Greenes Please don't spend money on this.

Matrixiole Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

gridoon2018 "Otley" could be described as a working-class British version of the classic "North By Northwest" formula - an innocent man is mistaken for a spy and hunted by "good" spies, "bad" spies, AND the police - except that Otley himself is out of work at the moment! The comedy is highly uneven, but the plot itself is good enough for "Otley" to hold your interest even as a "serious" spy movie (complete with one especially squishy death, which I won't spoil here). Romy Schneider is radiant and charming, but underused: the film could have done more with its role-reversal of her being in charge and him being the tag-along. Very hard to find today, you'll probably have to settle for a DVD-R copy if you want to see this. **1/2 out of 4.

Ephraim Gadsby Martin Waddell's OTLEY is about a wannabe second-hand/antiquities dealer (on the dole) who already has a line of clients and who is not particular about how he acquires what he sells. He gets in trouble for stealing an object d'art that is actually a recording device employed for espionage (for one side or the other -- I can't recall which, but it doesn't matter). He is the most reluctant of spies, though he dips and dives, toward whichever side will help him get out of trouble, over four charming, short comic novels.Tom Courtenay tries to breathe life to this character, and he is surrounded by some of Britains most individual supporting players (including Freddie Jones, Ronald Lacey and Leonard Rossiter) and the beautiful Romy Schneider. Perhaps they wanted to make a film that was both a spy movie (everyone was cranking them out) as well as a "swinging London" movie (a genre worn into the ground) but it comes off as more diverting than funny; and like most movies of the period that tried to be "modern" it looks quaintly dated. But the stars are always worth watching.

klweber42 This is one of my favorite 60's films. It's based on the first of a series of books by Martin Waddell about Gerald Arthur Otley, a young man whose occasional pocket-picking inadvertently lands him in the middle of a spy plot. (The books are great fun, too). Poor Otley's in way over his head, can't tell the good guys from the bad, and like Dorothy in "the Wizard of Oz," simply wants to go home! Suddenly his dull old life doesn't look so bad. There are many funny sequences, but the one in which he takes his driving test is truly inspired.Tom Courtenay gives one of his best performances as the lead character, and he's well supported by a terrific cast of veteran character actors. Leonard Rossiter has an especially funny cameo. Moreover, "Otley" has one of the catchiest soundtracks of that era, a quirky mix of classical and rock tunes, and you'll find yourself humming the main theme for days after you've watched the film.Why isn't this available on DVD? Or even VHS? It's a major oversight. "Otley Forever!"

CHRISTOPHER HEATH Interesting little gem from the swinging sixties. Tom Courtney plays Otley, a down-on-his-luck antiques dealer in the Portobello Road in this comedy spy thriller.He's kicked out of his digs after he's gone past his sell-by date in terms of the attentions of his randy landlady because he can't pay his way and is forced to go from friend to friend at a party in order to be put up for the night.Otley manages to reel in a favour from one of his friends, but blunders into a spy plot when that friend is murdered in the flat and Otley is forced on the run. Otley has little aptitiude for anything but antiques and even this ability has to be questioned considering his circumstances.The plot meanders continuously and is a little confusing but is of little consequence. We are not meant to focus too much on it, because the film centres on how this hapless bungler manages to squirm free from one episode to another whilst we enjoy the scenery. A high point of the film is when he goes to take his driving test which turns into a car chase with some villains around the backstreets of London.The supporting cast contains some good character actors and includes Leonard Rossiter playing a hitman. Romy Schneider plays the femme fatale, but is curiously underused. An enjoyable 'sub-sub-Bond' adventure if you don't expect too much.