Istanbul Express (1968 TV Movie)
8/10
Burke's law on the Orient Express to Istanbul
5 March 2018
Gene Barry became world famous by the television series in the 60s "Burke's Law", where he was the womanizing detective who always got his man but for some reason always happened to very odd crimes in weird circumstances, like a kind of James Bond without the violence and extreme crooks but with a slightly more morbid slant instead. This film is like one of those 45-minute TV-shows but made into a full feature and set on a thrilling journey through Europe to Istanbul with complications, of course, he even misses his train at one risky station, ending up a failure in Istanbul and almost getting killed for it. All Burke's girls are with him on this journey and he kisses them all, and of course there is a lot of champagne and whisky and lobsters and what not for the smoking luxury.

It's great entertainment, though, and especially the music is terrific. The plot is clearly fashioned somewhat on Bond's "From Russia with Love" and also "Casino Royale", but there is no plagiarism, only variations. You don't object to anything, especially not against the only crook in the plot, who is the lovely Senta Berger; so it's a nice thriller to pass an evening with never to see again, - like just another of those Burke girls.
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