THE BIRDMEN
Starring Doug McClure

This exciting made for television film is of the type that simply isn’t made anymore. As a TV film it is exceptional. As a comparison to a B feature it is quite acceptable. It is known in Europe as OPERATION BRAINDRAIN: CODENAME CHESSBOARD, but I really don’t get where that comes from. The climax of the film involves a daring escape from a WWII Nazi prison camp on the Swiss border and utilizes a glider, so THE BIRDMEN seems very apt!

Doug McClure was an appealing leading man and here he plays an O.S.S. officer whose mission is to escape with a defecting Danish scientist whose knowledge of nuclear physics could alter the outcome of the war. Winding up in a Colditz-type prison, it is imperative that McClure finds a way to escape before the Dane’s real identity becomes apparent to the Nazis, particularly the Gestapo.

Rene Auberjonois plays the Dane. He’s a superb character actor and he does fine work here, allowing McClure to play his hero role straight up. Chuck Connors as the Allied commander who conflicts with McClure is stalwart as always and Richard Basehart, who I have always fancied a poor man’s Richard Burton, is fine as the German kommandant.

The music is very good and all the supporting players acquit themselves well. The action scenes are well handled and the story moves at a clip. For a TV movie, THE BIRDMEN is one of the best of its kind.

Please be advised that some of the tapes Steve carries are of variable quality. The sources he obtains tapes from are sometimes obscure. The more obscure the film the better chance the copy will be of fair to good quality. Such is the case with THE BIRDMEN. The transfer has a few minor gaps in it and is quite grainy, looking like a dub of a dub of a dub, etc. But forewarned is forearmed, and BELLE & BLADE is very up front about this. If you are concerned about the quality of a tape, ask Steve. BELLE & BLADE's return policy is as acceptable as any other dealer.

When a film is as good as THE BIRDMEN, and when you have no other means of obtaining it, then the fair quality of the tape will not be an issue.

Jon Ted Wynne