The Black Windmill
In his memoirs, Joss Ackland wrote that he was working on three other movies, as well as playing Wray in this movie.,At the start of the film where the van is blown up on the motorway, it becomes clear that the scene is filmed on an incomplete stretch of motorway (possibly the M3, which was completed in 1974) as lane markings are missing from one carriageway.,Cedric Harper: He knew my name and he knew the name of this department. Both of these things imply serious breaches of security.,The opening credits are formed from images of children's alphabet blocks.,References The Sound of Music (1965),Underneath the Spreading Chestnut Tree
(uncredited)
(trad.),Two English boys are kidnapped by a criminal crew. One of the boys is the son of British intelligence officer Major Tarrant (Michael Caine). Cedric Harper (Donald Pleasence) is his boss and Sir Edward Julyan (Joseph O'Conor) is the head of MI6. Tarrant is in a meeting with them and others when he gets a call from his wife. Their son has been taken and ransomed for diamonds. Eventually, he has to battle both sides to get his son back.

While I like the premise, I am taken back by two issues. First, I got confused by several scenes in the movie. It's possibly due to my stupidity. I don't know the reason for the naked picture session. When the second boy shows up in the hospital, I assumed him to be the Tarrant boy. I kept losing track of the characters. The plot seems simple but I couldn't catch every scene. The second issue is Caine. I never get a sense of terror, anger, tension, or trauma coming from Major Tarrant. In fact, one scene has him making a joke wink as he makes an escape. The performance lacks the needed desperation. It doesn't fit. He's doing it wrong or the directing is wrong. I still like the premise but the execution is off overall.,