1966's "Some May Live" was an espionage picture shot entirely at Britain's Twickenham studios, apart from a few location scenes that feature none of the principal actors. Speaking of the cast, top billed Joseph Cotton has a rather thankless role as Colonel Woodward, head of US intelligence in Saigon, his top decoder, Kate Meredith (Martha Hyer), confessing that she has been passing on top secret information to her war correspondent husband John (Peter Cushing), who in turn delivers it to Viet Cong agent and drug dealer Philip Ducrai (Alec Mango). The Merediths have been living in Saigon for ten years, and John's belief that he's doing the right thing is so strong that Kate has willingly cooperated with him until now, concerned only for the safety of her son Allan (Kim Smith). Providing a love triangle is Captain Elliott Thomas (John Ronane), whose love for Kate convinces her to help him when Ducrai questions her loyalty to the cause, following John's departure for Red China. Both convoluted and simple minded, the intrigue just isn't very intriguing, except when Peter Cushing is on screen, the actor's innate qualities making it difficult to see him as a villain, though one who cares about his son, telling him that he'll grow up to be a great man someday. Martha Hyer has the toughest role, John Ronane the most inane, while Cushing is so good that he makes the proceedings quite believable, ultimately let down by screenwriter David T. Chantler, who previously did yeoman work on Cushing vehicles "Cash on Demand" and "She." As for director Vernon Sewell, he went on to do what Cushing long considered his worst film, 1967's "The Blood Beast Terror," as well as Boris Karloff's "The Crimson Cult," but no director could have made a silk purse out of this sow's ear. Frequently seen on the airwaves into the 1980s, it's only now beginning to make a resurgence after a lengthy absence.
Review of Some May Live
