Charlie Muffin
Encyclopedia
Charlie Muffin is a 1979 made-for-TV film
based on the novel Charlie M
by Brian Freemantle
. In the U.S.
, the picture was later re-released under the title A Deadly Game.
A Euston Films
production, the movie features David Hemmings
, Sir Ralph Richardson
, Sam Wanamaker
, Pinkas Braun
, Ian Richardson
, Shane Rimmer
and Jennie Linden
and was directed by Jack Gold
.
espionage
thriller follows the moves of British
anti-hero
spy
Charlie Muffin (Hemmings) who has fallen on hard times since the retirement of Sir Archibald Willoughby, his previous boss at the U.K.
secret service
(played by Sir Ralph Richardson). His new boss Sir Henry Cuthbertson (Richardson), who epitomizes the haughty upper class British imperialist, hardly attempts to conceal his disdain for the under-educated agent who quite obviously doesn't stem from the "right class". Right at the start of the film, we witness how Charlie has evidently been deemed expendable and accordingly gets set up to be caught or killed during a joint mission in East Germany — this despite Muffin essentially having been responsible for the mission's success. Cuthbertson's lap-dog agents Snare and Harrison are shocked and embarrassed to see Muffin returning alive and well.
Once home in the UK, Muffin's humiliation doesn't end, as he gets demoted and put on leave, which he spends with his wife Edith (Linden), but not until after a hilarious take on the obligatory spy agent—secretary-receptionist affair.
Next, a classic yet utterly unpredictable spy story unfolds around British and U.S. attempts to facilitate a safe defection of high-ranking Soviet
General Valery Kalenin (Braun). The CIA's boss Ruttgers (Wanamaker) proves not much smarter and ultimately equally officious and presumptuous as his British counterpart, though in a distinctly — satirically — American way. After Harrison and Snare's spectacular downfalls at the task (one ends up dead trying to escape and the other captured), Ruttgers' aide Braley (Rimmer), a chubby, good-hearted but docile sideshow official, is assigned to join Muffin on a trip to Moscow
, to liaise with Kalenin.
Will Kalenin's defection succeed? Will Charlie once again be set up? Will he be able to escape alive and well this time? It is not until the very last minutes of the film that we find out.
Sir Ralph Richardson
Sam Wanamaker
Pinkas Braun
Ian Richardson
Shane Rimmer
Jennie Linden
Clive Revill
Christopher Godwin
Tony Matthews
Donald Churchill
Rohan McCullough
A major strong point of Charlie Muffin is the very solid and convincing performances by its actors; something that isn't always seen with made-for-TV movies (and, for that matter, silver screen films). Without being as brainy as films like Memento, the story of Charlie Muffin still calls for an attentive audience to best enjoy it. Since the end of the cold war however, the realism of the film's Cold War background is no longer readily appreciated or even something that a younger audience will notice. Despite extensive use of satirical humor in the film, and despite its spy thriller storyline, it does, with its anti-hero Muffin, have its uplifting moments. The film has never been very widely shown or known, but some of its fans hold it in very high regard.
cassette box of the HBO Video/Thames Video Collection U.S. video release of the film (as A Deadly Game) wrongly states that it was General Bernkov who wished to defect. (Berenkov is a Soviet agent who gets captured and interviewed by Muffin at the start of the film.)
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
based on the novel Charlie M
Charlie M
Charlie M is a spy thriller novel written by Brian Freemantle. The book was published in 1977 and was filmed in 1979 as Charlie Muffin....
by Brian Freemantle
Brian Freemantle
Brian Harry Freemantle is an English thriller writer. He was born June 10 1936, in Southampton England.In several of his books, information is given on the back cover about Freemantle's actions in Viet-nam, when he was able to rescue, by helicopter,many homeless orphans.He has also written as John...
. In the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the picture was later re-released under the title A Deadly Game.
A Euston Films
Euston Films
Euston Films was a British film and television production company. It was a subsidiary company of Thames Television, and operated from the 1970s to the 1990s, producing various series for Thames, which were screened nationally on the ITV network...
production, the movie features David Hemmings
David Hemmings
David Edward Leslie Hemmings was an English film, theatre and television actor as well as a film and television director and producer....
, Sir Ralph Richardson
Ralph Richardson
Sir Ralph David Richardson was an English actor, one of a group of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who, though more closely associated with the stage, also appeared in several classic films....
, Sam Wanamaker
Sam Wanamaker
Samuel Wanamaker was an American film director and actor and is credited as the person most responsible for the modern recreation of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London...
, Pinkas Braun
Pinkas Braun
Pinkas Braun was a Swiss film actor. He appeared in 70 films between 1954 and 2002.He was born in Zürich, Switzerland and died in Munich, Germany.-Selected filmography:* The Puzzle of the Red Orchid...
, Ian Richardson
Ian Richardson
Ian William Richardson CBE was a Scottish actor best known for his portrayal of the Machiavellian Tory politician Francis Urquhart in the BBC's House of Cards trilogy. He was also a leading Shakespearean stage actor....
, Shane Rimmer
Shane Rimmer
Shane Rimmer is a Canadian actor and voice actor, probably best known as the voice of Scott Tracy in Thunderbirds.He has mostly performed in supporting roles, frequently in films and television series filmed in the United Kingdom, having relocated to England in the late 1950s, initially performing...
and Jennie Linden
Jennie Linden
Jennie Linden is an English film and television actress.Linden was born in Worthing to Marcus and Freida Fletcher, an architect and housewife. She attended the Central School of Speech and Drama at the age of 17 on a scholarship...
and was directed by Jack Gold
Jack Gold
Jack Gold is a British film and television director. He was part of the British Realist Tradition that followed Free Cinema.-Career:...
.
Plot
The Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
thriller follows the moves of British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
anti-hero
Anti-hero
In fiction, an antihero is generally considered to be a protagonist whose character is at least in some regards conspicuously contrary to that of the archetypal hero, and is in some instances its antithesis in which the character is generally useless at being a hero or heroine when they're...
spy
SPY
SPY is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* SPY , ticker symbol for Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts* SPY , a satirical monthly, trademarked all-caps* SPY , airport code for San Pédro, Côte d'Ivoire...
Charlie Muffin (Hemmings) who has fallen on hard times since the retirement of Sir Archibald Willoughby, his previous boss at the U.K.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
secret service
Secret service
A secret service describes a government agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For instance, a country may establish a secret service which has some...
(played by Sir Ralph Richardson). His new boss Sir Henry Cuthbertson (Richardson), who epitomizes the haughty upper class British imperialist, hardly attempts to conceal his disdain for the under-educated agent who quite obviously doesn't stem from the "right class". Right at the start of the film, we witness how Charlie has evidently been deemed expendable and accordingly gets set up to be caught or killed during a joint mission in East Germany — this despite Muffin essentially having been responsible for the mission's success. Cuthbertson's lap-dog agents Snare and Harrison are shocked and embarrassed to see Muffin returning alive and well.
Once home in the UK, Muffin's humiliation doesn't end, as he gets demoted and put on leave, which he spends with his wife Edith (Linden), but not until after a hilarious take on the obligatory spy agent—secretary-receptionist affair.
Next, a classic yet utterly unpredictable spy story unfolds around British and U.S. attempts to facilitate a safe defection of high-ranking Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
General Valery Kalenin (Braun). The CIA's boss Ruttgers (Wanamaker) proves not much smarter and ultimately equally officious and presumptuous as his British counterpart, though in a distinctly — satirically — American way. After Harrison and Snare's spectacular downfalls at the task (one ends up dead trying to escape and the other captured), Ruttgers' aide Braley (Rimmer), a chubby, good-hearted but docile sideshow official, is assigned to join Muffin on a trip to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, to liaise with Kalenin.
Will Kalenin's defection succeed? Will Charlie once again be set up? Will he be able to escape alive and well this time? It is not until the very last minutes of the film that we find out.
Cast
David HemmingsDavid Hemmings
David Edward Leslie Hemmings was an English film, theatre and television actor as well as a film and television director and producer....
Sir Ralph Richardson
Ralph Richardson
Sir Ralph David Richardson was an English actor, one of a group of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who, though more closely associated with the stage, also appeared in several classic films....
Sam Wanamaker
Sam Wanamaker
Samuel Wanamaker was an American film director and actor and is credited as the person most responsible for the modern recreation of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London...
Pinkas Braun
Pinkas Braun
Pinkas Braun was a Swiss film actor. He appeared in 70 films between 1954 and 2002.He was born in Zürich, Switzerland and died in Munich, Germany.-Selected filmography:* The Puzzle of the Red Orchid...
Ian Richardson
Ian Richardson
Ian William Richardson CBE was a Scottish actor best known for his portrayal of the Machiavellian Tory politician Francis Urquhart in the BBC's House of Cards trilogy. He was also a leading Shakespearean stage actor....
Shane Rimmer
Shane Rimmer
Shane Rimmer is a Canadian actor and voice actor, probably best known as the voice of Scott Tracy in Thunderbirds.He has mostly performed in supporting roles, frequently in films and television series filmed in the United Kingdom, having relocated to England in the late 1950s, initially performing...
Jennie Linden
Jennie Linden
Jennie Linden is an English film and television actress.Linden was born in Worthing to Marcus and Freida Fletcher, an architect and housewife. She attended the Central School of Speech and Drama at the age of 17 on a scholarship...
Clive Revill
Clive Revill
Clive Selsby Revill is a New Zealand-born British character actor best known for his performances in musical theatre and on the London stage.-Early life and stage career:...
Christopher Godwin
Christopher Godwin
Christopher Godwin is a British actor who has been active since the late 1960s.He made his TV debut at the age of 25, when he took on the role of PC Grange in an episode of Softly, Softly...
Tony Matthews
Tony Matthews
Dr Tony Matthews is an Australian author and historian.Born in Swansea, South Wales, United Kingdom he emigrated to Australia in 1972. He worked for television for several years working for both the Seven Network and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
Donald Churchill
Rohan McCullough
A major strong point of Charlie Muffin is the very solid and convincing performances by its actors; something that isn't always seen with made-for-TV movies (and, for that matter, silver screen films). Without being as brainy as films like Memento, the story of Charlie Muffin still calls for an attentive audience to best enjoy it. Since the end of the cold war however, the realism of the film's Cold War background is no longer readily appreciated or even something that a younger audience will notice. Despite extensive use of satirical humor in the film, and despite its spy thriller storyline, it does, with its anti-hero Muffin, have its uplifting moments. The film has never been very widely shown or known, but some of its fans hold it in very high regard.
Trivia
The VHSVHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
cassette box of the HBO Video/Thames Video Collection U.S. video release of the film (as A Deadly Game) wrongly states that it was General Bernkov who wished to defect. (Berenkov is a Soviet agent who gets captured and interviewed by Muffin at the start of the film.)