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The Internecine Project
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Wikipedia article
'The Internecine Project' is a 1974 British thriller film written by Mort W. Elkind, Barry Levinson, and Jonathan Lynn, directed by Ken Hughes and starring James Coburn and Lee Grant.
Plot
Set in London in the early 1970s, it tells the story of former secret agent Robert Elliot who is being promoted to a government advisor. To eliminate any ties to his past, Elliot devises and carries out a clever plan in which his four former associates will unwittingly kill each other on the same night.
Elliot's four associates are:
*'A'lex Hellman: A civil servant who has fed Elliot government information.
*'B'ert: A masseur who has also given Elliot information from his industrialist clients
*'C'hristina: A high-class prostitute who has given Elliot information from her clients.
*'D'avid Baker: A research scientist who appears to have benefited from Elliot's fund in producing a weapon which uses sound to kill.
The intricate plot is broadly summarised as follows: Christina plants David Baker's own device in his home on a timer. When Baker returns, it goes off before he can stop it - apparently looking like an accident. Earlier in the evening, Baker had substituted Alex Hellman's insulin (Hellman being diabetic) with a lethal dose. Hellman, the last to die, has previously savagely murdered Bert with a hammer, this after Bert has strangled Christina in the shower after her return from Baker's home. With Bert, Christina and Baker all dead - Alex returns home in a state (having never murdered anyone before) and takes his lethal substituted medication. He dies slowly.
One of the film's key points is that Elliot ruthlessly manipulates the four characters using their weaknesses as persuasion. Alex is not only diabetic but is also rather indecisive and lacking in confidence. Bert is a misogynist - and is the only character who needs no persuasion to murder a woman. David is a family man and protective of his children's education. Christine is portrayed as rather naive and will seemingly do anything for Elliot.
In the film's final scene, Elliot is leaving the country - having apparently cleared his dirty past clean away by disposing of his associates. Shortly before leaving his house, he has received a package through the mail. The package contains a notebook. The pages of the notebook contain a message written to Elliot from scientist David Baker. The message informs Elliott that Baker had never really trusted him - and that this package was only to be sent to Elliot in the event of Baker's death (which has just happened). The pages of the notebook have been saturated with a poison Baker had been working on. The poison is absorbed through the skin. The final scene shows Elliot's lifeless body slumped over.
Cast
* James Coburn as Robert Elliot
* Lee Grant as Jean Robertson
* Harry Andrews as Albert Parsons
* Ian Hendry as Alex Hellman
* Michael Jayston as David Baker
* Christiane Krger as Christina Larsson
* Keenan Wynn as E.J. Farnsworth
* Terence Alexander as Business tycoon
* Philip Anthony as Eliott's secretary
* Julian Glover as Arnold Pryce-Jones
* Mary Larkin as Jean's secretary
Production
The film was made by British Lion, then run by Michael Deeley. Deeley wrote in his memoirs that it and another movie, 'Who?' were financed the same way: half the costs coming from a US deal with Allied Artists, the other half coming from a German tax shelter deal. "In terms of cinema history, neither film is important," wrote Deeley, but he took pride in how they were financed saying "such clever means were the only way to keep British Lion alive."
In her memoirs, Lee Grant called it "a really flimsy film" where "the script was no more than a sixteen page outline, but the money was good and my co star was James Coburn, an actor I admired and wanted to play with."
During filming Grant admitted the film "is a switch for me." She said she did it because she and her husband were about to adopt two children and also because "I thought the picture would be a really great party - a come-as-you-are party because I don't have to put fake wrinkles on as I normally do. My only regret is that I'm breaking my image playing a sexy lady."Movies: Unlovable image of a prickly pro
Mills, Bart. Chicago Tribune 10 Feb 1974: e16.
Reception
The 'Los Angeles Times' called it "sardonic and interesting".Coburn, Grant in Suspense Thriller
Thomas, Kevin. Los Angeles Times 20 Sep 1974: f9.
'Filmink' argued the movie needed extra twists.
TV Guide says- "Although it has a nice thriller plot line, THE Internecine Project, like the plan, is less than perfect in execution".[https://www.tvguide.com/movies/the-internecine-project/review/2000273992/ The Internecine Project at TV Guide]
References
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