“Telefon”
Movie Review
Don Siegel's 1977 spy movie Telefon features Charles
Bronson, Lee Remick, and Donald Pleasence. Based on Walter Wager's 1975 novel,
the screenplay by Peter Hyams and Stirling Silliphant was written.
Following the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Soviet Union
infiltrated the United States with several long-term, deep-cover sleeper
operatives who were so completely indoctrinated that even they were unaware of
their status as spies. Only the agent's genuine first name and a specific code
phrase—a passage from Robert Frost's poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy
Evening"—can activate them. In the case of conflict, their goal was to
disrupt critical facets of the military and civic infrastructure.
After more than 20 years, detente progressively replaces
the Cold War. A renegade employee of the KGB's headquarters named Nikolai
Dalchimsky leaves for America with the Telefon Book, which lists the names,
residences, and phone numbers of all the sleeper operatives. One by one, he
starts turning them on. When seemingly normal folks begin detonating buildings
that were previously crucial but are now worth next to nothing, American
counterintelligence is confused. The agents either commit suicide or pass away
while doing the deed.
The KGB is afraid to inform its political leaders—much
less the Americans—about its carelessness in failing to shut down the
surveillance network. The only other copy of the Telefon Book is memorized by
KGB Major Grigori Borzov, who was chosen in part because to his photographic
memory. Borzov is then assigned to find and halt Dalchimsky covertly before
either side realizes what is occurring and perhaps ignites a conflict. Only
Barbara, a lone spy who was placed in America years ago, is available to help
Borzov.
After some time, Borzov discovers the strategy behind
Dalchimsky's pattern of attacks: by selecting the agents based on the initial
letters of their American hometowns, he was sabotaging the country while
"writing" his own name. As a result, Borzov is able to predict
Dalchimsky's next chosen agent and ends up killing Dalchimsky.
There are, however, many surprises. To eliminate a
potentially hazardous loose end, Barbara has orders from the KGB to murder
Borzov after he succeeds. She is also a double spy who is truly working for
America. She tells Sandburg, her American boss, who also advises her to
assassinate Borzov in order to win the KGB's trust. Barbara, on the other hand,
has fallen in love with her intended victim. She notifies Borzov, and the two
of them use the threat of the remaining Telefon agents to blackmail each side
into leaving them alone.
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