Tom Jolliffe takes a look back at The Fourth Protocol, a surprisingly little known cold war era spy film packed with espionage pedigree…
The Cold War era spanned from post Second World War until the beginning of the 90s. There was a perpetual feeling of political unease from America, spanning across Europe, with the looming worry of the Soviet Union as a potential superpower. Though the predominant tension was coming from East vs West, America vs the Russians, the run off effected all between, as the rising worry of World War 3 (and chilling prospect of Nuclear Armageddon) kept everyone on edge. Still, despite all that tension, there was a run off… in cinema. In the 60s, through to the 80s in particular there was a distinctly prolific output of cold war era infused thrillers. So much espionage and underground battles to maintain the fragile peace existing between two nations. Even when the cinema wasn’t coming directly from the US, the rest of Europe were delivering all manner of espionage films, often with the looming threat of Russian hostile takeovers.
In the 60’s these were predominantly spy films. James Bond even dealt with Russian enemies, having to keep operations of world saving espionage on the down low. So many spies and so many times the world was saved with mere mortals often blissfully unaware. If it wasn’t Russia, it was a continued tension stemming from a divided Germany, or communist states. Freedom was to be protected. By the 80s, it was less subterfuge and far more overt. Whether Red Dawn or Invasion USA, the takeover was in your face, hostile and when it came to Chuck Norris, the hero was an all American superman taking down those pesky Russians with a bazooka. Rambo became the poster child for Reagan era politics.
In the late 80’s, James Bond was in the middle of a Timothy Dalton lead reinvention. It didn’t go entirely to plan. Meanwhile, the taut kind of slow burning espionage film, most popular in the 60s, had been on the wane. Step forward, The Fourth Protocol. The film was very much a 60’s throwback. Based on the novel by Frederick Forsyth, this had the literary pedigree for sure. Forsyth’s works have proved inherently popular for cinema adaptation, most famously with Day of The Jackal and The Odessa File. The director to helm the project was John Mackenzie. Mackenzie, a highly respected British veteran had an impressive track record and a penchant for stylish cinema. His most famous work, The Long Good Friday may not have dealt in espionage, but dealt assuredly with subterfuge, violence and hostile takeovers, as a London gangster’s empire is chipped away by an I.R.A faction. His ability to put assured style over gritty subject matter and hard hitting punctuations of violence, made him a perfect choice.
Then we come to the cast. Michael Caine was well versed in the world of spies in the bureaucratic process of espionage. He’d played Harry Palmer, the spy who has to fill out paperwork and deal with the political mechanisms of rival agency departments in The Ipcress File. Bond this was not. Then you have a future James Bond. Pierce Brosnan had been deemed too young for the role of 007, prior to Dalton taking the part. Fate would swing back around to Brosnan in the early 90’s of course. Brosnan was well established thanks to Remington Steele, where his sharp suited debonair charm made him a natural candidate for Bond. Ironically here, he plays a Russian soldier and KGB poster boy. He’s given a special assignment, which as it transpires is to collect parts in the UK to construct an Atomic bomb and detonate it. It’s an act of war, but as with that era of subterfuge, will be pinned on another nation and little more than a nefarious tool for a political power move within the KGB. For good measure we get Lalo Schifrin as composer whose impressive CV also happened to include the spytastic, Mission Impossible series.
The film’s impressive cast is rounded out by Joanna Cassidy and Ned Beatty. Now…here’s one of the contentious aspects. Despite a cast top heavy with Russian characters, not a one, sounds remotely Russian. Most carry a British accent (or American in Beatty’s case). That wasn’t something new, and we still have that in films now, but it does become a little jarring. In Brosnan’s case, his soldier says very little on Russian soil, but poses a British businessman once UK side, allowing him to put on an RP accent. The film bubbles nicely, building the requisite levels of tension and enigma. It looks fantastic too, shot in scope by Phil Meheux (The Long Good Friday, Casino Royale). Schifrin’s score is suitably atmospheric too.
Mackenzie manages to keep lingering tension on the simmer and the cast are good. Caine is atypically charismatic. Interestingly, Caine was on board as a producer with big aspirations for the picture. His own view on the film could well tie in with what audiences of the time thought. The film had too much talking. He described it as a talking picture and not a moving picture. There is an element of truth to that, though Mackenzie’s ability visually convey rising tension certainly enlivens proceedings. The sparse moments of action do carry weight too, and it all builds to a finale with punching moments of violence. The Fourth Protocol might not be the best espionage film out there, but has enough in its stellar cast and concept to make it an intriguing watch. Certainly, it’s impeccably put together and it seems a little unfortunate that this just didn’t find much audience. It’s not particularly been widely rediscovered either. However, given the film comes from the pages of a Forsyth pot boiler and features the star of a Len Deighton spy classic, and future star of Ian Fleming’s James Bond, it seems strange that even a niche audience with a predilection for spy thrillers, haven’t picked this one up in bigger numbers. Not yet anyway…
Have you seen The Fourth Protocol? Underrated, or rightly consigned to a forgotten back alley of cinema history? Let us know on our social channels @flickeringmyth…
Tom Jolliffe is an award winning screenwriter and passionate cinephile. He has a number of films out on DVD/VOD around the world and several releases due out in 2021/2022, including, Renegades (Lee Majors, Danny Trejo, Michael Pare, Tiny Lister, Nick Moran, Patsy Kensit, Ian Ogilvy and Billy Murray), Crackdown, When Darkness Falls and War of The Worlds: The Attack (Vincent Regan). Find more info at the best personal site you’ll ever see here.
