Whilst working on a top-secret missile project, research scientist David Garret runs into an old friend from behind the Iron Curtain - now a world chess champion working for mysterious businessman Hubert Marek. The hapless professor of astronomy is shortly to find himself at the centre of a kidnap plan designed to make it appear that he has in fact defected to the Soviet Union... Where Are You Going, Habibi? [Wo willst du hin, Habibi?] *** (2015, Cem Alkan, Martin Walde, Tuncay Gary) – Classic Movie Review 12,725 22 Nov 2023 Wife touched by messages following death of Ian Carmichael". The Whitby Gazette. 11 February 2010 . Retrieved 17 October 2017. In later years, he was heard on BBC radio as Galahad Threepwood, another Wodehouse creation. In the 1970s and 1980s, he played Lord Peter Wimsey in several radio and television series based on the mystery novels by Dorothy L. Sayers. [10]

On the surface, the film plods along as an offbeat, tongue-in-cheek spy thriller. Ian Carmichael's stuffy and uncomfortable-looking astrophysicist is drawn out of his boring existence and into a web of international intrigue, after an encounter with an old friend from the other side of the Iron Curtain leads him into the clutches of an alluring but devious female (played by Janet Munro). A series of increasingly improbable adventures ensues, from which he emerges, at the end, somewhat less stuffy and uncomfortable-looking. (And this was surely the point of it all, to wind up somewhat less stuffy and uncomfortable-looking, as surely as Alan Bates was meant to wind up dancing on the beach with Anthony Quinn at the end of "Zorba the Greek".) Much the same sort of plot one encounters in films such as "Silver Streak" and "Something Wild", both of which were made some years later. The strength of this particular film is the chemistry of its characters. Carmichael's professor develops just enough wit to prevent him from becoming a total bore. Janet Munro is especially engaging as the temptress. Oscar-winner Hugh Griffith is a standout as a rum-drinking, Shakespeare-quoting bargeman. And Curt Jurgens never takes himself too seriously as the villain of the piece. Comedy star Ian Carmichael varied the pace with the 1964 spy thriller film Hide and Seek about a British astronomy research scientist embroiled with international espionage behind the Iron Curtain. Strachan, Alan (8 February 2010). "Ian Carmichael: Actor who played likeable toffs in golden age of". The Independent . Retrieved 17 October 2017.

See also

Nuovo Olimpo **** (2023, Damiano Gavino, Andrea Di Luigi, Luisa Ranieri, Greta Scarano, Aurora Giovinazzo) – Classic Movie Review 12,710 | Derek Winnert on Hamam [Il bagno turco] [Steam: The Turkish Bath] **** (1997, Alessandro Gassman, Francesca d'Aloja, Mehmet Günsür) – Classic Movie Review 12,711

Punch *** (2022, Tim Roth, Jordan Oosterhof, Conan Hayes) – Classic Movie Review 12,723 18 Nov 2023 In the latter half of the 1950s, Ian Carmichael was one of the most popular of British stars, adept in ringing changes on the image of well-meaning, somewhat bumbling young innocent abroad in a corrupt world. Muriel Box gave him his first big film chance by insisting on having him reprise his stage success in Simon and Laura (1955), as the frazzled young TV producer dealing with temperamental stars.

Hide And Seek

Ian Carmichael - one of British cinema's most accomplished character actors and immortalised in the television role of P.G. Wodehouse's genial upper-class bumbler Bertie Wooster - heads a strong cast in this comedy Cold War thriller. Before the war, Carmichael left his family business in Hull to attend the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and to sing in talent contests at the Hammersmith Palais de Danse. [6] In the years that followed his demobilisation from the British Army in 1947, Carmichael worked mostly on stage. In 1949 he toured for seven months in The Lilac Domino, in which he was half of a comedy double act with Leo Franklyn. He played the part of Otto Bergmann in a West End revival of Wild Violets, then appeared in several revues. One which began at the Lyric, Hammersmith, in 1951, moved into the West End as The Globe Revue of 1952, and later that year Carmichael was the song-and-dance star of High Spirits at the Hippodrome Theatre. Further revues followed. [7] Ian Carmichael". Britmovie.co.uk. Archived from the original on 19 October 2009 . Retrieved 20 March 2009.

Paradise *** (1991, Melanie Griffith, Don Johnson, Elijah Wood, Thora Birch) – Classic Movie Review 12,702 | Derek Winnert on Le Grand Chemin [The Grand Highway] **** (1987, Anémone, Richard Bohringer, Antoine Hubert, Vanessa Guedj, Christine Pascal, Pascale Roberts) – Classic Movie Review 12,701 He is commemorated with a green plaque on The Avenues, Kingston upon Hull. [13] Personal life Wartime RemembranceAstrophysicist David Garrett finds himself embroiled in an international game of espionage. In possession of valuable knowledge, he is ably assisted by the beautiful Maggie. This sixties era B-film used to appear occasionally on late-night TV, but in recent years seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth. It deserved a better fate. Beyond the Walls [Hors les murs] **** (2012, Matila Malliarakis, Guillaume Gouix, David Salles) – Classic Movie Review 12,724 21 Nov 2023 Old Bromsgrovian and veteran actor Ian Carmichael has died". Bromsgrove School. Archived from the original on 17 July 2013 . Retrieved 15 July 2013. With the outbreak of the Second World War, his acting career was interrupted by service with the Royal Armoured Corps as a commissioned officer in the 22nd Dragoons. He served in the Normandy campaign, losing the tip of one finger in an accident with the turret hatch of a Valentine tank, and reached the rank of major before returning to civilian life in 1947. [5] Career

Carmichael was born in Kingston upon Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. [2] The son of an optician, [3] he was educated at Scarborough College in North Yorkshire and Bromsgrove School in Worcestershire, [3] before training as an actor at RADA. He made his stage debut as a robot at the People's Palace in Mile End, East London in 1939. [4] Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries: The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club ( 4 episodes) as Lord Peter Wimsey Hamam [Il bagno turco] [Steam: The Turkish Bath] **** (1997, Alessandro Gassman, Francesca d’Aloja, Mehmet Günsür) – Classic Movie Review 12,711 | Derek Winnert on Nuovo Olimpo **** (2023, Damiano Gavino, Andrea Di Luigi, Luisa Ranieri, Greta Scarano, Aurora Giovinazzo) – Classic Movie Review 12,710 After a run of hit farces, Carmichael commendably tried to vary the pace with this comedy spy-thriller about a British astronomy research scientist, David Garrett (Carmichael), who meets a friend from Communist overseas, gets embroiled with femme fatale Maggie (Munro), and is then plunged deep in involvement with a defection scam and international espionage behind the Iron Curtain.

Reviews & comments

It's pretty much a comedy espionage caper, imagine if the 39 steps were rewritten with a single comedy element.