Darling Lili (1970)

Second viewing; first viewed on July 17, 1993.

During World War One, an English singer acts as a German spy. She is assigned with extracting military secrets from an ally flyer.

Here's a case of a good script (except for the absurd ending) which is made into a not so good film, reportedly because of producer's interference (I read that S.O.B., by the same director, is based on this incident). The excessive shifting in tone and pace (now mellow, now comic, now dramatic) gets in the way of a pleasant viewing experience (there is a director's cut which, it appears, improves the overall result, but I haven't seen it). And then there is the ending, of course, one of the most implausible of fiction's history.

Saw a 142 min version (actually, 136 min in my country's PAL system).
Saw it in pan-and-scan.

Rating: 50 (unchanged)