''The Whistle Blower'' is a 1986 British
spy thriller
Spy fiction is a genre of literature involving espionage as an important context or plot device. It emerged in the early twentieth century, inspired by rivalries and intrigues between the major powers, and the establishment of modern intelligen ...
film directed by
Simon Langton and starring
Michael Caine,
James Fox,
Nigel Havers
Nigel Allan Havers (born 6 November 1951) is an English actor. His film roles include Lord Andrew Lindsay in the 1981 British film ''Chariots of Fire'', which earned him a BAFTA nomination; as Dr. Rawlins in the 1987 Steven Spielberg war drama ...
,
Felicity Dean
Felicity Jane Dean (born 24 January 1959) is a British actress, who is critically acclaimed for her extensive work in film and on stage, including works with, The Royal Shakespeare Company, Al Pacino, HBO, Sir Jonathan Miller and Joseph Lose ...
,
John Gielgud,
Kenneth Colley
Kenneth Colley (born 7 December 1937) is an English film and television actor whose career spans over 60 years. He came to wider prominence through his role as Admiral Piett in the '' Star Wars'' films ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) and '' ...
,
Gordon Jackson,
David Langton, and
Barry Foster. It is based on the 1984 novel of the same name by
John Hale.
Plot
Frank (
Caine) is a retired British naval officer, now runs a small business. His bright but naive and idealistic son, Bob (
Nigel Havers
Nigel Allan Havers (born 6 November 1951) is an English actor. His film roles include Lord Andrew Lindsay in the 1981 British film ''Chariots of Fire'', which earned him a BAFTA nomination; as Dr. Rawlins in the 1987 Steven Spielberg war drama ...
), works as a linguist at
GCHQ, the top secret British intelligence listening station, translating intercepted conversations from behind the
Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...
.
The film opens with footage of the
Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces members who have died in t ...
parade in
Whitehall
Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...
in the present (c. 1985), attended by the Queen
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
, and shows Frank in the crowd, wearing medals, then moves to Bob's flat some months earlier, when Bob tells his father of an upheaval at
GCHQ, where there is evidence of a
Soviet mole
In espionage jargon, a mole (also called a "penetration agent", "deep cover agent", or "sleeper agent") is a long-term spy (espionage agent) who is recruited before having access to secret intelligence, subsequently managing to get into the target ...
, and security is encouraging staff to report on each other, as the leak must be found before their American counterparts find out about it. He tells him that he's planning to leave and marry Cynthia Goodburn (
Felicity Dean
Felicity Jane Dean (born 24 January 1959) is a British actress, who is critically acclaimed for her extensive work in film and on stage, including works with, The Royal Shakespeare Company, Al Pacino, HBO, Sir Jonathan Miller and Joseph Lose ...
) who has a young daughter. Frank isn't pleased. The scene cuts to a room in British Intelligence, where Bruce (
Gordon Jackson) and another are recording their conversation. Frank is warned by an old Navy chum Greig (
Barry Foster), who's now with
MI6
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
, that his business could be ruined by any indiscretion on his son's part.
At their next meeting, which is being secretly monitored, Bob tells his father he is about to reveal what he knows about illegal operations conducted by his department, and after some soul-searching, contacts investigative reporter Bill Pickett (
Kenneth Colley
Kenneth Colley (born 7 December 1937) is an English film and television actor whose career spans over 60 years. He came to wider prominence through his role as Admiral Piett in the '' Star Wars'' films ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) and '' ...
). Shortly afterward, Frank is informed that Bob has died in a rooftop fall, perhaps suicide, but a verdict of accidental death is recorded.
Back at Bob's flat, Frank is confronted by Pickett, but refuses to comment.
In the pocket of his son's jacket is a couple of newspaper clippings — one tells how Cynthia's husband, who ostensibly committed suicide, was a colleague of the convicted spy Dodgson. The other is about the death of Kedge, Dodgson's friend, who fell under a train.
Frank has a meeting with Pickett, who is subsequently killed in an elaborately staged traffic accident. Pickett was on his way to East Grinstead, having organised a rendezvous with Bob's contact and Frank.
At Bob's funeral, Frank is approached by Bob's friend and fellow British intelligence linguist Mark.
Frank learns from Mark that it was his Navy friend Greig who quizzed him about Bob's loyalty.
Frank gets Greig drunk and extracts from him the confession that he was at Bob's flat the night of his death, but did not kill him — his job was only to leave the door open for the strongarm boys. He also reveals the name of the mole as Sir Adrian Chapple.
Leaving Greig in his drunken stupor, Frank is picked up by British Intelligence and driven to a country house, where he is confronted by Secretary to the Cabinet (
David Langton) and Lord (
James Fox). They explain to him that his son was out of control, and was killed to protect a plan to mislead the Americans as to the extent of the depth of Russian intelligence's operatives inside British operations, in the hope that they could continue to gain intelligence from the CIA. They have presently left Chapple in place, until they can assess the extent of the damage caused. They advise Frank that should he go public with any of this information, he or Cynthia and her daughter would be the next to suffer.
The film returns to the present, and the Remembrance Day parade. Frank fronts up to Chapple's Whitehall residence, and being mistaken for a collector for charity, is admitted inside. After being confronted with the facts, Chapple admits to spying for Russia. Frank orders him to write a full confession, which he does, but as Frank is reading it, Chapple produces a gun and demands its return. Frank grabs the gun, which goes off, killing Chapple. Leaving his signed confession, seemingly a suicide note, Frank returns to the parade, joining the marchers.
Cast
*
Michael Caine - Frank Jones
*
James Fox - Lord
*
Nigel Havers
Nigel Allan Havers (born 6 November 1951) is an English actor. His film roles include Lord Andrew Lindsay in the 1981 British film ''Chariots of Fire'', which earned him a BAFTA nomination; as Dr. Rawlins in the 1987 Steven Spielberg war drama ...
- Robert Jones, only referred to as "Bob"
*
John Gielgud - Sir Adrian Chapple, permanent secretary, Ministry of Defence
*
Felicity Dean
Felicity Jane Dean (born 24 January 1959) is a British actress, who is critically acclaimed for her extensive work in film and on stage, including works with, The Royal Shakespeare Company, Al Pacino, HBO, Sir Jonathan Miller and Joseph Lose ...
- Cynthia Goodburn
*
Barry Foster - Charles Greig
*
Gordon Jackson - Bruce
*
Kenneth Colley
Kenneth Colley (born 7 December 1937) is an English film and television actor whose career spans over 60 years. He came to wider prominence through his role as Admiral Piett in the '' Star Wars'' films ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) and '' ...
- Bill Pickett
*
David Langton - Secretary to the Cabinet
*
Dinah Stabb
In the Book of Genesis, Dinah (; ) was the seventh child and only daughter of Leah and Jacob, and one of the matriarchs of the Israelites. The episode of her violation by Shechem, son of a Canaanite or Hivite prince, and the subsequent vengean ...
- Rose
*
James Simmons - Mark, Robert's friend and fellow linguist
*
Katherine Reeve
Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria.
In the early Christ ...
- Tiffany Goodburn, Cynthia's daughter
*
Bill Wallis - Ramsay Charles Dodgson, convicted spy
*
Trevor Cooper
Trevor Cooper (born 21 September 1953) is an English actor.
Background
Born 21 September 1953, Cooper studied law at Kingston Polytechnic and graduated with a master's degree in law from the University of Warwick. He taught for two years at Lon ...
- Inspector Bourne
*
Peter Miles - Stephen Kedge, friend of spy Dodgson
*
David Shaughnessy
David Shaughnessy is an English actor, producer and director best known for his voice-work in '' Big Hero 6'', '' Big Hero 6: The Series'', ''Fallout 4'', ''Labyrinth'', ''Mass Effect'', ''Peter Pan and the Pirates'', ''Star Wars Rebels'', ''Th ...
- Medical officer
*
Patrick Holt
Patrick Holt (31 January 1912 – 12 October 1993) was an English film and television actor.
Biography
Born Patrick G. Parsons in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, Holt spent some of his childhood in India with his uncle, after which he was sent ...
- Irate driver
Production
The film was largely shot on location in
Cheltenham
Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...
,
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
, home of GCHQ, which forms the premise of the film.
Cheltenham Racecourse
Cheltenham Racecourse at Prestbury Park, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, hosts National Hunt horse racing. Its most prestigious meeting is the Cheltenham Festival, held in March, which features several Grade I races including the Chel ...
,
Cheltenham Spa station, Cheltenham Crematorium and the Promenade feature in the film. The London 'tube' murder scene was actually filmed on British Rail's
Waterloo & City Line (which at the time did not run on Saturday afternoons or Sundays so was an accessible location for filming).
Response
Though it was given a limited release, the film opened to positive reviews. It has an approval rating of 89% on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
from 9 reviews.
Rotten Tomatoes
/ref>
Home media
The film was released in Australia on DVD (PAL) by Flashback Entertainment.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whistle Blower, The
1986 films
1980s spy thriller films
British spy thriller films
Cold War spy films
Films set in London
Films based on British novels
Films based on thriller novels
Films about whistleblowing
Films scored by John Scott (composer)
Films directed by Simon Langton
1980s English-language films
1980s British films