The Venetian Affair Reviews

Ponderous espionage thriller apparently cranked out by MGM to capitalize on the success of star Robert Vaughn in TV's "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." After an American diplomat inexplicably explodes a bomb during an international peace conference in Venice, killing himself and everyone in the room, CIA boss Asner calls ex-agent Vaughn in on the case (Asner had previously fired Vaughn when it was discovered that the agent's wife, Sommer, was a Communist). Informing Vaughn that Sommer is known to be associating with enemy agents who may have had something to do with the bombing, Asner sends the agent off to find his wife and obtain a secret report written by political scientist Karloff, who purports to know the answers behind the plot. Eventually Vaughn finds Sommer, who is hiding from Boehm, the man behind the bombing. Vaughn contacts Boehm and pretends to want a ransom for Sommer's return. When Boehm sends the cash, Vaughn double-crosses him, disguises Sommer as a nun, and puts her on a train to safety. He then steals Karloff's report and goes to join her, but when he arrives he is trapped by Boehm. Boehm kills Sommer and then drugs Vaughn and Karloff (who was kidnaped). The drug turns Karloff into a zombie, and he agrees to bomb the second international conference. Luckily Vaughn overcomes the drug's effects, kills Boehm, and stops Karloff in the nick of time.