The Chairman (1969)

When Nobel-winning scientist Hathaway (Peck) receives a strange letter, the last place he expects it to lead him is into Communist China â?" as a spy! Sent to decode a formula that could save millions, Hathaway has no idea whom he can trust, and no assistance. Worst of all, his handlers haven't told him that the transmitting device implanted in his head is also a bomb. And if things get too hot, they're prepared to detonate!

Curious Film - Long Unavailable

I can't think of another thriller where a living world leader was depicted onscreen, not using stock footage like Day of the Jackal or Hennessey, but by an actor. Perhaps that's why this film vanished for decades. (Or that may have been due to the hero's humanist impulses.) In any event, this is still worth watching and the picture looks great on the DVD.
The commentary track is the same guys as several of these 60s era thrillers and they do a good job. (Although a fair amount of time is taken up instructing us that Mao was a bad guy.) But they also seem to think the picture's scenes set in China are documentary evidence of the country at the time and not, in fact a Western entertainment's take on it. (As they tell us themselves -- some of this footage was shot in Scotland!)
October 7, 2007

Great film and superb extras

It was great to see this film get the five star treatment it deserves. The deleted scenes, especially the ones for 'overseas' countries are fantastic. The audio commentary is both informative and entertaining.
A must have DVD for any fan of 60s cinema and Gregory Peck. Now if only Fox will release Hard Contract (1969) with James Coburn... May 26, 2007

Best of Genre

Gregory Peck was without peer as a convincing actor who always brought something special to every role he played.

Here, he was a renowned scientist, pretending to know more about hybrid plant species than he did. This helped him in a role of deception so that he could unlock a secret from an enemy (Red-China) that would neutralize their ability to have an undue and unbelievable influence on third world nations struggling to feed themselves.

What Peck's character did not know was that people in his own governmment,(the USA) were not telling him everything about his covert mission and what he did not know could have killed him.

An exciting film about a very nervous time in our recent history. March 25, 2007

Opportunity, oppression and an explosive opportunity

We are in the middle of the cold war. Too bad because we ar also victims of increasing population and decreasing farmland.

Looks like Professor Soong Li (Keye Luke, of Charlie Chan fame) has invented an enzyme to produce extra cheap food. Unfortunately he is behind the iron curtain in Red China. The formula cannot come out so someone capable of understanding it must go in; Dr. John Hathaway (Gregory Peck) a scientist with scruples.

Naturedly incase he can not get out they fitted his head with a micro-transmitter so he could relay the formula. They seem to have forgotten to tell him the transmitter was also a bomb large enough to take out anyone standing near.

We see how ruthless and conniving the red's are and how they humiliate Soong Li for being a professor.

Should we take revenge and a perfect opportunity as Dr. John Hathaway stands next to the Chairman (Conrad Yama?)
January 15, 2007

Kaleidoscopic Cold War Epic

Well it is not entirely an epic but it certainly is bizarre. This film has great potential as a somewhat conventional spy film with a few experimental eavesdropping gadgets thrown in for good measure. Yet director J. Lee Thompson puts his own distinctive stamp on it making it a frenzied and often unsettling kaleidoscopic affair. It is taut, suspenseful and often defies credibility and that is what makes it so much fun and very entertaining. Gregory Peck and Arthur Hill are as stoic as ever and it is good to see actress Anne Heywood show up in this film. One of the highlights of this film is Jerry Goldsmith's incredible score. It is amazing how he intuitively puts such great effort at times into modest production's that aspire or beg for some added dimension to enhance the film. In all this is a very interesting and entertaining look at China during the height of the Cold War era. Great packaging on this DVD by the way.
January 3, 2007

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