Taglines: In the world of spying and dying, love is the ultimate weapon.
The Next Man movie storyline. Sean Connery has come to the United Nations with a controversial proposal to bring peace to the Middle East: He announces that Saudi Arabia will recognize Israel and invite it to become a non-producing member of the oil cartel. This will obviously not do; too many nations have a stake in the Middle East status quo, and a Secret Service man, glumly observes that Connery came to the United States as a C-minus security risk and has just promoted himself to an A-plus.
Connery exists in the midst of danger with the sort of serenity he brought to the James Bond role, and it’s here that the movie rises about its plot. He was a student in New York many years ago, we learn; the first thing he does is take a sightseeing tour by helicopter, and before long he’s quoting Sen. Everett Dirksen, of all people, and going down to a little place in the Village that sells good eggplant. He’s an amiable eccentric.
Miss Sharpe, on the other hand, is a cool customer. She gets her orders: Infiltrate Connery’s security net, allow him to fall in love with her and then wait for further instructions. Since she’s a ranking international beauty along the lines of Faye Dunaway (which the photography does everything possible to emphasize,) catching Connery’s eye isn’t difficult.
She’s good company, too, and she comes from the right family. Her father was the US ambassador to Great Britain – just like Gregory Peck, who gave us the spawn of the devil in “The Omen” (1976). Must be quite a job. She went to the right schools, speaks a bunch of languages, skis well and even plays a decent game of backgammon. “You’re playing too fast,” she complains to Connery at one point. “My father taught me,” he explains, “and he didn’t have much time.”
After Connery’s UN speech inspires an international furor, he spirits Miss Sharpe away to a little hideaway in the Bahamas, where their idyll is interrupted only by a team of hit men Connery and Miss Sharpe have no trouble wiping them out, of course, and then it’s back to New York for the showdown. We know that sooner or later Miss Sharpe will be told to kill Connery, but when the movie arrives at its crucial moment, it’s as confused as everything else.
The Next Man (also known as The Arab Conspiracy or Double Hit) is a 1976 American political action thriller film starring Sean Connery, Adolfo Celi, Cornelia Sharpe, and Charles Cioffi. Critical reaction at its opening was not positive. Music for the film features New York City guitarist Frederic Hand, as well as the film score debut for composer Michael Kamen.
The Next Man (1976)
Directed by: Richard C. Sarafian
Starring: Sean Connery, Cornelia Sharpe, Albert Paulsen, Adolfo Celi, Marco St. John, Ted Beniades, Charles Cioffi, Jaime Sánchez, Roger Serbagi, Salem Ludwig, James Bulleit, Armand Dahan
Screenplay by: David M. Wolf, Morton S. Fine, Richard C. Sarafian, Alan Trustman
Production Design by: Gene Callahan
Cinematography by: Michael Chapman
Film Editing by: Aram Avakian, Robert Q. Lovett
Costume Design by: Anna Hill Johnstone
Set Decoration by: Robert Drumheller
Art Direction by: Stuart Wurtzel
Music by: Michael Kamen
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Allied Artists Pictures
Release Date: November 10, 1976
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