SpecialsTarget
Disturbing yet enthralling
Derry Herrera
Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.
Lachlan Coulson
This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.
DKosty123
What I thought I'd see was a tight spy thriller. What I got was something like a step barely above a Barry Newman TV show. It is all shot in Salzberg, Austria and the scenery is perhaps this films most impressive asset. The script and story are slow and plodding.Anna Karina is here a lot, but the script gives her little to make an impression. Of course, Newman does not get a lot from it either. Karen Jensen does not get a lot of script, but the camera makes her figure look like it was ready for prime time in 1972. Amazingly this beauty did not get a lot of exposure.The plot is a box of Nazi papers naming people responsible for some of the horrible things Nazis did during the war. The information is not easy to get, and there are a lot of curves and people after this box. Not a great film, very dull, and it should have been done better.
edwagreen
Very confusing film.If it weren't for the fact that the film takes place after the war, you would recognize the scenery of the buildings in Austria just before the Anschluss of 1938 shown in the wonderful "The Sound of Music."Everyone is after a box filled with names of Nazi collaborators during the war, many of whom could resurface should Nazism ever attempt to take hold once again.The problem with the film is that there are so many sides that you begin to lose track of which side the individuals are.You know you're in for a bumpy ride when both the photographer and the one who allegedly paid him money for the photographs both wind up dead within the first 10 minutes of the film. The bodies invariably begin to pile up.You just don't know or understand where Klaus Maria Brandauer is coming from.
blanche-2
Had it not been for some strong language, I would have tapped "The Salzburg Connection" as a TV movie, but apparently, it had a theatrical release. Based on the book by Helen MacInnes, the film stars Barry Newman, Anna Karina, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Karen Jensen, and Whit Bissell.Newman plays attorney Bill Mathison, who goes to Salzburg to investigate a publishing contract for Richard Brandt, a man photographing Austrian lakes. When he arrives at the man's photo shop, he meets the Brandt's wife (Karina) and her brother Johann (Brandauer).Shortly thereafter, he learns Brandt is dead as is one of Mathison's European contacts. Apparently agents are searching for a chest buried by the Nazis and believed to be in Brandt's possession. It contains the names of Nazi collaborators who can be called upon for neo-Nazi activities. All the countries want it for one reason or another -- the Americans want to know if any of these people have important jobs in the U.S.I remember reading this book and liking it, but I am unclear if I saw this film. The Austrian scenery is glorious, but since this is a Twentieth Century Fox film, I can't believe they filmed in Salzburg without any visual references to Salzburg's major tourist attraction - The Sound of Music tour. Not to mention The Sound of Music postcards and other paraphernalia.The film version is slow and boring, and I couldn't get attached to the characters or their plight.Barry Newman made his name at just the right time, when the antihero types like Pacino were coming to fame, but his career never took off. He always had an air of overconfident playboy about him, but he was certainly popular, and he is still working. He's okay in this. Everyone is okay.I'd say the scenery is the star.
Nazi_Fighter_David
After 'Vanishing Point' and 'Fear Is the Key,' Barry Newman is involved in another auto-chase, but this time with a distinct difference... The baddies, not strictly gangsters but hoodlums with Nazi connections, have kidnapped Anna Karina for some dirty purpose and are driving away with her through busy city streets...Newman, an American lawyer on holiday in Salzburg, finds himself suspected by spies of both sides... He chases the kidnap-car by continually managing to get in front of it (the high speed scenes), then slowing down to cause a traffic jam and attract the attention of the police...Klaus Maria Brandauer makes his film debut here, before his appearance in 'Mephisto,' Oscar Winner for Best Foreign Film in 1981...
