The Mackintosh Man

Reasonably entertaining old-fashioned thriller, with British intelligence hiring a freelance agent (Newman) to expose Communist infiltration in high places. A quick stretch inside to gain credibility with the opposition, then a well-handled break-out leads Newman to a remote and mysterious house in Ireland. A spot of bother, another nicely handled escape across the moors; a resumé of the plot for Dominique Sanda, who can't work it out; then everyone's off to Malta for the climax. If you can accept Newman as a totally unconvincing Australian (thankfully only for about 20 minutes), an appalling array of accents (mainly Irish), and Dominique Sanda as an unlikely member of the British Secret Service, then it whiles away the time pleasantly enough. (From a novel by Desmond Bagley.) CPe.