Movie Type: Unglamorized Spy Film, Psychological Drama
Themes: Haunted By the Past, Traitorous Spies/Double Agents
Main Cast: Donald Pleasence, Tom Conti, Denholm Elliott, Kika Markham, Phoebe Nicholls
Release Year: 1980
Country: UK
Run Time: 81 minutes
Plot
In this Dennis Potter-scripted TV film, Donald Pleasence plays Jason Cavendish, a retired Cambridge professor, who lives in a remote country estate with his second wife (Kika Markham), his daughter (Phoebe Nicholls), and his butler/secretary/confidant (Denholm Elliott). Their sleepy routine is disrupted by the arrival of Daniel Young (Tom Conti), who promptly saves the professor's life when the old man collapses in his garden. The grateful Cavendish invites the strange guest to stay for dinner, and the latter claims to be writing a thesis based on an allegorical book written by the professor many years ago. Soon, however, it becomes obvious that Daniel has a totally different agenda that has something to do with Cavendish's past. The movie's original British title, Blade on the Feather, refers to a line in the Eton Boating Song. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide
