Innocent Bystanders (film)

Innocent Bystanders is a 1972 spy thriller directed by Peter Collinson that was filmed in Spain and Turkey. It stars Stanley Baker and Geraldine Chaplin. The screenplay was written by James Mitchell based on his novel The Innocent Bystanders 1969. Mitchell had previously written several John Craig spy thrillers under the name James Munro.

Roger Greenspun was dissatisfied with what he termed the general inconsequence that the script evokes. However, Greenspun expressed that Chaplins performance was so reticent and so appealing as to constitute a small personal triumph. She is granted the films only moments of quiet intelligence. She fills these moments with delicate intimacy that contrasts with everything else in the film that really does suggest a reservoir of feeling to oppose the lives around her that are wasted in mere action. Time magazine noted the standout performances of Donald Pleasence as the Head of British Intelligence and Vladek Sheybal as a minor agent.

Source: Wikipedia