Main Cast: Rod Steiger, Lee Remick, Richard Johnson, Trevor Howard, Eric Porter
Release Year: 1975
Country: UK
Run Time: 107 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Actor Richard Johnson wrote the original story for this taut suspense drama that stars Rod Steiger as Niall Hennessy, a man who plans to blow up the British Parliament in retaliation for the accidental death of his family in Belfast. Johnson plays Scotland Yard-inspector Hollis, an expert in the struggles of Ireland, who under Commander Rice (Trevor Howard) attempts to locate Hennessy. Hennessy has journeyed to London with a plan to substitute himself for MP Burgess (Hugh Moxey) and, wiring himself up as a human bomb, to destroy the British power structure. In a twist, IRA leader Tobin (Eric Porter), realizing that the explosion will lead to more British repression on Northern Ireland, also travels to London to try to kill Hennessy before he can explode his bomb. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
Hennessy is a moderately engaging thriller with a stand-out performance by Rod Steiger that almost makes you want to forgive the incredible loopholes in the plot. Unfortunately, those loopholes are far too big for even Steiger's talent to erase from memory. Almost all thrillers of this sort need to stretch credulity a bit in order to ante the tension. Most of the time, we're willing to forgive this, because the pay-off if worthwhile. But the exchange is far too lopsided with Hennessy, which asks us time and again to believe that the main character's plot succeeds due to unbelievable coincidences and because a police inspector doesn't think to pick up the phone and alert others to the fact that a mad man is about to destroy the entire English government. It doesn't work. But Steiger works, and beautifully. This is not one of his "look at me" performances, full of sound and fury. Although it has plenty of big moments, for the most part it's more introverted, more interior. We see a lot more going on inside the character, and it's truly lovely work. The rest of the cast is talented and tries hard, but they don't really register. But Steiger does, and in this case that's enough to push Hennessy -- just barely -- over the mark. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Peter Egan - Williams; Ian Hogg - Gerry; Stanley Lebor - Hawk; John Hallam - Boyle; Patrick Stewart - Tilney; David Collings - Covey; John Shrapnel - Tipaldi; Oliver Maguire - Mick; Margery Mason - Housekeeper; Hugh Moxey - Burgess M.P.; Paul Brennan - Maguire
Credit
Bert Davey - Art Director, Gerry Crampton - Coordinator, Barry Langley - First Assistant Director, Don Sharp - Director, Eric Boyd-Perkins - Editor, John Scott - Composer (Music Score), Ray Simm - Production Designer, John Stoll - Production Designer, Ernest W. Steward - Cinematographer, Samuel Z. Arkoff - Producer, Peter Snell - Producer, Simon Wakefield - Set Designer, Gerry Humphreys - Sound/Sound Designer, Leslie Hammond - Sound/Sound Designer, Gerry Crampton - Stunts, Johnson - Screen Story, John Gay - Screenwriter, Richard Johnson - Short Story Author
