The Assassination Bureau

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The Assassination Bureau
Directed by Basil Dearden
Produced by Michael Relph
Written by Robert L. Fish (novel)
Jack London (unfinished novel)
Michael Relph
Wolf Mankowitz (additional dialogue)
Starring Oliver Reed
Diana Rigg
Telly Savalas
Curt Jurgens
Cinematography Geoffrey Unsworth
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date(s) March 10, 1969 (UK)
Running time 110 min.
Country Flag of United Kingdom United Kingdom
Language English
IMDb profile

The Assassination Bureau is a tongue-in-cheek film made in 1969 based on an unfinished novel, The Assassination Bureau, Ltd. by Jack London. It stars Oliver Reed, Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas, and Curt Jurgens.

Whereas London's original novel was set in the USA, this film is set in Europe.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

London, the early 1900s: aspiring journalist and women's rights campaigner, Sonia Winter (Rigg) uncovers an organization which specialises in killing for money, the Assassination Bureau Limited. Thinking to bring about its destruction, she commissions the assassination of the bureau’s own chairman Ivan Dragomiloff (Reed).

Far from being outraged or upset, Dragomiloff is amused and intrigued and accepts the commission. The guiding principle of his bureau, founded by his father, has always been that there was a moral reason why their victims should be killed. More recently though, his colleagues have tended to kill more for financial gain than for moral reasons.

With Miss Winter in tow, Dragomiloff sets off on a tour of Edwardian Europe, challenging the members of his board of directors: kill him or he will kill them! Little do they realise that this is in fact a plot by Miss Winter's sponsor, newspaper publisher Lord Bostwick (Savalas), to take over the bureau and plunge Europe into war.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] See also

[edit] External link

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