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Scorpio (1973)
Rate:
9
Viewed:
6/19
6/19:
Burt Lancaster once answered a question about the difference between him and Paul Scofield, "I'm a movie star. He's a great
actor."
I have to disagree with him because he's both a movie star and a great actor.
From Here to Eternity should erase any
doubt of his thespic abilities. To be honest with you, I've never seen Burt Lancaster give a bad performance in any film.
At the age of 58, Burt Lancaster performed all of his stunts in Scorpio as he ran through the construction site,
jumping on and off platforms and climbing ladders, and made a two-part 20-foot fall. Alain Delon proved to be game for it,
too. They're excellent as their characters, Cross and Scorpio, respectively.
Far ahead of the time, it predates Patriot Games by nineteen years for shooting scenes
inside the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. It's a deliberately paced espionage picture that spans four countries: United States,
England, France, and Austria. Many things happen during the deadly cat-and-mouse game between Cross and Scorpio with CIA
agents, and people die unexpectedly.
Funnily, Alain Delon, an international star, thought it was going to be the opposite situation as soon as the production team
moved to Vienna after seeing Burt Lancaster be mobbed by fans in Virginia and Washington, D.C., but to his disappointment, it
turned out to be more of the same for Burt over there.
All in all, armed with great performances and a labyrinthine plot that's filled with twists, turns, crosses, and double
crosses, Scorpio should delight all fans of
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold.