Plot: Cross (Burt Lancaster) is an experienced assassin for the CIA who decides he’s quitting the business. When he announces his intentions, however, the CIA decides they’d rather have him dead than retired. They assign Scorpio (Alain Delon), a French assassin whom Cross has mentored for years, to do the job. A complicated game of cat and mouse follows, during which Cross relies on his many contacts and years of experience to elude the man he’s taught everything he knows.
Sadly, this isn’t the origin of the iconic villain from The Simpsons, instead Burt Lancaster and Alain Delon star in this 1973 potboiler from Death Wish director Michael Winner.
If you go into Scorpio expecting an action-packed movie then you’ll be disappointed as the first hour is for the most part pretty slow and I doubt younger audiences would give the film a chance.
Despite the slowburn first half Scorpio still has a few shoot-outs, plenty of suspense, cold war paranoia, and a typically 70’s nihilistic ending. The characters all have shades of grey which personally makes for a more interesting story keeping things unpredictable.
Lancaster and Delon are well cast in their respective roles and there are some nice dialogue moments too. The 70’s were great for movies like this which felt very real and gritty where nothing felt implausible.
The pacing will put many off and a few scenes could have been shortened or cut to help the film flow a little better; it also leaves you with nothing, so it’s not exactly feelgood fare.
Jerry Fielding provides the score which is of the time but still works well for this kind of tale.
I always like reading trivia about movies and this part from IMDb I thought was interesting: “The film crew had to obtain a special authorization before shooting in the CIA building. Burt Lancaster asked Senator John V. Tunney, who then asked a CIA head director to authorize the shooting. Although filming and recording was not allowed in the building, Michael Winner did it anyway. Plus, no identification of any kind was asked for the crew members, but they had to wear badges made by the CIA especially for them, and with a scorpion on them. Those badges had to be destroyed after the shooting.”
Overall, Scorpio is likely too slowburn for many modern viewers and I did find myself wanting to nod off occasionally, but the performances are solid and there is enough action in the second half to make it worth watching, especially the finale.