This movie directed by Alan Pakula was released in 1988, starring Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt, Julia stiles, Natascha McElhone and Treat Williams.
Frank McGuire, as an eight year old Irish boy witnesses the murder of his father by English sympathizers. This incident hardens him and makes him a IRA operative. After a tense gun battle with the British Troops, Frank escapes to a safe house hotly pursued by Harry Sloan, a British Agent. Frank and Martin Macduff, another IRA operative plan to acquire surface to air missiles and Frank travels to New York to get them. Here he meets a Irish sympathizer judge Peter Fitzsimmons who puts him in touch with Tom O’Meara. Tom is a police officer and welcomes Frank with out knowing his antecedents. Frank, working under his alias Rory contacts the arms smuggler Burke who agrees to supply him with the missiles.
Frankie meets Peter Fitzsimmons who provide him with millions of dollars which he hides in Tom’s house. He also meets Megan, Fitzsimmon’s nanny who is attracted to him. Mega agrees to help him in his endeavors. Tom and his partner Eddie have problems of their own regarding their work. Slowly a friendship develops between Frank and Tom. It deepens when Frank helps to beat back masked intruders who threaten Tom and his wife Sheila. Frank checks up on his money and feels guilty of his treachery.

Meanwhile the crafty Burke kidnaps Sean, Frank’s fellow operative and holds him for ransom. Frank promises to pay him. Meanwhile Tom has found the money and questions Frank about the presence of such large amount of cash. Frank tells him about the kidnapping, but avoids mentioning the terrorism angle. Still Tom arrest Frank with the help of Eddie. When they are on the way to the Police station, Frank escapes, by knocking out Tom and kills Eddie during flight. He reaches Burke who has already killed Sean and tries to rob him off the cash. But Frank kills him and plans to escape with the missiles in the boat.
Meanwhile Tom questioned by his superiors and Harry Sloan comes to the starling realization that Frank is a wanted IRA terrorist. He plans to capture him to avenge Eddie’s death. He traces Frank to Megan and forces her to reveal his where abouts. As Frank is planning to leave with the boat Tom reaches him and a fierce gun battle ensures. Tom is injured and Frank emerges holding him at gun point. But Tom fatally shoots him and makes his way home.
This movie was a moderate commercial success and has nothing new in the plot. Harrison Ford delivers his time and tested police cop routine and Brad Pitt is excellent as young Frank. The premise of the story is very sympathetic to the cause of the terrorist and I feel it betrays the day to day realities. It is fine for an action film buff who is intent on filling up his day. But better films have been made on the same subject. See it if you must, pass it if you can.

This is a romantic movie set against the back drop of world war two starring Harrison Ford, Christopher Plummer and Leslie Anne Down. Written and Directed by Peter Hyams it is known for the splendid aerial fight sequences.
Set in London, Lieutenant David Halloran meets Margaret Sellinger at a tea stall near Hanover street and soon are attracted to each other. Margaret is very much married to a simple Paul Sellinger who is away at war; and she is attracted to the charismatic Halloran. Soon Halloran and Margaret meet clandestinely and fall rapidly in love irrespective of their other relationship.
Paul Sellinger is with the British intelligence, and is a simple school teacher who needs to prove himself. and is given an assignment of penetrating Nazi German Head quarters inn Lyons in France. He has to photocopy the list of all the double agents active in Britain. The task of delivering him across German lines falls in to the capable hands of Halloran.

The two men are not aware of each other and travel together to France. Here they are shot down and Halloran needs to help Sellinger who is grievously wounded. He agrees to accompany him on the mission and contact French Resistance troops. They get hold of an uniform and soon penetrate the German defenses and get hold of the papers.
But as luck could have it they are betrayed by a collaborator and flee with the papers with the SS hot on their heels. Halloran has worked out that Sellinger is the husband of Margaret and saves him from tight situations. So after many cliff hanger moments Halloran and Sellinger make it through not before Halloran giving up on his love.
Here Margaret in London comes to the conclusion that both the men she loves are in a mission together. Ultimately she manages to reach a wounded Sellinger and Halloran and has to choose between the two. Well no prizes for guessing who the lucky one is. Margaret says her good byes to Halloran and proceeds to look after her husband and her duties. Halloran who loves her so much to let her go, moves down Hanover street to his place.
Released in 1977 this movie was a commercial and critical failure. It is not hard to understand why, because the movie which harps so much on romance glosses over the attraction felt by the lead pair. The initial meeting scenes between the two doomed lovers are very irritating and clichéd that you feel like hitting them to get it over with. It dwells on the duties of husband and wife and its aerial fight sequences. It seems to have a quite a following for the action sequences, but as a romantic movie it is a dud.
Moreover the story is so predictable and moves at a snails pace that you almost feel sorry for Sellinger to have such a wife and friend. I wouldn’t recommend this tale of so called forbidden love, just watch some horror film instead. It will save you from ennui.

This movie is adapted from the classic by Paul Theroux. Directed by Peter Weir, it stars Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren and River Phoenix in the title roles. Harrison Ford plays the role of Allie Fox, a genius inventor who gets tired of the the crass commercialism pervading the American Society. He dreams about an ideal world where men live in harmony with what they need and not what they want. Allie abhors the materialism and the schizophrenic pace of the society and says “We eat when we’re not hungry, drink when we’re not thirsty. We buy what we don’t need and throw away everything that’s useful. Why sell a man what he wants? Sell him what he doesn’t need. Pretend he’s got eight legs and two stomachs and money to burn. It’s wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.”
To escape from this material world Fox uproots himself and his family, of six from rural Massachusetts to a remote island La Moskitia in south America. Here his wife and 2 sons and twin daughters follow him and his ideals. Initially everything is hunky dory with fox finding the peace of mind to pursue his inventions and trying to better the natives lives. Soon with absolute dreams comes absolute and painful reality. The plan to civilize the natives is also a kind of intervention which is not a natural course of events.

The movie is narrated through the eyes of the eldest son, Charlie who completely admires his father’s genius. His love and admiration is mixed and what has the upper hand is evident only at the end of the movie. Mother Fox, Allie’s wife is a dutiful spouse following the marriage vows to the end. She moves herself from the comfort of their home to come to a remote clearing Jeronimo to play house and puts up with the ravings of her husbands flawed genius.
Allie on the high for bettering the plight of the natives plans to build a giant ice machine which uses fuel to make ice instantly. His need to awe makes him go to the interiors of the jungle to show off his machine. On his way he meets some dangerous ruffians who follow him back to Jeronimo and set fire to his inventions. As everything goes in to smoke Allie’s descent in to chaos happens. In his madness he destroys his family, relationships and a fragile system he tried to nurture. At the very tragic end the movie poses some important questions about his despotic nature and the effect of it on his relationships.
The movie also has amazing philosophical moments when Allie spars with the preacher Spellgood whose fanaticism puts him off. But in the end Allie’s contention that progress brings about civilization is as flawed as Spellgood’s theory of religion uplifting man. One man’s desire to shock, awe and better the natives to ultimately achieve glory and splendor falls flat on the ground. In the end Allie did bring in what he had fled in America, a search for material things and thats is his downfall.
Splendid performances by Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren is the highlight of the movie. This movie failed miserably at the box office but I still recommend it as a must see. It is a thinking man’s movie and go with a philosophical frame of mind.

Irving Wallace was born in Chicago, to Jewish parents,Bessie and Alexander Wallace, who had Emigrated from Russia. He completed his studies in California and started out as a journalist at a tender age of 15. He studied creative writing at the Williams Institute in Berkley and from the mid-30s he worked as a free-lance correspondent. In 1941 he married Sylvia Kahn; they had two children. Irving Wallace served in the air force during world war two and later collaborated in several movies as a writer. His first book “Sins of Peter Fleming” did not attract much attention. But his second book influenced by the Kinsey report was abest seller. He has been a prolific churner of best sellers and his books have been adapted as major movies. He died on June 29, 1990.
The Seventh Secret is a book on the Nazi past and present with a question mark over the death of Hitler. A well written action thriller, it presents the scenario where Hitler is alive and still heading the SS. Dr. Harrison Ashcroft, a well known historian travels to Germany to excavate the bunker where Hitler has committed suicide. He gets a phone call which informs him that Hitler is alive and well in Germany waiting for the winds to change. But he is killed before he can complete his work. His daughter Emily Ashcroft travels to Germany determined to complete her fathers assignment. She is joined by Rex Foster a dashing Architect, Tovah Levine, a beautiful Mossad agent and Nicholas Kirvov, curator of the Hermitage of Leningrad.

Emily is dogged by unknown assassins as soon as she lands up in Germany and is gallantly saved by Rex Foster. Here Wallace deviates from the plot with the attraction subplot between Emily and Rex. This sexed up encounter take the sheen out of the story. Emily soon in search for clues meets up with Hitler’s dentist who gives her information about a lucky charm worn by Hitler and his latest dental caps which not found by the Russians. Soon with the help of Levine, Kirvov and Foster she comes to the conclusion that Hitler had survived the War and used the death of his double to blind fold the world.
Soon the plot unravels with the disappearance of Emily who seems to have been kidnapped. Foster looking for clues in the sixth bunker comes across a thin crack which on further investigation reveals to be the opening to the seventh bunker. There he finds Emily who informs him that it leads to a cafe run by Evelyn Hoffman. Foster drugs Evelyn who spills the truth that she in fact is Eva Brown, the wife of the German despot. Hitler did survive the war and was waiting for the opportune moment to assume power and unite Germany. He died on the same year as JFK and Evelyn has assumed the command of the Nazi’s. The story further throws in astonishing details of Hitler’s child who leads a peaceful life. Well all this digging for truth is useless because, the entire bunker detonates and Eva and her child escape. So with the proof gone Emily and Rex have only each other to cling to.
The story is loosely written with lot of loopholes fort the reader to latch on. The premise is good but the details are jarring. It is difficult to accept that the proof uncovered by the protagonists are not found by the leading investigative agencies. But still worth your free time if you have a lots of it.