Assignment K

Assignment K (also known as Department K) is a 1968 British spy thriller film directed by Val Guest in Techniscope and starring Stephen Boyd, Camilla Sparv, Michael Redgrave, Leo McKern, Robert Hoffmann and Jeremy Kemp.^[1][2] It was written by Guest, Bill Strutton and Maurice Foster based on the 1964 novel Department K by Hartley Howard.

Assignment K
Directed by	Val Guest
Screenplay by	Val Guest Bill Strutton Maurice Foster
Based on	Department K 1964 novel by Hartley Howard
Produced by	Maurice Foster Ben Arbeid
Starring	Stephen Boyd Camilla Sparv Michael Redgrave Leo McKern Robert Hoffmann Jeremy Kemp
Cinematography	Ken Hodges
Edited by	Jack Slade
Music by	Basil Kirchin
Color process	Technicolor
Production companies	Gildor Productions Mazurka Productions Ltd.
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	18 February 1968 (1968-02-18)
Running time	97 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Plot

A British spy has his cover blown, leading to the East German Stasi kidnapping his girlfriend to try to extract information about his double agents' activities.^[3]

Cast

• Stephen Boyd as Philip Scott
• Camilla Sparv as Toni Peters
• Michael Redgrave as Harris
• Leo McKern as Smith
• Robert Hoffmann as Paul Spiegler
• Jeremy Kemp as Hal
• Jane Merrow as Martine
• Carl Möhner as Inspector (credited as Carl Moehner)
• Vivi Bach as Erika Herschel
• Werner Peters as Kramer
• Dieter Geissler as Kurt
• John Alderton as George
• Jan Werich as Dr. Spiegler
• David Healy as David
• Ursula Howells as Estelle
• Basil Dignam as Howlett
• Geoffrey Bayldon as The Boffin
• Joachim Hansen as Heinrich Herschel

Production

Val Guest said "We shot it all out in Kitzbuhel, great cast: we had my Leo McKern again, and Michael Redgrave who was a very sick man, had terrible difficulties with his lines... Stephen [Boyd] was a wonderful person, a great giggler, a great professional, very nice guy."^[4]

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Routine spy thriller, unimaginatively scripted and directed. The entirely conventional settings include the inevitable night clubs, expensive hotels and ski slopes (where the travelling matte is much in evidence). Stephen Boyd is bland and wooden as the toy tycoon/spy; Camilla Sparv has little to do but look alluring; and Leo McKern and Michael Redgrave appear fleetingly and to little effect. The plot meanders from dull beginning to dull end with nothing of interest in between."^[5]

Leslie Halliwell said: "Dreary espionage thriller, instantly forgettable, and only watchable at odd moments while it's on."^[6]

See also

• List of British films of 1968