A Man Could Get Killed

• Directed by Ronald Neame
• March 25, 1966 (US)
• Based on David Esdaile Walker’s 1953 novel Diamonds for Moscow (later American title Diamonds for Danger)

An American arrives in Lisbon on behalf of a bank and is mistaken for a dead agent’s replacement on a secret mission concerning a fortune in missing industrial diamonds.

A Man Could Get Killed is a humorous spy caper starring James Garner as banker William Beddoes. The drive of the story is that Beddoes is caught up in events that he has no idea about and no desire to participate in. The gag for his character is that no matter what he says or does nobody believes him.

Garner with his easy charm and almost folksy delivery that hid a bit of cynicism helps to anchor this comedy. He brings a frustrated performance bordering on resignation to his performance. His Beddoes is caught up and in true Garner fashion he just gives in to solving the mystery just to get out of it.

In the movie there are two spy stories running parallel to each other. One involves Beddoes while the other involves American smuggler Steve Antonio (Tony Franciosa) posing as a Portuguese smuggler trying to get work with the British embassy. Both contribute to the total film while weaving in and out of each other.

Normally, this would be irritating to me because it is an indication that there wasn’t enough single-story in either to make a film yet both contribute enough to each other and are strong enough on their own that together they make something very entertaining. It is a rare instance of the choice working.

What’s interesting about A Man Could Get Killed is it’s not only humorous but it’s a genuine caper and a mystery that needs to be solved. There are red herrings and clues and most every question when asked gets an answer as they solve them. This isn’t action heavy but delves deeper into the comedy with each narrative getting a romantic subplot as well. What it does well is lay out little bits and pieces along the way that become important when looked at correctly such as a character’s name being confused with something else with it also serving as a joke.

Aurora Celeste (Melina Mercouri) is a comedic femme fatale who is Beddoes’ love interest. Mercouri had excellent comedic timing. She generates real laughs with her expressions and wordplay while providing a capable foil. Mercouri knew how to deliver a line or use a look to emphasize the humor or sell a moment.

Franciosa is in on the joke and plays his character like he is running a con the whole time. Every word and sentence is trying to steer whoever in a certain direction. Franciosa has an energy that is a sharp contrast yet not incompatible to that of Garner.

Sandra Dee as Amy Franklin is a spunky, intelligent woman who is simply trying to land her man (Steve) who she’s been obsessing over since the age of 10. That kind of gets forgotten about it as she happily joins in the action. She forces herself into the situation while arriving at events on pure coincidence.

The plot strikes a nice balance between the serious and the comedic with it framed as more fun than thriller yet never lacks for a sense of danger or genuine threats. The jokes often land. It’s not simply silly but actually funny though not joke after joke. Though made sixty years ago it remains probably as enjoyable today as it was back then because it doesn’t delve too much into specific politics of the time giving it an almost timeless nature. Clothing of the time and a few other things aside this could easily happen today.

The important cast is kept quite small. We have really four main players interacting with a number of often unnamed characters who come and go quite quickly. The villains are barely crafted with the focus being on their plot and stopping it though their reveal is funny with an almost British comedic sensibility.

Never does A Man Could Get Killed overstay its time. It squeezes just enough out of the story before wrapping things up. The script is witty with almost screwball logic to it all but it never goes into overt force. It’s not a parody of the spy thriller or even the superspy genre which was alive and well at the time with the chemistry of the two pairs of couples.

A Man Could Get Killed was a previously unknown gem to me. The only problem is that as of this writing, it wasn’t available anywhere on streaming though there are questionable copies on YouTube and it is available for physical purchase.