Sir Robert Thorndyke
Peter O'Toole
Sir Robert Thorndyke
Overview
In 1939, Sir Robert Thorndyke takes aim at Adolf Hitler with a high powered rifle, but the shot misses its mark. Captured and tortured by the Gestapo and left for dead, Sir Robert makes his way back to England where he discovers the Gestapo has followed him. Knowing that his government would turn him over to German authorities, Sir Robert goes underground in his battle with his pursuers.
Cast
Major Quive-Smith
John Standing
Major Quive-Smith
The Earl
Alastair Sim
The Earl
Saul Abrahams
Harold Pinter
Saul Abrahams
Interrogator
Michael Byrne
Interrogator
Vaner
Mark McManus
Vaner
Fisherman
Ray Smith
Fisherman
Peale
Hugh Manning
Peale
Jessel
Robert Lang
Jessel
Rebecca
Cyd Hayman
Rebecca
Muller
Ian East
Muller
Freda
Maureen Lipman
Freda
Reviews
CinemaSerf
Based on Geoffrey Household's rather far-fetched book, Peter O'Toole is British aristocrat "Sir Robert" who lays plan to assassinate Adolf Hitler before the start of WWII. After missing an open goal his plan goes awry, and after some fairly brutal torture at the hands of his captor Michael Byrne, he manages to flee the scene of his own proposed demise and to make it back to Blighty where his solicitor and kindly uncle (Alastair Sim) recommends he keep his head down for fear his plot be publicised, and the country be dragged into war...! The Nazis have not, however, given up on their chase and his efforts to stay out of their sights quite literally drive him underground. It is all just a bit silly, to be honest, and the sort of stiff-upper-lip gentlemanly code of hunter and hunted borders a little too much on the sarcastic to be scary and not enough to be amusing - even though O'Toole does have some quite pithy put downs for his Aryan pursuers. It is just about worth watching for fans of the star, but the rest of it need not have been remade from the superior 1941 iteration.
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