The Chairman

In 1969, Red China was a dark and mysterious place, closed to the outside world, in the grip of the cultural revolution, and run by the charismatic Mao, Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party. When American scientist and Nobel Prize winner John Hathaway receives a letter from a former mentor now living in China, he is asked by his government to make a visit. His old teacher may have invented an enzyme that allows crops to be grown anywhere.Gregory Peck is gruffly realistic as Hathaway, scientist and aging former intelligence asset. His handler is a General Shelby, played with bureaucratic starchiness by Arthur Hill. Shelby, at the head of a combined US, British, and Soviet operation, dispatches Hathaway into China with a micro-transmitter emplanted in his head.Upon arrival in China, Hathaway is graced by an audience with the Chairman himself, an intriguing political set-piece. Hathaway finds his mentor in a remote rural compound near the Russian border, where the old man is under siege by the fanatical Red Guard. When Hathaway suspects Chinese security is closing in, he will make a try for the enzyme formula and a break for the border. The thrilling escape sequence is made all the more suspenseful for the audience by the knowledge, not shared by Hathaway, that Shelby will not let his agent be taken alive.The Cold War theatrical effects of "The Chairman" look slightly overdone at this distance of time, as does the effort to portray Hathaway as both spy and humanitarian. However, the location shooting in China is grittily authentic and recreates the claustrophobic atmosphere of a revolution out of control. The Chairman's meeting with Hathaway is stagey but contains a key philosphical point. Hathaway's escape attempt holds up extremely well as a thrilling action sequence. "The Chairman" is therefore highly recommended as a dated but still worthwhile Cold War thriller.

The Chairman (aka The Most Dangerous Man in the World) starts off with an amazing photomontage title sequence by Paul Brown Constable dealing with overpopulation and the rise of the Red Guard in Mao's China accompanied by the increasingly strident tones of Jerry Goldsmith's superb score that sets the scene for a much better film than you get. Any hope of a serious political thriller is quickly lost as soon as Arthur Hill's cycloptic general turns up and it turns out the bug implanted in Gregory Peck's skull is also a bomb. What you get instead is a fairly glossy, fashionably cynical shot-on-location thriller that briefly touches on humanistic issues in a couple of scenes before getting back to the spy stuff that's neither James Bond nor John Le Carre but pure Hollywood hokum in the 60s mould. Ironically, although the producers harboured the notion of filming in China in a monumental fit of delusion, it was the Hong Kong and Taiwanese authorities that really objected to the subject matter (as either too defamatory or deferential to Mao as the prevailing mood would have it). J. Lee Thompson's direction is occasionally visually ambitious, but seems to have suffered in the editing, with several very obvious edits to alternate takes interrupting what were clearly intended as continuous camera moves. It's a shame that Fox's DVD is the US version, relegating the racier scenes to the extra features - who'd have thought there'd ever be a movie with Gregory Peck having his trousers undone by a naked woman on her knees?Fox have done an excellent job on this DVD - aside from a good 2.35:1 transfer and trailer, it also includes two alternate scenes and a 17-minute promotional cutdown of the feature (clearly put together before the climax was shot and featuring Burt Kwouk's own voice - in the feature he's dubbed by Robert Rietty) that includes some deleted footage. There's also a historical audio commentary that could have benefitted from a little more time in the archives and a selection of trailers for other recent Fox titles such as The Quiller Memorandum, the Flint films and Deadfall.

In having seen the movie, "The Chairman," with Gregory Peck, I was somewhat impressed with how it was played out as a typical spy-fiction motion picture. I would also admit to being amused by the performance of Gregory Peck among others, like Conrad Yama, as the VERY AWFUL Communist leader of China, Mao Tse-tung, the late Chairman himself. I also knew that it was based on a novel that led to the film which was produced by Arthur P. Jacobs, the man responsible for the unforgettable science-fiction classic, "Planet of the Apes," along with its sequels and the franchise that it became ever since. All in all, "The Chairman" had some interesting moments along with the way the ideas of the film from 1969 were well-conceived, too.In the final analysis, I can only give it three stars because the movie was somewhat less than desirable like the way most spy-fiction movies of the past had turned out in terms of the production values, acting performances, and even some amusing visual elements as well.

A bit of context...This wasn't a good time in Peck's career, with his own age and the current times catching up to him. The Vietnam War was im high gear, with the accompanying cynicism on full display here. The secret mission is SO McGuffin, I wish they'd scrapped it alltogether.I can almost imagine a very young Warren Beatty doing this, if the dialogue were a bit better ; it would definiely make the sexually charged scenes less contrived (and I'm no prude but some of that was terribly written). The pacing is slow and the ending feels pasted on. It's middlebrow, at best.There are some bright spots...The score is good. Not Goldsmith's best, but it makes the opening credit sequence interesting and works overtime injecting some (deserately) needed emotion.If you're a Peck fan, you'll find this too cringeworthy to watch AND believe it within the first 10 minutes. His acting is still top-drawer and he's very swoon-worthy.I was a bit shocked to discover this was directed by J. Lee "Guns of Navarone" Thompson.This is an obscure Cold War oddity; strictly for fans and cultists.

The Chairman on Fox Cinema Classics - explosive thriller which runs on a long long fuse with excellent Gregory Peck on a mission in China to get a secretive formula.More talking than action, no James Bond spectacle but still a rewarding experience and overall satisfying thriller.The picture quality on this Reg 1 DVD is simply outstanding and at times I was sure I was watching a Blu Ray and the movie makes stunning use of 2.35 (21:9) widescreen Panavision.WHY today's TVs are in the ratio of 16:9 when the majority of all movies are in the ratio of 21:9 is a truely annoying and incomprehensible situation. It means all such movies are reduced in size on the screen and their widescreen impact is lost. People are spending hundreds of pounds on equipment for that 'home cinema' experience and then having to make do with a TV that is incapable fulfilling the needs.The DVD includes alternate scenes showing a tiny amount of nudity and very slightly erotic implication in a bedroom scene - why these were not included in the main release is baffling. Maybe in 1969 the UK viewing audience was thought not capable of tolerating such 'sordid and depraved' scenes!!I don't understand the £19 charge for it at the time of writing as my purchase through Amazon was only £5 plus p & p so wait till a similar priced one comes along. The movie satisfies 90 mins very pleasantly. KAN

This review is for the Cinema Classics Collection 20th Century Fox NTSC version. A fine Widescreen 2.35.1 good picture and sound with Extras (Trailers/Commentary/Minifilm on "Making of"), and a very reasonable price make this a worthwhile purchase. The story (like "Arabesque" which I felt was a very disapointing film) is hard to believe. How did the the Chinese never hear the transmitting device? There are other holes in the plot, but really perhaps you should go with the flow and just enjoy. It's a bit talky, even preachy in places, but there is action and some suspense. A word of praise for Alan Dobie. By doing very little-just watch his face-he steals virtually every scene he is in. Which is more than can be said for Anne Haywood. The fact she gets 2nd top billing is a disgrace (tho no fault of hers)-she is in the film for no more than 4 mins I would say, so if you are a fan-beware!. All in all - Not a bad thriller. Just not a great one. (Oh-the blurb at the top is the originaql U/K title-Better or Not??)

I love it

all ok

this is one of those unexpected gems that turns up only now and again on tv.gregory peck gives a good performance to an unlikely story and makes it convincing.what more could you ask for,its entertainment for one of those wet sunday afternoons,switch off your brain and enjoy.