'Scorpio' (1972) – Michael Winner.

Perhaps unfairly blighted by being directed by Michael Winner, a stolid film-maker many plainly elitist 'critics' have a great, and clearly prejudicial disdain for, frequently disparaging his populist works of escapist cinema, and his teeth-rattlingly thrilling, globe-trotting, sinuously plotted Cold War blockbuster 'Scorpio' is consummately made, superbly acted thriller, and yet, it remains curiously undervalued, granted, this dark, morally complex, frequently brutal, cold-blooded actioner is quite clearly no unheralded masterpiece, it is robustly fashioned, and while there are surface similarities to winners bona fide cult classic 'The Mechanic', 'Scorpio' is a far more nuanced, much less pulpy expression of thrilling Boy's Own entertainment. Mature, dangerously cunning, battle-hardened C. I.A. Black op's agent Cross (Burt Lancaster), while one of the agencies most effective, deadly efficient operators plans to retire, but the duplicitous powers that be had, perhaps, something more permanent in mind! Covertly employing younger, and no less ruthless button man 'Scorpio' (Alain Delon) to track Cross down, which engenders a desperate chase from Washington through Paris, and the baroque grandeur of picturesque Vienna, with shotgun pacing, terrific action sequences, fascinating Machiavellian intrigue, muscular performances from Alain Delon, Burt Lancaster, and Shakespearean legend Paul Schofield, Scorpio's sting has not lost its potency over time, if anything, Michael Winner's bracing, mean-spirited action-thriller retains the power to enthral, and Burt Lancaster's darkly enigmatic killer Cross's bravura attempts to elude his would be captors still makes for exceptionally exciting cinema.