Fear Is the Key (film)

Last updated
Fear Is the Key
Fear Is the Key film Theatrical release poster (1972).png
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Michael Tuchner
Screenplay byRobert Carrington
Based on Fear Is the Key
by Alistair MacLean
Produced by Jay Kanter
Alan Ladd, Jr.
executive
Elliot Kastner
Starring Barry Newman
Suzy Kendall
Cinematography Alex Thomson
Edited by Ray Lovejoy
Music by Roy Budd
Production
company
Kastner-Ladd-Kanter
Distributed by Anglo EMI Film Distributors Limited
Release date
  • 26 December 1972 (1972-12-26)(United Kingdom)
Running time
105 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£541,536 [1]

Fear Is the Key is a 1972 British action thriller film directed by Michael Tuchner and starring Barry Newman and Suzy Kendall. [2] It is based on the 1961 novel of the same title by Alistair MacLean. It was the feature film debut of Ben Kingsley. The soundtrack is by Roy Budd.

Contents

Plot

John Talbot is talking on radio to a woman and a man who is flying a plane. He hears them being machine gunned to death by another plane.

Some time later, Talbot appears in a small town in Louisiana, where he starts a fight with some local police. He is arrested and faces trial, where it is revealed he is wanted for killing a policeman and robbing a bank. Talbot escapes from the courtroom, shooting another policeman and kidnapping a woman, Sarah Ruthven.

A car chase ensues. Talbot and Sarah meet up with a mysterious man, Jablonsky, who reveals that Sarah is the daughter of an oil millionaire.

Jablonsky turns Talbot and Sarah over to Sarah's father. A man working for him, Vyland, hires Talbot for an unspecified task. Jablonsky is retained to guard Talbot. It is then revealed that Jablonsky and Talbot know each other and have arranged the whole scenario for an unspecified reason.

Late at night, Talbot sneaks out of the house and travels to an oil platform to search for something. When he returns he sees Vyland's henchmen burying something – it is Jablonsky's body.

Talbot then sneaks into Sarah's room and makes a confession: all the events up until the present time are part of a scheme. The brawl in the town was to get Talbot into court. The shootout in court was faked; Talbot shot the policeman with blanks. Sarah was invited there deliberately so she could be kidnapped. Everything was set up to get Talbot and Jablonsky into the house. Talbot says her father used his money for a stake in a salvage operation but didn't know about Vyland, and that Sarah and her father are in danger, especially after the death of Jablonsky. Talbot asks Sarah for her help, although he won't say what his plan is or what is going on.

Talbot is hired to operate a submersible for an unspecified project. He goes to an oil platform with Sarah, Ruthven, Vyland, Royale and Larry. Talbot deliberately delays the launch of the submersible.

Larry begins to suspect Talbot and pulls a gun on him but falls off the platform and dies. With Sarah's help, Talbot then kills another of Vyland's men. He calls for help from the mainland but the authorities cannot fly to the platform because of the storm. He is forced to enter the submersible with Vyland and Royale.

The submersible approaches the wreck of a Douglas DC-3. Vyland admits to Talbot he is looking for cargo. Talbot says he knows what the cargo is – over $80 million in uncut diamonds. Talbot then switches off the oxygen and tells Vyland and Royale they will die in six minutes.

Talbot says the diamonds were a payment from the Colombian government to buy arms during a revolution. They hired a plane from a small airline, Talbot's, but it was shot down by people who knew what was on the flight. Talbot says the plane contained his brother, his wife and his 3-year-old son. He has planned his revenge over three years.

Talbot tells Vyland and Royale he is willing to die on the ocean floor beside his family. He asks who ordered the destruction of the plane. Vyland confesses it was him, which is heard by Talbot's associates on the oil platform via microphone. Royale shoots Vyland dead. He then confesses to killing Jablonsky. Talbot turns on the oxygen and returns to the surface.

Cast

Production

The novel was published in 1961. [3] Film rights were bought by producer Elliott Kastner who had filmed a number of MacLean novels. [4] Kastner set up the project at EMI Films. MacLean wrote the scripts for the two earlier Kastner films, When Eight Bells Toll (1966) and Where Eagles Dare (1968) and but was too busy to do the script for Fear is the Key so the job went to Robert Carrington. [5]

Filming took place in mid 1972. The car chase was choreographed by Carey Loftin, who had worked on Vanishing Point (1971) which also starred Barry Newman (and which Newman thought was why he may have been cast in Fear is the Key)[ citation needed ]. Newman said he enjoyed making the movie: "I thought the character that I played was a lovely character for the kind of film it was, an Alistair MacLean story." [6]

In July 1972 Paramount Pictures announced they acquired rights to distribute in the Western hemisphere. [7]

Reception

Critical

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The latest in the prolific series of Alistair MacLean screen adaptations proves to be a brisk and cleverly plotted thriller with enough narrative surprises to compel interest right to the clifihanging finish, and to justify the makers' potentially reckless decision to place their most effective set-piece – a 20-minute allstops-out car chase – right at the beginning of the film. Script and characterisation are fairly rudimentary, but the pressure-cooker intensity of Barry Newman's acting makes him the perfect protagonist in a revenge story, while for director Michael Tuchner the film is a distinct advance on his earlier thriller, Villain." [8]

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 3/5 stars, writing: "Satisfying action thriller ... An excitingly staged car chase gets things off to a cracking start and Newman makes a convincingly hyped-up hero." [9]

Leslie Halliwell said: "Reasonably absorbing, surprise-plotted thriller." [10]

Box office

The film was a box office disappointment in the US but performed better in Europe. [11] It was one of the most popular movies of 1973 at the British box office. [12] [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alistair MacLean</span> Scottish writer (1922–1987)

Alistair Stuart MacLean was a Scottish novelist who wrote popular thrillers and adventure stories. Many of his novels have been adapted to film, most notably The Guns of Navarone (1957) and Ice Station Zebra (1963). In the late 1960s, encouraged by film producer Elliott Kastner, MacLean began to write original screenplays, concurrently with an accompanying novel. The most successful was the first of these, the 1968 film Where Eagles Dare, which was also a bestselling novel. MacLean also published two novels under the pseudonym Ian Stuart. His books are estimated to have sold over 150 million copies, making him one of the best-selling fiction authors of all time.

<i>Where Eagles Dare</i> 1968 film by Brian G. Hutton

Where Eagles Dare is a 1968 action adventure war thriller spy film directed by Brian G. Hutton and starring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood and Mary Ure. It follows a Special Operations Executive team of men attempting to save a captured American General from the fictional Schloß Adler fortress, except the mission turns out not to be as it seems. It was filmed in Panavision using the Metrocolor process, and was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Alistair MacLean wrote the screenplay, his first, at the same time that he wrote the novel of the same name. Both became commercial successes.

<i>Robbery</i> (1967 film) 1967 British film by Peter Yates

Robbery is a 1967 British crime film directed by Peter Yates and starring Stanley Baker, Joanna Pettet and James Booth. The story is a heavily fictionalised version of the 1963 Great Train Robbery. The film was produced by Stanley Baker and Michael Deeley, for Baker's company Oakhurst Productions.

Elliott Kastner was an American film producer, whose best known credits include Where Eagles Dare (1968), The Long Goodbye (1973), The Missouri Breaks (1976), and Angel Heart (1987).

<i>Hell Drivers</i> 1957 British film by Cy Endfield

Hell Drivers is a 1957 British film noir crime drama film directed by Cy Endfield and starring Stanley Baker, Herbert Lom, Peggy Cummins and Patrick McGoohan. It was written by Endfield and John Kruse, and produced by the Rank Organisation and Aqua Film Productions. A recently released convict takes a driver's job at a haulage company and encounters violence and corruption.

<i>Fear Is the Key</i> (novel) 1961 novel by Alistair MacLean

Fear Is the Key is a 1961 first-person narrative thriller novel by Scottish author Alistair MacLean.

<i>Sword of Sherwood Forest</i> 1960 British film by Terence Fisher

Sword of Sherwood Forest is a 1960 British Eastman Color adventure film in MegaScope directed by Terence Fisher and starring Richard Greene, Peter Cushing, Niall MacGinnis and Sarah Branch. Greene reprises the role of Robin Hood, which he played in The Adventures of Robin Hood TV series 1955–1959. It was produced by Sidney Cole and Greene for Hammer Film Productions.

<i>Harper</i> (film) 1966 film by Jack Smight

Harper is a 1966 American mystery thriller film directed by Jack Smight from a screenplay by William Goldman, based on the 1949 novel The Moving Target by Ross Macdonald. The film stars Paul Newman as Lew Harper, with a cast that includes Lauren Bacall, Julie Harris, Arthur Hill, Janet Leigh, Pamela Tiffin, Robert Wagner, and Shelley Winters.

<i>Seven Days to Noon</i> 1950 British film by John Boulting and Roy Boulting

Seven Days to Noon is a 1950 British political thriller film. It was directed by John and Roy Boulting and it starred Barry Jones.

<i>Seawitch</i> 1977 novel by Alistair MacLean

Seawitch is a novel written by the Scottish author Alistair MacLean. It was first released in the United Kingdom by Collins in 1977 and later in the same year by Doubleday in the United States.

<i>The Way to Dusty Death</i> 1973 novel by Alistair MacLean

The Way to Dusty Death is a thriller novel written by Scottish author Alistair MacLean. It was originally published in 1973. The title is a quotation from the famous soliloquy in Act 5, Scene 5 in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth.

<i>Caravan to Vaccarès</i> 1970 novel by Alistair MacLean

Caravan to Vaccarès is a novel by author Alistair MacLean, originally published in 1970. This novel is set in the Provence region of southern France. The novel was originally written as a screenplay for producer Elliot Kastner.

<i>When Eight Bells Toll</i> (film) 1971 film directed by Étienne Périer

When Eight Bells Toll is a 1971 action film directed by Étienne Périer and starring Anthony Hopkins, Jack Hawkins, Robert Morley, and Nathalie Delon. Set in Scotland, it is based upon Scottish author Alistair MacLean's 1965 novel of the same name. Producer Elliott Kastner planned to produce a string of realistic gritty espionage thrillers to rival the James Bond series, but the film's poor box office receipts ended his plans.

<i>Breakheart Pass</i> (film) 1975 film by Tom Gries

Breakheart Pass is a 1975 American Western film that stars Charles Bronson, Ben Johnson, Richard Crenna, and Jill Ireland. Based on the 1974 novel of the same title by Scottish author Alistair MacLean (1922–1987), it was filmed in north-central Idaho.

<i>The Hostage Tower</i> 1980 American television film

The Hostage Tower is a 1980 American spy and thriller television film starring Peter Fonda and Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and directed by Claudio Guzmán, well known for his work in sitcoms. It is based on a story by Alistair MacLean. A book based on MacLean's story by John Denis was the first in the series of UNACO books.

<i>Dancing with Crime</i> 1947 British film by John Paddy Carstairs

Dancing with Crime is a 1947 British film noir film directed by John Paddy Carstairs, starring Richard Attenborough, Barry K. Barnes and Sheila Sim. A man hunts down the killer of his lifelong friend.

<i>Fortune Is a Woman</i> 1957 British film by Sidney Gilliat

Fortune Is a Woman is a 1957 black and white British-American film noir crime film directed by Sidney Gilliat and starring Jack Hawkins and Arlene Dahl. The screenplay was by Gilliat and Frank Launder, from an adaptation by Val Valentine of the 1952 novel Fortune is a Woman by Winston Graham. Its plot concerns an attempted insurance fraud that goes badly wrong.

<i>The Brain</i> (1962 film) 1962 British-German film by Freddie Francis

The Brain, also known as Vengeance and Ein Toter sucht seinen Mörder, is a 1962 UK-West German co-production science fiction thriller film directed by Freddie Francis and starring Anne Heywood and Peter van Eyck. It was written by Robert Banks Stewart and Philip Mackie adapted from the 1942 Curt Siodmak novel Donovan's Brain. In this film, differing from earlier adaptations, the dead man seeks his murderer through hypnotic contact with the doctor keeping his brain alive.

<i>Puppet on a Chain</i> (film) 1970 British film based on the 1969 novel

Puppet on a Chain is a 1970 British thriller film directed by Geoffrey Reeve and starring Sven-Bertil Taube, Barbara Parkins and Alexander Knox. It is based on the 1969 novel Puppet on a Chain by Alistair MacLean.

Fear Is the Key may refer to:

References

  1. Moody, Paul (2018). EMI Films and the Limits of British Cinema. Palgrave MacMillan. p. 115.
  2. "Fear Is the Key". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  3. Ring, Frances. (Nov 5, 1961). "Bravado Gets Workout". Los Angeles Times. p. A21.
  4. Johnstone, Jain. (Dec 17, 1972). "War Is Hell, but It Pays Off for MacLean: War Pays Off for MacLean War Pays Off for MacLean War is Hell, but It Pays Off for Alistair". Los Angeles Times. p. 1.
  5. Webster, Jack (1991). Alistair MacLean: A Life. Chapmans. p. 140.
  6. "AN INTERVIEW WITH BARRY NEWMAN (PART 3 OF 3)". Money Into Light.
  7. "Paramount gets distribution rights to film". Calgary Herald. 28 July 1972. p. 29.
  8. "Fear Is the Key". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 40 (468): 9. 1 January 1973 via ProQuest.
  9. Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 312. ISBN   9780992936440.
  10. Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 340. ISBN   0586088946.
  11. DAVID LEWIN (May 11, 1980). "Alistair MacLean's Eiffel Tower Drama". The New York Times. p. D37.
  12. Harper, Sue (2011). British Film Culture in the 1970s: The Boundaries of Pleasure: The Boundaries of Pleasure. Edinburgh University Press. p. 270. ISBN   9780748654260.
  13. Swern, Phil (1995). The Guinness book of box office hits. Guinness Publishing. p. 192.