The Tamarind Seed

Plot synopsis:
An attractive British Home Office assistant named Judith Farrow (Julie Andrews) is on vacation on the Caribbean island of Barbados after ending a failed love affair with married group captain Richard Paterson (David Baron), an important British minister. She meets Feodor Sverdlov (Omar Sharif), a Soviet military attaché who is also on vacation staying in an adjacent bungalow. The two spend time together exploring the island, visiting museums, and going out to dinner. When British intelligence learns that Sverdlov is spending time with the mistress of a British minister, they begin monitoring their actions. Judith and Sverdlov share details about their private lives—about her husband who died in a car crash, her recent unhappy affair, his unhappy marriage, and his disillusion with the Soviet Union. During one of their outings, Judith becomes fascinated by the story of a slave who was hanged from a tamarind tree and how that tree has since borne seeds in the shape of a human head. The skeptical Sverdlov thinks the story is a mere fairy tale. On her way back to London, she opens an envelope he gave her and finds a tamarind seed.
British intelligence officer Jack Loder (Anthony Quayle) is convinced that Sverdlov is planning to recruit Judith as a spy. Loder is already concerned about an unknown Soviet spy within the British government with the code name "Blue". When he meets with British minister Fergus Stephenson (Dan O'Herlihy), he learns that Stephenson suspects that his wife was given secret intelligence information and wants the man identified. Loder knows that his own assistant George MacLeod (Bryan Marshall) has been having an affair with Stephenson's wife Margaret (Sylvia Syms) and is the source of the leak. Later, Stephenson reveals to Paterson that British intelligence knows about his affair, and that his former mistress has been identified as a security risk based on her contact with Sverdlov. Paterson is instructed to break off all communication with her.
Loder visits Judith in her London apartment and interrogates her about Sverdlov, who is assigned in Paris to Soviet General Golitsyn. Loder instructs her that if he contacts her again she should tell him immediately. Meanwhile, when Sverdlov returns to his Paris office, he is told that his longtime secretary was taken ill and returned to Russia, replaced by another secretary he suspects is a plant. He tells General Golitsyn that he's made a contact in Barbados, and that he believes he can recruit her. Soon after, Sverdlov meets Judith in London, and she reveals that British intelligence knows about them—just as he suspected. He tells her that he's told the general that he intends to recruit her—a pretense for seeing her again.
Meanwhile, Stephenson's suspicious wife Margaret figures out that her husband's cigarette lighter is a miniature camera and that her husband is in fact a Communist spy. She does not know that British intelligence has been searching for the identity of her husband—given the code name Blue. Soon after, Judith receives an important message for Sverdlov, who is back in Paris. When she phones him, he asks her to deliver it to him in Paris. When she arrives, she conveys the message—that his former secretary was taken to Lubyanka for interrogation by the KGB, and that he should not return to Russia. When Sverdlov shows interest in seeking asylum in the West, Judith contacts her former lover Paterson, who communicates her request to Loder. The next night, Sverdlov is brought to Judith's apartment to meet Loder and asks for asylum. He offers to provide the identity of the secret Communist spy Blue, in return for a safe new life in Canada. Loder agrees to the deal.
To help Sverdlov pull off the defection, she agrees to accompany him back to Barbados so that his cover story with the Soviets will be convincing. Loder agrees to help arrange their rendezvous. Meanwhile, at a party at the British ambassador's house in Paris, Paterson's wife reveals to Stephenson's wife that she overheard Judith tell her husband about a Soviet official looking to defect. Stephenson's wife reveals this news to her husband, who suspects Sverdlov to be the defector. The next day, Stephenson meets his Soviet contact and communicates the information. In Paris, Sverdlov meets with General Golitsyn and assures him that he only needs a few more days with Judith to recruit her.
At the Soviet embassy, Sverdlov steals part of the secret file on the Communist spy known as Blue—papers he intends to offer to British intelligence in exchange for his asylum. As he is leaving, however, he is spotted hiding the papers inside his jacket. When General Golitsyn is informed, he orders Sverdlov's public assassination at Heathrow Airport in London before he can fly to Barbados with Judith. At the airport, the Soviet assassins await his arrival, but Sverdlov avoids them with the help of Loder. General Golitsyn sends his assassins to Barbados to complete their deadly mission. Meanwhile, Loder meets with Stephenson and updates him on Sverdlov's defection and the secret Blue files that will reveal the identity of the Soviet spy in the British government.
In Barbados, Judith and Sverdlov enjoy a beautiful sunset together and finally make love. The next morning, the Soviet assassins arrive at the island by boat disguised as vacationing businessmen. They blow up Sverdlov's bungalow with napalm grenades and a fierce gunfight ensues between the killers and the British intelligence agents protecting Sverdlov. Afterwards, news reports indicate that Sverdlov was killed and Judith was taken to the hospital with injuries. Back in London, after telling Stephenson that the Blue files were destroyed in the fire, Loder reveals to his assistant that he knows that Stephenson is Blue and will be taken care of in time. Loder then travels to Barbados to visit Judith who is recovering from her injuries at St Patricia Nursing Home, Barbados. He tells her that actually Sverdlov was not killed as reported, but was taken out of the bungalow just before the attack. He is safe in Canada and if she wants to visit him, it could be arranged. Sometime later, Judith and Sverdlov are reunited in Canada.

Tags: romantic, flashback

Review:
Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif bring a very sober and realistic screenplay to life about real human beings involved/kept apart by the Cold War. I very much liked the Julie Andrews character who doesn't fear speaking about morality to a Communist likely to scoff, nor fear falling for that Communist with ehr eyes wide open, despite all the difficulties that would bring.
Julie Andrews is just wonderful in this role - rather lonely, quite real, with warring feelings between head and heart about caring for someone who is dangerous to know - and in his work, dangerous to the Free World.Omar Sharif is excellent - charming, quick-witted, falling for Andrews (and who wouldn't - she looks fantastic) despite himself, and finally making the life-changing decision to defect.
But it's trying to do something different - and admirably succeeding - one just feels the existence of the Iron Curtain here, and one feels the Andrews character making her point that at the heart of the Cold War are questions about the value to be given an individual human being by the state, the value of truth as capturing measurable facts, the value of allowing people to live by their own goals and values rather than those determined by the state.
Blake Edwards' "The Tamarind Seed" falls into the "lost" category, more specifically the era spanning 1968-1974, when Edwards released a series of films, ranging from good to great, that died a bloody box-office death.
You can't account for audience taste.Anyway, "The Tamarind Seed" is a different film for Edwards: an international spy thriller.
These films are lost today, thanks to clueless studio executives who didn't know how to market them and the clueless moviegoers who stayed away in droves.Lucky for us, cable TV still remains the forum to catch some of these lost treasures (except "Gunn" which seems lost forever) and AMC has been playing "The Tamarind Seed" frequently.
But Edwards maintains a smooth control over his material here and doesn't play this material for monster laughs (rightly).This is a real good story, which I will not reveal, because the film's success is dependent on Edwards' surprises.
The acting is great (with Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif in the lead roles, how could it be bad?), the cinematography (by the great Freddie Young in Panavision)is dazzling as it would be from that great talent, and the script gets involved enough in the story that we can follow it without getting confused."The Tamarind Seed" is very much worth the effort to find.
"The Tamarind Seed" is a wonderful film to discover for the first time in the video store when you're searching for something good to watch.
Made at a time when negative depictions of the Soviet Union had fallen out of favor in the movies, "The Tamarind Seed" wonderfully bucks this trend as Russian embassy Colonel Omar Sharif ultimately comes to realize that the nature of the Soviet system makes some things worse than treason against it.
Julie Andrews is at her most beautiful as a British Home Office employee who first meets Sharif on vacation in Barbados, falls in love with him and helps him defect..
It's been years since I saw this film so have forgotten many of the plot details, but this beautiful romance has lingered in my mind for three decades.
It's a movie with everything...intriguing suspense thriller plot, beautiful exotic Caribbean setting, and especially of course the compelling love story of two sympathetic characters from opposite sides of the Cold War.The tale begins with a British Home Office assistant, Judith Farrow, who has gone to Barbados to recover from a failed love affair.
This paradise romance is, however, complicated by their respective positions with governments on opposite sides of the Cold War. Thus, these two individuals of integrity are forced into deception (alleged spy recruiting) in order to disguise their relationship.
Above all, their ill advised love can only spell danger.For me, this movie is made memorable by its two stars, Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif.
They are perfect on screen together, mature yet captivating.The film reflects its era, with the dominance of Cold War issues the subject for most plots involving international intrigue.
Julie Andrews appeared earlier in Torn Curtain, the 1966 Hitchcock Cold War thriller which also starred Paul Newman, but I much preferred this movie since it focuses more on character portrayal and romance.No, not a James Bond action adventure or a spy thriller really, more rather an exotic and dangerous romance with some intricate, suspenseful plot details.
A high recommendation for this wonderful old fashioned movie...a perfectly cast, touching & intelligent jewel, and a film which unfortunately appears to be little known these days..
This movie is not highlighted in any discussion of the careers of either Julie Andrews or Omar Sharif, but it's a jewel.
Julie Andrews plays a very upright British type involved in situations that are inevitably comprimising.
I'm a huge Julie Andrews fan, which was why I saw this movie.
It does drag, which is always a pet pieve of mine, but the romance between Julie and Omar Sharrif is the heart of the film and lets you see that the Cold War was between governments, not necessarily people.
If you want a lot of action, this may not be the right movie, but if you want a romance masquerading as a spy thriller, this is your film..
Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif are very good in this film and make a highly believable screen couple.
Anthony Quayle and Sylvia Syms are excellent in supporting roles.Overall, "The Tamarind Seed" is a good movie for a Sunday afternoon..
Besides, Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif were romantic and wonderful.
Fond memories of "The Tamarind Seed" as the most successful movie to play at this lovely theatre.
Yes, the fashions are laughable, but we make allowances for our favourite films of the 30's,40's,50's and 60's, so why do we judge so many classic films of the 70's & 80's by the fashions of the time A thoroughly enjoyable espionage thriller, a brilliant cast, and all under the direction of the superb Blake Edwards, begs the question as to why this film is so over-looked and forgotten?.
Omar Sharif, as a philosophical Russian, also has his moments, but the cast that surrounds them is not as interesting; the story goes every which way and goes on too long, with some excitement only in the last 10 minutes.
Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif in double espionage play unintentionally recruiting each other.
It is always a great pleasure to be able to enjoy Julie Andrews on screen whatever she plays, for her beauty and grace, her wonderful diction and absolute stage presence, here in a more serious part than ever before, and seconded by Omar Sharif as yet another Russian after Doctor Zhivago.
It starts as a rather innocent beach romance on Barbados, but Julie Andrews has a constant dreadful car accident trauma from the past on her mind, and gradually it emerges that also Omar Sharif is in a tightening mess.
Sylvia Syms' part is the most difficult one, she has to face perhaps the greatest crisis of all in here, her part is actually rather disgusting, but she performs it marvellously well - not even Julie Andrews could do a thing like that.But above all, it's a fantastic plot well written, and although you recognize Blake Edwards' ordinary superficiality, this film transcends it, and the final cliffhanger is equal to the very best spy thrillers..
However, although it is definitely a film of its time with the cold war and reds in the bed the relationship between the two leads, Julie Andrews and Omar Shariff was totally believable.
There is a charm about the film probably because there is a chemistry between Julie and Omar.
My only criticism is the wardrobe...I know the seventies were bad but that white gown with the heavy necklace was hideous as were the prim and proper crisp polyester clothes they put Andrews in back in London....she's gorgeous and they could have done a lot more with her outfits...they could have lost Omar's peach shirt as well (but then again he tends to make anything look good!)...maybe the seventies were that bad...but I loved them and you should love this film..
Surprisingly bland, unmemorable drama set in Barbados involves shady Omar Sharif (not the liveliest leading man around, not even in 1974!) hoping to make Andrews a spy while also slowly leading her into the proverbial bedroom.
Omar Sharif is the best part of this movie, he has the most charming and interesting lines, he is great as Fyodor.
The film reminded me of Rosebud, a film Peter O'Toole did about embassies, spies, and strange liaisons.If you're wondering about the title, the tamarind seed is of importance to the Julie Andrew character when she and Omar are vacationing on the same island.
It's worth watching this movie to learn some interesting things, most of the intrigue and pleasure comes from Omar's performance..
Julie Andrews is great but the film is a bore..
Julie Andrews, looking quite attractive, gives an unexpectedly mature, thoughtful performance which leaves no doubt that she is capable of playing serious dramatic roles.
The plot open with Julie Andrews who works in a sensitive job at the Foreign office on holiday in Barbados trying to recover from the death of her husband and a subsequent love affair with a married embassy employee.
The romance and spy elements are played against a background of various love affairs and relationships which all tie up nicely in one plot strand at the end.
The moment anyone in the British Embassy had an inkling that Andrews was romantically interested in - let alone emotionally involved with - a Russian espionage agent, she would be home on the first flight and FAREWELL FCO!Direction is incipient, Andrews tries her best but is better at comedy, and Sharif never really found his feet as an actor after debuting in Lawrence of Arabia, even his tearful Dr. Zhivago is difficult to rate as serious acting.
Photography is much too mediocre to save the film, the John Barry soundtrack is probably the best thing about THE TAMARIND WEED...
Only Andrews looks uneasy, and whilst we believe Sharif's romantic intentions, she is so subdued throughout that we wonder whether it's meant or just wooden acting.
Sappy espionage story stars Andrews and Sharif.
JULIE ANDREWS never looked so good--and neither did London, Paris and Barbados, as the espionage story shifts back and forth between handsome locales and gives Julie and co-star OMAR SHARIF some stunning close-up shots as they gently romance against gorgeous backdrops.The story takes its time to unwind in the course of slightly over two hours and that's part of the problem.
Julie and Omar come from different Cold War backgrounds, each a bit unsure of whether their romance can survive with murky suspicions brewing about their alliances to, respectively, England and Russia.It's the sort of tale female movie-goers loved and which were becoming increasingly rare in the 1970s when the male action films were doing the biggest box-office and films about sensitive relationships were doomed to appeal to smaller audiences.
No Sparks Between Sharif and Andrews in So So Spy Film.
Blake Edwards made many entertaining films; some, like "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "Victor Victoria," retain their class and glamour, while others, like "The Tamarind Seed," aimed for those same qualities, but fell short.
Opening titles by Maurice Binder and a score by John Barry evoke the feel of a James Bond film and underscore the espionage elements.
Unfortunately, the film, which was also scripted by Edwards from a novel by Evelyn Anthony, is saddled with an insipid love story that overwhelms the action and sinks the plot, and the Cold War intrigue is too little and too late to save the movie.
While Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif have star power, the pair do not have much chemistry.
The prim and proper Andrews is too cool for the smoldering Sharif, who should have been better teamed with an Ava Gardner.Andrews plays Judith Farrow, an English widow, who works at the British Home Office and has access to sensitive information.
Sharif is Feodor Sverdlov, a military attache to the Russian Embassy in London, who also goes to Barbados; but is he on holiday or out to recruit Andrews?
While Sharif pursues Andrews, back in London, Anthony Quayle and Dan O'Herlihy monitor the situation in Barbados for Her Majesty's Goverrnment, while the pursuit of a Russian mole in British intelligence simmers.
Cold War prevents Julie and Omar from true love.
The Tamarind Seed has both Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif looking to merge.
But merger is going to be impossible because of the Cold War. You see Julie works for someone in the British home office and Omar is a military attaché for the Russians.
Wildest of all is that both are put on the spot to get the other to defect.Sharif and Andrews are the weak links of The Tamarind Seed.
At its heart is a romance between a British Home Office official and a Russian spy.
(The film's somewhat enigmatic title derives from a Barbadian legend about a tamarind tree which has borne seeds in the shape of a human head ever since a slave was hanged from it for a crime he did not commit).The audience are supposed to take the Judith/Sverdlov romance as genuine, although both the British and Soviet security services are suspicious of it.
Their suspicions are compounded by the fact that, between the death of her husband in a car crash and beginning the romance with Sverdlov, Judith managed to fit in a failed love affair with Richard Paterson, Sverdlov's opposite number at the British embassy.
Sverdlov tells his superiors in Soviet intelligence that he is indeed trying to recruit Judith, but they (with justification) suspect him of plotting to defect.When the film first appeared in 1974 much was made of the fact, or supposed fact, that Julie Andrews was getting away from the "goodie-two-shoes" image she had been lumbered with ever since "Mary Poppins" and "The Sound of Music"; I recall one reviewer expressing surprise because she briefly appears in a bikini.
In fact, "The Tamarind Seed" marks much less of a break from this image than some of her later films such as "S.O.B." , also directed by her husband Blake Edwards.
I was surprised by just how ready Judith is to take Sverdlov at face value, given that in the seventies any Briton working in a politically sensitive position would have been alert to the fact that the Soviet Union frequently used diplomacy as a cover for espionage (as, indeed, did many other countries).Sverdlov is played by the Egyptian actor Omar Sharif, a man who, at least in his English-language films, seemed to specialise in playing characters of every nationality but his own; he had previously played a Russian in "Dr Zhivago".
As played by Sharif, Sverdlov does not really seem like a man in the throes of romantic passion; he comes across far more as the smooth, slick seducer which British intelligence believe him to be, making it all the more surprising that Judith was not more on her guard.Andrews is better than Sharif, although this is not one of her greatest performances, but the best acting comes from Anthony Quayle, who plays intelligence officer Jack Loder, head of security at the British embassy in Paris.
Unlike most of his upper-class colleagues at the Embassy, he is from a working-class background, indicated by a strong regional accent.There is another decent performance from Dan O'Herlihy as Fergus Stephenson, a British diplomat who turns out to be a Soviet agent; he is portrayed as a member of the notorious Cambridge spy ring.
This film, in fact, actually looks more dated than something like the Le Carré adaptation "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold", although that film was made in black-and-white nine years earlier, or even Carol Reed's "The Man Between" from the fifties.
From Russia with love -- a Cold War defection movie.
"The Tamarind Seed" is not a spy movie.
And, Omar Sharif's character, Colonel Feodor Sverdlov.
even makes that a point in his discussions with Judith Farrow (played by Julie Andrews).
It's a nice movie to see a couple of performers who starred in and made some great films in the mid-20th century..
Blake Edwards, better known for his comedies, directs this respectable spy film based on Evelyn Anthony's novel of the same title.
July Andrews in on a holiday in Barbados trying to recover from a love affair with a married man.
She meets Omar Sharif and she falls in love with him, only to discover that he's an international Russian spy willing to change sides.On the bright side, the story keeps you interested despite the slow pace.
By the way, the movie is 119 minutes long and, believe it or not, July Andrews doesn't sing on this film!!.
After a few flop movies and a short lived TV series, Julie Andrews needed a hit, and sadly did not get it with this spy drama, pretty much motionless and humorless.
She's paired with the handsome Omar Sharif, playing a Russian litigation out to seduce her on order to recruit her.
Good supporting performances by Anthony Zerbe and Sylvia Syms help but a boring two hours with only some action at the end makes this quickly dismissable.
Russian military official Omar Sharif woos Julie Andrews in hopes of getting her to defect...or so Russia thinks.
Director Blake Edwards put together this highly entertaining game of cat-and-mouse and elicits quite a bit of chemistry between Sharif & Andrews.
Anthony Quayle is very good as a very unpleasant spy and Dan O'Herlihy is excellent as an embassy official with a lot of secrets.
Still the film belongs to Sharif & Andrews and they make their outlandish situation believable.