Man in the Red Flannel Suit - The Chairman

The Chairman is a real oddity. Released in 1970, this cold war artifact stars Gregory Peck as a Dr. John Hathaway, a scientist who is sent to China to steal a formula that has been recently developed that can increase agricultural crops. The brass at the Pentagon are able to maintain contact by inserting a microphone in his brain, so everything that he hears, they hear. But they added something more -- a bomb that can detonate at any moment, in case something wrong happens. Hathaway doesn't know this. The plot is very run of the mill -- lots of footage is spent on exotic China (or Hong Kong, Taiwan, or wherever the filmmakers could shoot) and showing how drab and different it all is. Mind you, this is during the Cultural Revolution, so there is a lot of exposition on the group social activities of the local Communists, such as public humiliation, protests, etc. Hathaway, like us, is an observer to the events, guided by pretty Asian women -- first, a prostitute who tries to seduce him, them knocks him out with his own shoe as he realizes that he is being spied upon, and then Dr. Soong's daughter, Chu, who helps him flee the country as the military finds out his true intentions (Hathaway was not sent here to socialize) and send troops to kill him. During a tense finale, Hathaway drives, then runs for the northern border where Russia awaits, and the brass back home negotiate for his safety with the Russians, while at the same time are about to trigger the bomb in his head. He makes it. Apparently this was produced by the team that had done Planet of the Apes a year before. Look for Number One Son Keye Luke as Dr. Soong. Gregory Peck does a workmanlike job in this film, which is probably far and above the call of duty. The conceit of having a microphone in his head falls apart when you realize that for him to talk to the Pentagon, he has to stick his head out of a window and talk to himself to ensure privacy! A few monologues later and this plot device becomes very silly, and makes Peck look like a nutcase (this is pre-cell phone Bluetooth era, remember!). The ending is a bit exciting, but color by numbers suspense. Plus, for a film that came out in 1970, it looks oddly out of place for it's time; it looks and feels like a late 50's or early 60's Cold War drama. The times had changed.