Permission to Kill

Permission to Kill

Company type	Film
Industry	Film industry
Founded	1975
Founder	Cyril Frankel (director), Paul Mills (producer)
Products	Spy thriller film

Permission to Kill, also released under the titles The Executioner and Vollmacht Zum Mord, is a 1975 spy thriller co-produced by Austria, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Directed by Cyril Frankel, the film stars Dirk Bogarde, Ava Gardner, and Bekim Fehmiu, alongside Timothy Dalton, Nicole Calfan, and Frederic Forrest. The production was overseen by Paul Mills, with a screenplay crafted by Robin Estridge. Sascha-Verleih handled production, while distribution was managed by AVCO Embassy Pictures in the United States and Warner Bros internationally. The movie’s score was composed by Richard Rodney Bennett, with cinematography led by Freddie Young.

Plot

Alexander Diakim, who heads the socialist "National Freedom Party," intends to return to his country, currently under fascist rule, to spearhead resistance efforts. The intelligence agency known as "Western Intelligence Liaison" (WIL) assigns agent Alan Curtis the task of preventing Diakim’s return. Curtis assembles a group of five individuals considered 'expendable,' employing bribery, blackmail, and deception to bring them together in Gmunden, Austria.

Among this group is Scott Allison, an American journalist and former acquaintance of Diakim, who attempts unsuccessfully to delay Diakim’s plans. Katina Petersen, Diakim’s former lover and mother of his son—a fact previously unknown to Diakim—is also present. Curtis leverages Petersen into disclosing this family secret and cautions Diakim against trusting Curtis.

Curtis arranges a cruise on the Traunsee to lure Diakim, aiming to convince him either to postpone his return until Western support strengthens or to settle down domestically with Petersen and their child. Diakim remains steadfast in his intentions. Allison identifies the other two group members: Charles Lord, a British civil servant who secured a government loan for Diakim’s party, and Melissa Lascade, a French assassin designated as WIL’s 'last resort' should other strategies fail.

When persuasion proves ineffective, Curtis instructs Lord to offer Diakim $500,000 to abandon his mission. Allison conspires with Lord and Lascade to subvert Curtis: Lord plans to steal the money and pay Lascade, who will deliberately fail in assassinating Diakim. The scheme unravels when Curtis detects the betrayal; Lord is killed while attempting to flee, and Lascade must return the funds.

Despite Curtis’s efforts, Diakim proceeds toward Vienna airport. Allison and Petersen reveal Curtis’s assassination plot; Diakim's entourage provides protection. As he boards his plane, Curtis detonates a bomb hidden inside his briefcase, killing Diakim instantly. Curtis’s operatives kill Lascade and frame her for the murder. After completing his mission, Curtis is shot by Kostas as he departs.

Partial cast

• Dirk Bogarde as Alan Curtis
• Ava Gardner as Katina Petersen
• Bekim Fehmiu as Alexander Diakim
• Timothy Dalton as Charles Lord
• Nicole Calfan as Melissa Lascade
• Frederic Forrest as Scott Allison
• John Levene as Adams
• Klaus Wildbolz as Muller
• Anthony Dutton as Jennings
• Peggy Sinclair as Lily
• Dennis Blanch as Brewer
• Alf Joint as MacNeil
• Vladimir Popovic as Kostas
• Ratislav Plamenac as Pavlos
• Oliver Schott as François
• Erna Riedl as Mme Diderot
• Paul Maxwell as American
• John Serret as Frenchman
• Anthony Forwood as Englishman
• François Baudet as Dr. Giraud
• Bob Sessions as Pete
• Peter Garell as Carlo
• Friedrich Mönnig as Cliff
• Fritz von Friedl as 1st security man
• Erwin Fischer as 2nd security man

Production

Filming took place at the Sievering Studios located in Vienna as well as on-site in Gmunden, Austria.

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin characterized the movie as a suspense thriller that lacked gripping tension, attributing this to the protagonist Diakim's ambiguous political stance. The critique pointed out the unrealistic effectiveness of Curtis and remarked on the film's melodramatic style, while praising Bogarde’s controlled acting and commenting on Gardner’s somewhat antiquated performance approach.