Telefon

Telefon is a 1977 spy film, starring Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence and Lee Remick. It was directed by Don Siegel (of Dirty Harry fame). It is based on a 1975 novel with a mind control theme by Walter Wager.

Plot summary

During the Cold War of the 1950s, the powerful Soviet Union of Russia planted a number of long-term, deep-cover sleeper agents all over the United States, spies so thoroughly brainwashed that even they didn\'t know they were agents; they could only be activated by a special code phrase (a line from Robert Frost\'s poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"). Their mission was to sabotage crucial parts of the civil and military infrastructure in the event of nuclear war.

Over twenty years pass, and the Cold War gradually gives way to Détente. Nikolai Dalchimsky (Donald Pleasence), a rogue KGB officer, travels to America, taking with him the Telefon Book, which contains the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all the "Sleeper Agents". He starts activating them one by one. The form of "Mind Control" utilized by Nikolai Dalchimsky in Telefon, is actually very similar to the "Psychotronic Mind Control" utilized in Project MK-Ultra, where the Mind Control Victim had been subliminally programmed, within the subconscious mind, and any \'trigger\' word, number, colour, or sound then activates the Programming of the subject. In Telefon, American counterintelligence is thrown into confusion when seemingly-ordinary citizens (even a clergyman) start blowing up what are, in some cases, long-abandoned facilities.

The KGB dares not tell its political leaders, much less the Americans, about its negligence in deactivating the spy network. Major Grigori Borizov (Charles Bronson), who is selected for his photographic memory, memorizes the contents of the only other copy of the Telefon Book and is sent to find and stop Nikolai Dalchimsky quickly and quietly, before the politicians on either side learn what is going on and either embarrass the KGB or start a full scale nuclear war. He is given the assistance of only a single agent planted in America, Barbara (Lee Remick).

Eventually, Major Grigori Borizov discovers the method behind Dalchimsky\'s madness: he is choosing the \'Sleeper Agents\' he psychotronically activates by the initials of their names, "writing" his own name in sabotage across America. Using this information, Borizov is finally able to track Dalchimsky down and kill him.

However, there are a number of twists. Barbara has orders from the KGB to assassinate Borizov once he succeeds in his mission, in order to get rid of a dangerous loose end. She is a double agent, but when she informs her American superiors, they also tell her to kill Borizov; they want her to gain the confidence of the KGB. However, she has fallen in love with her would-be target. She informs Borizov, and together they blackmail both sides into leaving them alone, holding the threat of the remaining Telefon agents over their heads.

Production

As parts of the film were shot in Finland, there are several cameo appearances by Finnish movie stars, most notably Ansa Ikonen, arguably the most popular leading lady in the history of the country\'s cinema.

The city skyline depicting Houston, Texas in the film is actually Great Falls, Montana, where the majority of the film was shot. The exploding building in one scene is actually the controlled demolition of the old Paris Gibson Junior High School in Great Falls.

The Houston scenes were shot on a Hollywood backlot, while the interior of the Houston Hyatt Regency was portrayed by 5 Embarcadero Center in San Francisco, California.

See also

• The Manchurian Candidate
• The Simultaneous Man

External links

• Telefon at the Internet Movie Database
• Telefon at All Movie Guide
• Telefon at the TCM Movie Database

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