Iron-jawed British actor Stanley Baker was "considered" for James Bond... ironically he resembles Sean Connery and starred in HELL DRIVERS that a young Connery began in...
Skip over a decade later, after a now-legendary Connery left the role, Baker starred in a movie so Bondish that, by hearing the flauntingly jazzy, repetitive score, you'd think INNOCENT BYSTANDERS was yet another 007 entry...
Including power-hungry villains, led by the most famous of Bond foes, Donald Pleasence, danging a carrot to lesser corporate heavy Dana Andrews...
The first who Baker's agent/assassin John Craig works for, sent on what's basically a suicide mission to retrieve a Jewish scientist, making the action-packed scenes where he's in the dark the best...
And ITALIAN JOB director Peter Collinson wields enough signature 1970's zooms to put a dozen Kung Fu flicks to shame... BYSTANDERS even includes a few karate fights between "Craig" and scene-stealing mercenary couple Darren Nesbitt and Sue Lloyd, who call him "old man" and needed more overall screen-time...
Instead, the INNOCENT character in Geraldine Chaplin's mousy ingenue, conveniently kidnapped and along for the ride, from England to Turkey, slows both the pace and Baker's no-nonsense tough guy, who ultimately becomes so pitifully vulnerable, anyone expecting daring-do adventure from a daring-do adventurer will soon tire of the poor guy getting captured, and recaptured.
