A terrific Frederick Forsyth plot and impressive production values make this thriller eminently watchable, even if veteran director Ronald Neame lets the pace drag and the length feels excessive. The often undervalued Jon Voight gives a superb performance as the journalist tracking down a concentration camp commandant, his quest hindered at every turn by members of the sinister Odessa organisation. There are several splendid moments, notably a nasty grilling of Voight by slimy Noel Willman, but Derek Jacobi is wasted and female lead Mary Tamm is inadequate, while Maximilian Schell is far too sympathetic for the villain. One expects a little more from a screenplay co-written by former intelligence expert George Markstein, who was also the script editor for the cult TV series The Prisoner.

Following the suicide of an elderly Jewish man, investigative journalist Peter Miller sets out to hunt down an SS Captain and former concentration camp commander. In doing so he discovers that, despite allegations of war crimes, the former commander has become a man of importance in industry in post-war Germany, protected from prosecution by a powerful organisation of former SS members called Odessa.