Hennessy

Only American International Pictures could come up with a rollicking cheapie based on the situation in Northern Ireland, utilising both the royal family and the cabinet as plausible extras. Steiger is better than he's been for ages as Hennessy, an embittered Belfast demolition worker who plans to blow up the Royal Opening of Parliament. The film deftly avoids the sectarian issue by making him a lone maverick, pursued by both Special Branch and the IRA (who are to all intents and purposes indistinguishable), and by moving so fast that the improbabilities simply don't have time to catch up. The casting (Porter, Remick and Howard especially), the locations and the use of newsreel at the climax are all spectacularly good, and Sharp's direction proves that he is more than a match for any of AIP's Hollywood hands.