Konterr Brilliant and touching

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

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

dougdoepke Riveting political thriller. Bronson plays a Russian intelligence major assigned to stop programmed Stalinist agents from carrying out a possible doomsday plan. Bronson's a member of a reformist wing of the Soviet Communist Party that has replaced hardline Stalinists. However, the earlier doomsday plan remains in effect, and now it's being executed in the US by a renegade Soviet agent (Pleasance). Fortunately for Bronson, the winsome Remick is assigned by Soviets to assist him. Problem is if Pleasance is not stopped he could well set off a nuclear catastrophe.The movie has two elements from earlier Cold War films: The Manchurian Candidate (1962) and Dr. Strangelove (1964). Like Laurence Harvey in the former, agents here are programmed by trigger words to carry out their mission in robotic fashion. At the same time, there's the overhang of a possible doomsday as in Strangelove. Here those elements are skillfully blended to build suspense.What really distinguishes the film, however, is an overall absence of Cold War good guys and bad guys. There's really only one villain, the unreformed Stalinist. Unlike 50's Cold War films, this one treats operatives of both sides strictly as professionals doing their duty without noticeable favorites. One possible exception is Remick. Despite her coy girlish manner, she's also been assigned to eliminate partner Bronson once he succeeds in killing Pleasance. That way, no one will be left to spill the beans about the aborted plan and embarrass the new Soviet regime. So Bronson is to be rewarded by his superiors with death. Maybe that's a good enough reason, but not unarguably so. Meanwhile, Bronson's his usual steely self, while Remick plays up the girlish appearance, leaving us to guess how much of a façade it is. But stealing the show is Tyne Daly as the plain-looking brain behind the American side. Her superiors appear rather addled much of the time, while she deftly maneuvers clues behind her bank of computers. Good touch. Most of the action comes from explosions that blow up real good. I don't know how they did them in 1977, but they're impressive as heck.Anyway, the movie suggests a possible waning of Cold War passions on our side, perhaps because of growing recognition of what a nuclear exchange would entail. Be that as it may, the movie remains a taut and under-rated political thriller, helmed by the masterful Don Siegel.

bkoganbing Telefon casts Charles Bronson as a KGB agent on assignment in America trying to stop Donald Pleasance from igniting World War III. Bronson is aided and abetted uneasily by CIA agent Lee Remick and the two of them get involved with each other as well as the mission at hand.It's quite a mission they have, Pleasance is an old line Stalinist and he's noticed the new regime is slowly doing away with his kind. So he knows about this operation involving 51 Manchurian candidates who are Russian sleeper agents the way Laurence Harvey was in the Manchurian Candidate. With the proper phrase these people who are under hypnosis and just living regular humdrum lives get a signal to complete a mission involving sabotage of some military installation in their area. Pleasance has come to America to set these agents off.It might have been a whole lot easier to just dial long distance once he was out of the Soviet Union, but apparently Pleasance is also getting a few jollies and really wants to see his handiwork. Bronson gets the list and follows Pleasance's trail hoping to head him off.A nice cast of talented players pulls off and makes entertaining when you think about it, a really silly Cold War era story. Pleasance as usual pulls all the stops out as the villain and Bronson is his usual menacing self. His loyal legion of fans might like Telefon, I'm kind of partial to it myself, but I recognize it's illogicality.

mail77-20-626935 this line from the poem by Frost was used by H. Schmidt, the German chancellor in his book with Stern from 2009. Maybe he wants to wake up sleepers in Europe. During interviews, he liked to read them, so people who watched the video or Television would be activated after being MK Ultra processed. This was being observed by some writers on the internet already.Then again, some supposed that Schmidt simply liked the movie back then (remember, the title's language) and so came to read the poet Frost. But some stubborn conspiracy theorists still hang on the the MK Ultra / sleeper cell theory.

whpratt1 Charles Bronson, (Maj. Grigori Borzov),"Twinky",'69 played a Russian KGB agent who was assigned to stop a possible World Ward III with the United States. Many years back there was a secret plan called "Telefon" which had a mysterious ability to capture a person's brain and set them off in all kinds of destructive evil deeds. Lee Remick,(Barbara),"No Way to Treat A Lady",'68, played the role of an agent for the United States and was assigned to work with Maj. Grigori. Barbara tries to turn Grigori on by all kinds of advances towards his manhood, but he is like a cold fish and strictly doing his assignment given him by the KGB. Donald Pleasance,(Nicolae Dolchinsky),"The House of Usher",'88, plays his usual role of the evil character who starts all kinds of trouble by just simply making telephone calls. Bronson and Remick were a great team together, however, the ending turned out completely different than what I had thought it would have ended.