Le Serpent (1973)

Le Serpent is a French thriller film first released in 1973, directed by Henri Verneuil.  The film stars Yul Brynner, Henry Fonda, Dirk Bogarde, Philippe Noiret and Michel Bouquet.  It has also been released under the title: Night Flight from Moscow.  Our overall rating for this film is: good.


On his arrival in Paris, a KGB officer Colonel Vlassov declares his intention to defect to the West.  In the CIA headquarters, he gives away the names of a number of KGB agents who occupy senior positions within NATO.  Before the CIA can take any action, a number of agents are found dead in Germany, ostensibly victims of a purge by the German secret service.  Philip Boyle, agent of the UK intelligence service, passes on the names of two other suspected double agents to Lucien Berthon, assistant director of French counter-espionage.  Berthon becomes the next victim in a carefully calculated game of intrigue.  But who is pulling the strings and what is the objective?

This slick political thriller from Henri Verneuil evokes the mood of the Cold War of the 1960s and 1970s and was inspired by several high-profile real-life incidents, such as the Burgess, MacLean and Philby affair.  Le Serpent features an international cast of some highly regarded actors  including Yul Brynner, Henry Fonda, Dirk Bogarde and Philippe Noiret – something which adds greatly to its appeal and sense of authenticity.  The complexity of the plot is something of a turn off, and sometimes the exposition feels contrived (for instance, the film relies far too much on voiceover to explain what is happening).  Also, the narrative feels uneven and disjointed, with some of the subplots (such as the one featuring Noiret) seems to have been “cut and pasted” from another film.  That said, Verneuil does a good job of maintaining the audience’s interest, through some stylish camerawork and a few impressive set-piece action scenes.

© James Travers 2006

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