quite well together. I highly recommend that you watch this movie as the satirical humor in it is quite funny.
Shawn Kovacich
Connoisseur of Fine and Not-So-Fine Movies
Movie Review: A Great Movie - Little-Seen
Summary: 4 Stars
"The Assassination Bureau" was an unfinished novel from the pen of Jack London. Another writer took London's outline and finished it and several years later it became this fun movie starring Oliver Reed, Diana Rigg, and Telly Savalas, released in 1969 by Paramount Pictures. The movie deviates a little from the book, but all-in-all, both are equally enjoyable. The British director, Basil Dearden, was one of the more interesting directors working in the UK from the late 40s through the late 60s. Many of his films were social dramas which dealt with taboo subjects like race ("Sapphire") and homosexuality ("Victim") way before they were acceptable topics. But he also made films in most of the genres out there. This one and his 1965 spy spoof, "Masquerade," starring Cliff Robertson & Jack Hawkins, are light, breezy and just fun to watch. It is too bad the MGM/UA hasn't put that one out yet for home entertainment.Movie Review: Oh how I wish we had such a Bureau today!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a simple silly movie about a fictitious bureau that evaluates governing moguls and occasionally dispatches them when they misbehave. Telly Sevalas turns the bureau upon itself so as to eliminate the assassins and good governments thus benefitting his commercial interests. It's a race around Europe with the assassins and Sevalas in pursuit of Reed and Rigg. R & R use subterfuge to dispatch Sevalas and put the Bureau back on track.Movie Review: "Virtue, it seems, has been rewarded." "Well, really!"
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of my four favorite late 60's comedies that I used to make a point of watching for and watching again and again every time they were shown on TV. "The Assassination Bureau" is based on the unfinished Jack London novel, The Assassination Bureau, Ltd. (Twentieth-Century Classics), posthumously completed by Robert L. Fish with the assistance of London's and his wife's notes. London had basically written himself into a corner, which Fish only did a marginal job of extricating the novel from. The movie is MUCH better.
In a subtly altered pre-WWI Europe, would-be journalist Miss Sonya Winter (a cool as a cucumber Diana Rigg) has a plan for how to get a job in her male-dominated chosen field: do a story exposing a secret organization of assassins for hire AND destroy said organization by taking advantage of its policy of guaranteeing that the target will be killed upon presentation of sufficient justification and prepayment of the fee. Newspaper publisher Lord Bostwick (Telly Savalas) agrees to back her plan which is to put out a contract on the chairman of the organization, Ivan Dragomiloff (Oliver Reed at his oiliest). Dragomiloff himself accepts the commission in part because he believes his aging colleagues and friends of his late father the founder have degenerated into amoral killers for the sake of money, effectively challenging them all to a duel.
Doesn't sound like much of a comedy, does it? Yet it is relentlessly, hysterically funny! Diana Rigg's icy coolness is the perfect counterpoint to Oliver Reed's smoldering unctuousness, and Telly Savalas is dead solid perfect. Some of film's finest character actors round out the cast of assassins, including Curd Jurgens as the manic General von Pinck. The dialog is witty and full of understated hilarity, and the verbal sparring between Miss Winter and Dragomiloff is particularly choice as she follows him across Europe to "report on his... whatever happens to him." A frenetic score, gorgeous sets and costumes, unexpected twists and turns during the dash across Europe, and somewhat dated special effects round out the effort. If you've never seen it, you owe yourself at least a rental of this all but forgotten gem.
Note: Though produced from a clear, crisp print, this widescreen DVD is about as bare bones as you can get. No extras of any kind -- just scene selection and English subtitles, which helped me pick up a few things I'd missed due to thick accents despite my multitudinous TV viewings over the years. At this price though, it is worth every penny.
1960-1969 Video
Video Genres
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Movies most talked about in 1960-1969 Video
the Ugly DachshundBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 1997-03-18; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $10.45
Ghost & Mr ChickenUniversal Studios; Release date: 1996-04-30; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $19.50
The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are ComingMGM (Video & DVD); Release date: 1994-03-02; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.00
Price in other shops:
Sex and the Single GirlWarner Home Video; Release date: 1998-09-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $89.95
Flim Flam ManFox Home Entertainment; Release date: 1985-05-24; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
40 Pounds of TroubleUniversal Studios; Release date: 1996-09-17; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $59.95
Singing NunMGM (Warner); Release date: 1993-12-23; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $38.95
Madwoman of ChaillotWarner Home Video; Release date: 1995-02-21; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $69.99
Majority of OneWarner Home Video; Release date: 1994-04-21; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $105.00
Boeing BoeingParamount; Release date: 1995-08-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Similar Video, DVDs, Audio CDs
El Cid (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (The Miriam Collection)WELLSPRING/GENIUS; Release date: 2008-01-29; DVD
Best price: $9.98
Price in other shops:
Evil Under the SunRelease date: 2001-02-27; DVD
Best price: $4.23
Price in other shops:
And Then There Were NoneRelease date: 2000-01-25; DVD
Best price: $4.09
Price in other shops:
The Avengers - The Complete Emma Peel Megaset (2006 Collector's Edition)A&E; Release date: 2006-02-28; DVD
Best price: $52.58
Price in other shops:
The Complete Musketeers (The Three Musketeers / The Four Musketeers)Release date: 2003-02-04; DVD
Best price: $11.56
Price in other shops:
The HospitalTWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2003-09-16; DVD
Best price: $4.52
Price in other shops:
The Great RaceWarner Brothers; Release date: 2002-06-04; DVD
Best price: $10.66
Price in other shops:
Matt Helm Lounge (The Silencers/ Murderers Row/ The Ambushers/ The Wrecking Crew)Sony; Release date: 2005-12-06; DVD
Best price: $15.98
Price in other shops:
Ultimate Flint Collection (Our Man Flint / In Like Flint)Ultimate; Release date: 2006-11-07; DVD
Best price: $10.84
Price in other shops:
The President's AnalystParamount; Release date: 2004-06-08; DVD
Best price: $7.61
Price in other shops: