User reviews

This is a very poor film but a very interesting story. Montgomery Clift looks worn and torn in this intelligent thriller that was to be his last film at only 45. Hardy Kruger makes an equally interesting character but more convincing for his vitality. They both find themselves pawns in a political game, both are involuntarily recruited, and they both have some difficulty winding their way out of it. Towards the end of the film it gets finally exciting like a real thriller, but you have to wait long for it. Fortunately a beautiful young lady also gets involved, and she is let alone by the bullies.

The main asset of the film is actually the delightful music by Serge Gainsbourg, which every time it tunes in gives some relief to a rather bleak and sordid story. It is in character very much like "Funeral in Berlin" of almost the same year but more sophisticated and interesting, while the Harry Palmer case is much more attractive as a film. Much of the flaws of the film are due to very poor direction - the directior has difficulties in bringing his actors to life. You must not be that formal and stiff, callous and expressionless in a film that involves great nervous strain, a love affair, brainwash ordeals and an escape for your life. Although the story is good and of great interest, the director fails to bring it sufficiently alive on screen to make it engaging.

Watching these German-made 1966 Cold War film starring the doomed Montgomery Clift brought tears to my eyes. Being a Monty fan I just had to see this film & did in 1966. I was nothing more then a pre-teen, but it was clear to me that Monty had fallen on hard times. Little did I know that the Defector would be his final screen performance.

The story is typical of the 1960s Cold War spy films. Monty gave his usual outstanding performance, regardless of the lousy screenplay and shoestring budget. He was supported in fine style by German actor Hardy Krueger. Above average movie which most likely would be more interesting to view today in light of the historical value of the film being the last for Monty.

A sad ending for an outstanding actor.

While making "The Defector", the director obviously went out of his way to produce a decent contemporary spy movie, containing an intricate plot, suspenseful action, beautiful scenery (lots of nice German locations – both city and countryside – and characteristic locals), tin loads of extras and an unexpected ending. Up to a point, he succeeded in his mission. The movie is certainly enjoyable enough to watch. Unfortunately there are also some drawbacks causing it not to exceed the level of decent mediocrity. I suppose the problem is in the direction, for the leading actors are top-quality performers and the plot and scene setting are lifelike enough. In my experience, the dialogues are very clear – so clear, in fact, that they tend to lose the sort of grim realism and shadiness that might have added to the overall mood expected from this movie genre. The scenes are framed in such a way the viewer is in no doubt what is going on, but is not sucked in at the same time. From what we see, we understand it's all very serious business, but it just doesn't feel that way. The mental torture session in the specially prepared hotel room is gruesome, but it does not send shivers up our spines. The same thing goes for some other scenes in which Bower (Clift) is grilled by the Stasi. The slight caricature qualities of some of the additional characters (uniformed guards, labourers, Frieda Hoffman's (Macha Méril) flat mates) plus the occasionally corny traditional music are not helpful in this respect (the alienating sci-fi music in the torture scene is different – I suppose this was composed by Serge Gainsbourg – the rest seems miles away from his style). I do appreciate the ending of "The Defector", which leaves room for speculation (= did this happen by accident or on purpose?), but again, I was not as much in awe as I felt I should have been. In short, "The Defector" meets the mark, but could have done without a certain degree of directional awkwardness.

During the espionage film craze of the 1960's, "spy" movies generally fell into one of two categories: the colorful, just-for-fun spoofs full of whiz-bang gadgetry and exotic sexpots, and the "serious" examinations of the cold war and - most pointedly - its effect on those caught up in it. THE DEFECTOR, which has more than a little in common with Hitchcock's "Torn Curtain" from the same year, is of the latter type.

As an American physicist recruited by the CIA for a behind-the-iron-curtain mission, Clift is, as always, fascinating to watch. Of all the screen's best-known method actors, he was the only one who never let the mechanics show. With a performer like Brando, one can often sense what the actor's thinking. With Monty, you sense what the character is thinking. Add to this the high-wire nature of the personal vulnerability he projected in his performances (especially the later ones), and the sum is never less than compelling. He often utilized that quality as an effective element of his characterizations, and as a man of letters whose life appears to consist entirely of his twin devotions to science and art, and who finds himself in dangerous territory (emotional and otherwise), it works well here. Despite Clift's often obvious frailty, he executes some rather demanding physical feats, and this, too, fits within the characterization of a man who discovers, by necessity, strengths he hadn't known he possessed.

As espionage drama, THE DEFECTOR is strictly routine, but it's enlivened by both some unexpected plot twists and the presence of players such as Roddy MacDowall as the genial but oily operative who employs blackmail-with-a-smile to enlist Clift's cooperation, David Opatoshu as a not-to-be-crossed intelligence overseer and - most outstandingly - Hardy Kruger as Clift's equally unwilling eastern bloc counterpart. Kruger was an immensely engaging performer, and his scenes with Clift feature some entertaining sparring (between both the characters and the actors).

Director Raoul Levy (who, only a year younger than Clift, also died during the year of the film's release) unfortunately yields to some now-dated 60's-style psychedelia, but it's fairly brief, and he largely keeps the proceedings on a straightforward and even keel. If the film has one quality which lifts it above the norm for the genre, it's the attention it pays to the humanity of the characters - both major and minor - in all its forms, from the noblest to the basest.

THE DEFECTOR is, overall, an intelligent - if not showy - film, and although not terribly remarkable otherwise, definitely worthwhile for any Montgomery Clift devotee.

"The Defector," from 1966, is of interest because it was the last film of one of Hollywood's finest actors, and one of its most tragic, Montgomery Clift. He died not long after filming was completed, at the age of 45.

Here Clift plays James Bower, a physicist from the U.S. currently visiting West Germany. He's recruited, or should we say threatened with no more grants for his work, to help the CIA in the defection of a Russian scientist. The scientist will only talk to Bower. In truth, both sides want stolen microfilm, and Bower has an agent on his tail who knows he will receive the microfilm.

This film sort of goes nowhere; there were lots of cold war and spy films during the '60s, some serious, some spoofs, and many are better than this. There's a laziness about it rather than a tension. Clift does a very good job. He's super-thin, and if you have followed him in films, it's easy to see that he is not a well man and that his career is in tatters. He remains handsome, though as he did in so many post-accident films, he slurs his words. He gives a relaxed performance; but the fact is that he was probably out of it.

This film didn't need relaxation, it needed an urgency, and it doesn't have it. Nevertheless, filmed on location, the atmosphere is right, and there is a pervasive darkness.

There are many people who become addicted to painkillers after sustaining horrible injuries. Montgomery Clift was one of them, and the situation was exacerbated by drinking and health problems. He remains an important actor in Hollywood history, a man with a brilliant career that petered out way too soon. The Defector isn't really representative of what he could do, but I'd rather have it than nothing at all.

Montgomery Clift was entering the final months of his life when he shot this film and it's kind of depressing to see how fragile he looks. In medium shots he doesn't look too bad, but when the camera gets in close you can see the gauntness, the way the skin looks parchment-thin across his cheeks. His fingers are orange from nicotine and, even without knowing that he was trying to use this film as an audition for the Brando role in Reflections in a Golden Eye, you can sense a trace of desperation in his eyes. His career was hanging by a thread and he knew it.

The film tells a dour, jaundiced cold war espionage tale in a way that was quite fashionable in its day. It does well in capturing the austere mood of a communist bloc country and the location photography is interesting, but the story is very slow and there really isn't much to it until the final couple of reels. The scene which encapsulates the entire film consists of Clift and Hardy Kruger talking at a table and Clift's contribution to the conversation is mostly to repeatedly ask for his passport. The contrast (and conflict) of their respective countries' ideologies could (and has) make for an interesting subtext for a film, but its treatment is too dour here. There are nice touches, and an expectation on the part of the filmmakers of a degree of attention and intelligence on the part of their audience, but it never really succeeds in its objectives.

By 1966, the Cold War genre, which began in the 1940's, was in full swing, sometimes with bullets flying, and usually in Europe... Yet THE DEFECTOR is extremely low-key and low budget, taking its time and may require several viewings..

And for the sake of cinematic history, it's mostly known as Montgomery Clift's final role, which isn't a surprise... Very sadly, he resembles a man near death and ironically, less than a decade prior he was equal with James Dean and Marlon Brando, considered one of the "sexiest" and most talented men in Hollywood, and beyond...

But he does a good enough job despite the fact it seems as if his character, Professor James Bower, in East Germany to visit a Russian friend for whom he translated several novels, hadn't eaten or slept in a very long while. Perhaps it should have been written into the script; his character riddled by some mysterious illness might have actually worked in this already strange and tight, extremely contained, atmospheric movie where prison-like surroundings of dull brown buildings exist in a locale that's cold and desolate...

He could have been equally as hopeless and desperate, especially since he may have to stick around on a permanent basis. But his appearance isn't mentioned yet should have been because, whether he was handsome in previous films or not, it's downright distracting.

Especially in the romantic angle involving several encounters, and a solid port in the impending storm with the young and gorgeous German actress Macha Méril, her shared apartment the only comfortably safe harbor anywhere (she even has a comic book of Smurfs, and it's political!). Their love scenes are somewhat contrived and awkward, and that's not because of Clift's homosexuality - straight actors with more talent than Rock Hudson couldn't match the eyeful of genuine lust when first seeing Liz Taylor in GIANT.

And, speaking of Taylor, she was close friends with Clift, and his only reason for taking part in such a parenthetical effort was to get himself back in swing for his intended comeback opposite her in REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDEN EYE, a role involving a closeted homosexual that was given to Marlon Brando, and one that could have helped bring the repressed, tortured soul "out" in an artistic way, or at least created a path in that direction (being one of Brando's few miscasted roles, Clift would have been a much better fit)... But it never happened. And if any movie has a curse it's this one...

Both the director, Raoul Lévy, and leading man died before the theatrical release, and while critics had some positive things to say it failed to even dent the box office or stand the test of time...

Not a shock given that the spy genre had turned into a jovial carnival ride with the James Bond franchise and the fact much of the story plays out in dry dialogue rather than action. Yet the Thriller genre (in any film) does tend to move (or not move) in this fashion, tickling the brain over driving testosterone and in that, THE DEFECTOR is a success though beyond subtle and ambiguous in its page-turning approach as the plot and/or purpose is handled right up front: so the mystery relies on how and when things will pan out, and in what direction.

Interior scenes mostly involving stuffy offices used for "polite" interrogations occur between the actors in a steady course, and of all the cast, including Roddy McDowell... as a CIA man spouting all the exposition for his reluctant inside man... is German actor Hardy Krüger as Counselor Peter Heinzmann, given an almost impossible task of trying to persuade the American scientist to defect after the Russian he had traveled to see in East Germany was killed (unseen), and who had this genre's most coveted McGuffin - microfilm...

So Krüger provides the only real conflict, making him the actor to watch for his expressions and reactions alone; that is, if you don't count Clift having to survive a slowburn nightmare of being stuck in this purgatory, softly batted about as a pawn (although with Méril as a girlfriend, he's as hard to feel sorry for as James Dean with Natalie Wood in his arms: hell, perhaps he should defect!).

In a sparse study of existential anti-espionage, one particular psychedellic scene (much like Dick Powell's trip in MURDER MY SWEET) stands out as Bower half-sleep hallucinates inside his barred-widowed hotel room; suddenly the bed winds up outside, in the midst of construction on a daylight street, giving this pointed, grounded vehicle a bit of "foreign film surrealism."

But the entire DEFECTOR is, in a literal sense despite the Germans speaking perfect English, a Foreign Film without subtitles while maintaining an even-keel through strategic wordplay over gunplay, and a palpable sense of doom without a single bomb ticking. Winding up with 11th hour action that, though quite rushed and begging for the film to close, is more like suspenseful-movement as our subtle if bland yet determined and intriguing hero tries to get out of the country, the hard way: on foot, and all alone.

The Defector is the final screen appearance of the great Montgomery Clift. It is a decent enough performance, but barely matches the high standards of his earlier performances.

The film itself is typical '60s Cold War stuff, with a complex plot and lots of cloak and dagger treachery. Clift plays a scientist who is blackmailed into working as a spy behind the Iron Curtain. His cover is dangerously thin from the beginning, but by the end it has been blown wide open and he has to flee for his life. Indeed, the film only really comes to life during that final half hour or so. The build up is mildly intriguing, but not sufficiently so to make this a great film. The location photography helps to give the film a sense of authenticity, if nothing else.

I wouldn't recommend The Defector to anyone other than spy afficianados or fans of Montgomery Clift.

I really enjoyed this gem. I gave it a go despite the mixed reviews, in part because I was interested in Clift's performance. I'm glad I did. I've reached a certain point in life: I cannot finish watching movies I feel are mediocre, and even those movies I decide to watch often put me to sleep. This movie is well beyond mediocre, and I was wide awake for all of it.

The Defector has the feel of other cold-war spy flicks of the era: dry, dark, and pessimistic (words that also describe Clift's performance). It's filmed in color but feels as though it should have been b/w: gray is better suited to these movies. Of course, there are touches of warmth and beauty, including a love affair and the self-sacrifice of good people to a higher cause. I thought the ending interesting: I won't give it away but keep an eye out for what I believe to be a telling glance between Roddy McDowell and another man. I almost missed it....

Physicist from the US is blackmailed into aiding the CIA in the acquisition of top secret microfilm from a defecting Russian scientist (something to do with the moon-landing, and how the Russkies want to get there before the Americans do). Traveling to East Germany under an alias, the professor must keep his wits sharp as several nefarious characters already know his identity and his purpose in being in the country. Co-production from France and West Germany proved to be the final film of star Montgomery Clift (willing, but looking wan). Writer-producer-director Raoul Lévy, who adapted his screenplay from Paul Thomas's novel "The Spy", had an interesting eye for details, and he got solid performances from an international supporting cast (Lévy committed suicide two months after the picture's release). Still, the plot is a leaden one, with a dated Cold War theme and corny overtures to the spy game. The dubbing is often obtrusive, although Raoul Coutard's location photography (in curious colors) is quite attractive, and Clift's presence alone heightens the interest. ** from ****

The Defector is an exciting Cold War film. It reminds me of Gregory Peck's The Chairman. Unfortunately this film is out of print. It seems that any films that deal with the Cold War are curiously going out of print or disappearing. If you get a chance see The Defector.

This one was a sad watch. Monty Clift was not in the best shape for this one. It was painfully obvious.

Watching this was not fun for me. Seeing Clift in a lot of scenes either drunk or on some sort of substance was really kinda shocking. I guess he got away with it because of who he was. He was either looking like a Zombie or barely making his lines believable.

The story in itself was a good idea but the Lead actor was in no shape to do this film. You could tell they had high hopes for this one because of the supporting cast they got. Really quality type actors but the main draw is the shape Clift is in. It's just sad. It's not surprising he died not long after the filming of this. You can see in this that he didn't have much left.

As a film it's not bad but it's really really slow and a bit dry. Watch this one only to see Clift's last role. Any other reason than that and your wasting your time.

It's very sad that "The Defector" ("L'Espion") is the final film of both Montgomery Clift and the director, Raoul Lévy. This is because it's a pretty bad film. Now I am not talking "Plan 9 From Outer Space" bad. No, it's something much worse....it has good actors, nice location shooting....and the film moves at a glacial pace...so much so you don't care what's going to happen...you just want it to end!

Clift plays Professor Bower. He's coerced by the CIA to go into communist East Germany and get important information from a man who wants to defect. The problem is that when Bower arrives, the Germans know what he's up to. And so, they send a top Stasi officer, Peter Heinzmann (Hardy Krüger) to convince Bower to either give up or defect to the East. Unfortunately, there's hardly any action at all until the very end...and the road there is very long, slow and dull.

Not only is the movie dull, but, oddly, the final lines in the film were very badly dubbed...and it's obviously NOT the actors talking. Why? I have no idea...but honestly...I don't care....it's THAT dull and unappealing.

This movie is one of those that you never heard of, but you should have. It pulls you in through excellent direction and authentic dialect and location shooting. This movie could very well be a documentary of a real cold war scenario. Those who are interested in espionage and intrigue should enjoy this movie. Get the popcorn ready and sit back for the duration.

A Very Dry Spy Film from an Era Populated with Such Pictures, This is Notable as Monty Clift's Last Movie. It is a Slow Moving, Meandering Story of East West Infiltration and Deception.

Clift, in Very Bad Health During Filming Looks Sunken and Seems to Have Trouble Moving with Any Ease (although He insisted on doing His own stunts and that's Him in the river climax).

His Closeups May be Painful to Watch for Fans of the Popular Method Actor as His Good Looks Have Abandon Him and the Camera Can't Hide the Sickness Within. He Does Manage to Give a Performance and, Like Always is a Trooper to the Last.

However, the Film's Story is Lackluster Even for the Cold War. An Inspired Mind Experiment in the Middle is Shot with Some Style but Most of the Movie is Motionless.

Overall, it is Worth a Watch for Clifts Curtain Call and a Few Scenes of Intrigue, but Be Advised, if You Want to Remember Monty Clift as a Dedicated and Handsome Actor and You're Not a Completest, it Might Be Best to Pay Tribute by Respectfully Declining.

A melancholy air permeates The Defector. Perhaps the knowledge that this was Montgomery Clift's last role taints the viewer's experience somewhat but there certainly is very little else memorable about the film. Clift looks gaunt and nervous and even the actors around him seem to sense his imminent demise.

Raoul Levy (who also died the same year) directs with a listless hand and never draws any emotion from what could have been a much more resonant movie. Levy had just come off a terrific little road movie about hit men called Hail Mafia! (65) and in that light we are doubly disappointed with this lackluster effort.

Cynicism is the main theme here and although the film tries to take on the larger issues of patriotism, loyalty and betrayal it pulls up short, relying instead on cliché and a surface resemblance to better examples in the genre.

This is a really awful film. Poor Montgomery Clift, in the last film before his death, doesn't even look like death warmed up, he looks like death gone cold. One wants to jump into the screen and offer him an arm to lean on. He died the same year, aged only 45. Clift's physical condition was not helped by his being a masochist who liked to be physically injured. (John Huston, a hardened sadist, liked to put Monty in the hospital and then visit him with grins and flowers. Monty kept coming back for more.) This was the last of three inglorious films directed by Raoul Levy, who also died in 1966 at the even younger age of 44, having committed suicide. If he had had any directorial talent, one might have said that he took it with him, but as he had none, he arrived at the pearly gates in traditional fashion, bare-handed. Levy was French and is primarily known for introducing Brigitte Bardot to films. This film appears to have been released first in French with the title L'ESPION. There is no point describing the ostensible spy story about a Russian who may or may not be defecting and says he will only give the Soviet scientific secrets personally to Monty Clift. It is all what the British call 'a load of codswollop', whatever codswollop is. I must look that up sometime.

The farewell performance of Montgomery Clift is this below average spy story The Defector. The effects of a lot of pain killers to dull all the hurts of 45 years show on Montgomery Clift as he essentially goes through the motions of playing an American physicist asked to do a dangerous bit of espionage behind the Iron Curtain.

The request comes from CIA agent Roddy McDowall who doesn't feel Clift has a need to know all of what's going on. He's told to contact a Russian physicist and get some information about some rocket fuel formula and bring it back.

So Clift is somewhat surprised when he gets all kinds of attention from Hardy Kruger of the East German secret police who is also a scientist. And Kruger is being handled the same way by his superior David Opatoshu.

The Defector is not a horribly bad film, just not one you'd like to have as your epitaph performance. Not anything remotely close to The Search, A Place In The Sun, From Here To Eternity or Judgment At Nuremberg for which Clift took home Oscar nominations. Clift should only have lived to do Reflections In A Golden Eye with best friend Elizabeth Taylor.

"Montgomery Cliff (in his last role) plays James Bower, an American physicist visiting West Germany who's recruited by a shady CIA agent, named Adam, to help them with the defection of a Russian scientist." - write Anonymous on IMDb. But it's not correct, Bower's mission is just to take over the important message of the Russian scientist, the character played by Roddy McDowall, Agent Adams, is very precise about that. The defection of the russian it's out of the question, all that the americans want are the precious informations. There will be a defection, the one performed by Peter Heinzmann, the character played by Hardy Krüger, the actor who is the best in the whole film. The other actors are honorable too, Montgomery Clift, Macha Méril, David Opatoshu, Roddy McDowall. Hannes Messemer, in the role of Dr. Saltzer is also good, but I do not understand why the character is shot so easily and stupidly in the street, in the eyes of all, for absolutely no reason, just because he was running. And the end is not clear, does Hardy Krüger's character die in a real car accident, or was the "accident" premeditated?