It Can't Happen to Me - Part 1 of 3

This is a film commissioned by the British government in 1969, made to inform business leaders about the dangers of industrial espionage. Produced at the height of the Cold War, it certainly shows its age! The scene in which an Eastern European Mata Hari-type spy attempts to seduce a stuffy, pin-striped executive has to be one of the funniest things ever filmed. And I don't think they needed to have worried about the Russians too much - given the amount of smoking in this film, I imagine all the leading characters were probably dead from lung cancer within a couple of years of it being shot. Note the name Peter Watkins on the end credit - the same Watkins who directed 'Culloden' and 'The War Game'? I haven't been able to confirm or disprove this.

If you want to add comments, please do so on the page for part 3.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• cold
• war
• industry
• electronics
• industrial
• espionage
• blackmail
• government
• information
• propaganda
• smoking
• Britain
• 1960s