The Holcroft Covenant

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The Holcroft Covenant

R

1985

1h 52m

Mystery & Thriller

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Popcornmeter

30%

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10 Reviews

31%

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500+ Ratings

Hitler's money man leaves his son (Michael Caine) $4 billion for philanthropy and possibly neo-Nazis.

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Neil Jillett

The Age (Australia)

Both underwritten and overwritten and shows every sign of being edited with a food processor.

Apr 4, 2022

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Derek Malcolm

Guardian

Frankenheimer'a film is a real mess, being both mechanical and almost incomprehensible.

Aug 3, 2021

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Michael Wilmington

Los Angeles Times

Is Caine believable as a Manhattan architect? Even one with a Cockney fixation? It doesn't matter, because Caine performances have become axiomatic: No matter what the movie, he's always good.

Aug 3, 2021

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Tony Sloman

Radio Times

It's easy to blame once-talented director John Frankenheimer for making this farrago unwatchable, but the more likely obstacle is that the Robert Ludlum source novel is cinematically intractable.

Rated: 2/5

Aug 3, 2021

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John Powers

L.A. Weekly

The Holcroft Covenant delivers exactly what it promises, good old-fashioned thrills and spills by filmmakers who know exactly what they're doing.

Aug 3, 2021

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

A preposterous old-fashioned political thriller.

Rated: C+

Jan 9, 2015

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F R

Cast did an excellent job. Loved the discussion of the "old days" by Mrs. Holcroft and Herr Ober!

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

04/14/25

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Paul L

Enjoyed seeing an old Ludlum book come to life. Michael Cain was great.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/26/25

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David W

The elaborate story hangs together well in my opinion and makes for a gripping thriller despite the multitude of reviews stating to the contrary. There's a great eighties, largely synth base soundtrack which was sadly never released. The acting is very solid with Caine and the cast on uniformally excellent form. No idea why this is so poorly regarded both critically and on RT but my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you're in the mood for an eighties spy thriller then you could do a lot worse. Recommended.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/30/24

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Audience Member

Must be viewed today (2021) while being aware of the type of film genre this represented at the time (1985) based on this despite Caine taking on the role at short notice it's a great thriller!

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

Full Review

r 9

Decent premise, but it's just a bit of a slow watch for me. That's despite 'The Holcroft Covenant' having moments that either should be or are enjoyable, but in between lies iffy pacing and uninteresting characters. I also found the cinematography lacking, for instance they visit a fair few different countries and yet I never got a feeling for the film's world itself - just scene, cut, scene, cut etc. Michael Caine is entertaining though, as he always seems to be. I enjoyed his performance, some of his humour early on is good. As for those around Caine, I liked Victoria Tennant, Bernard Hepton and Michael Lonsdale. It is a fairly solid cast, to be honest. With that said, I finished watching and just felt like it was missing something. 2½*.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

This conspiracy movie never really hits any heights but is just about lively enough to watch. There's little life injected by its cast though so it can feel somewhat staid.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

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John Frankenheimer

Director

Michael Caine

Noel Holcroft

Anthony Andrews

Johann von Tiebolt

Victoria Tennant

Helden von Tiebolt

Lilli Palmer

Althene Holcroft

Mario Adorf

Erich Kessler

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Synopsis

Hitler's money man leaves his son (Michael Caine) $4 billion for philanthropy and possibly neo-Nazis.

Director: John Frankenheimer
Producer: Edie Landau, Ely Landau
Screenwriter: Robert Ludlum, George Axelrod, Edward Anhalt, John Hopkins
Production Co: Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment, Holcroft Films
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: British English
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 24, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $151.6K
Runtime: 1h 52m

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