Double Man, The

If a role in the 1950s through '70s called for a commanding presence and a brooding resolve, one of the era's go-to actors for the part was Academy Award winner* Yul Brynner (The Magnificent Seven, Westworld). In The Double Man, Brynner brings those qualities to the role of CIA agent Dan Slater and -- without revealing the intriguing circumstances -- to the role of a rival look-alike spy. The action, paced by Oscar -winning* director Franklin J. Schaffner, unfolds in the scenic Tyrolean Alps, where Slater shows up after the reported skiing-accident death of his son, unaware that his arrival is all part of a devious Cold War gambit. Britt Ekland plays a beauty who may or may not be a participant in that covert plot.

• thriller