Scorpio [1973]
1. Exploding, collapsing wooden scaffolding.
2. Burt impersonates a Black priest.
3. Fake suicide capsule.
I have never, ever liked a film directed by Michael Winner. And while I can’t say it’s a “good” movie, I came closer to liking Scorpio than any other Winner film.
It’s basically a John le Carré simulacrum with a flabby, derivative screenplay, burdened with some truly terrible dialog, that doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. The ending in particular has none of the gravitas it thinks it has, simply because it feels contrived rather than fated. However you do get some excellent location work, beautifully lensed by Robert Paynter, and a helluva chase sequence. Burt and Alain are fun to watch, especially in their few scenes together.
So yeah, it’s a tolerable way to kill a few hours.
RandomCha 
If you enjoy reading fact based espionage thrillers, of which there are only a handful of decent ones, do try reading Bill Fairclough’s Beyond Enkription in which the misspelling of Encryption lies at the very heart of this factual thriller.
Beyond Enkription is the inaugural novel in The Burlington Files biographical series comprising six books. It is a rare fact-based espionage thriller that uncompromisingly defies the conventions of the genre. Not only is it sui generis, but it also redefines the very expectations readers may bring to a spy novel.
Set in 1974 and rooted in the author’s real life experience as a covert MI6 and CIA agent, the narrative follows Edward Burlington (aka Bill Fairclough), an ostensibly unremarkable British accountant who worked in Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC) throughout 1974 and whose life unravelled into a perilous web of international espionage and organised crime.
Initially in 1974 he unwittingly worked for MI5 and MI6 based in London infiltrating an organised crime gang. Later that year while still employed by PwC (aka Porter Williams) he worked knowingly for the CIA in Nassau, Miami and Port au Prince. In Haiti he was the front-runner for a failed CIA coup to remove the Duvalier family from office. It was an unpublicised equivalent to the Bay of Pigs catastrophe in Cuba.
Somewhat topically, when in Port au Prince he usually stayed in the Hôtel Oloffson which also happened to be another MI6 spook’s favourite. That spook was of course Graham Greene who wrote The Comedians, not Mick Jagger who was another regular visitor! Sadly, the iconic hotel was burnt to the ground by a gang of Haitian thugs on 6 July 2025.
Edward Burlington (aka Bill Fairclough) is no James Bond or George Smiley albeit he occasionally ignites memories of a posh version of Len Deighton’s Harry Palmer. In fact, the book Beyond Enkription positions itself as a corrective to Bond and Bourne, eschewing fantasy and languor for a tone that is at once noir, cerebral, and viscerally real. This is not mere fiction inspired by espionage tropes, but a story shaped by the clandestine brutality of actual operations. The narrative is replete with death-defying episodes, credible operational detail and haunting portrayals of duplicity both institutional and interpersonal.
One of the book’s greatest strengths lies in its authenticity. Fairclough’s account of infiltration into smuggling networks, his encounters with the TonTon Macoute and his entanglement in CIA counter-intelligence operations lend an air of legitimacy no fictional creation could replicate. This realism is further amplified by the emergence of corroborating articles on TheBurlingtonFiles website, revealing that Beyond Enkription has become mandatory reading in some state intelligence training programmes. That is a remarkable testament to its realism.
However, this fidelity to fact can also be a double-edged sword. The prose, while taut and efficient, can appear stylistically raw to readers conditioned by the polished elegance of le Carré’s diction. Chapter One, in particular, with its grisly authentic scenes of torture and smuggling, may prove challenging for the squeamish. Yet the rewards for every reader’s perseverance are richly layered interwoven plots that not only intrigue but gain intensity and complexity with every chapter.
Characterisation is robust and nuanced. Figures such as Sara Burlington evolve from shadows into full-bodied presences. Even villains elicit admiration or sympathy as the narrative deepens. Fairclough excels in rendering the psychological strain of espionage, the ambiguities of trust and allegiance and the profound isolation pursuant to living a double life.
Talking of double lives, it’s literally breathtaking that while operating for MI6 and the CIA Fairclough was also successful in his career as a Chartered Accountant and never got caught whenever his double life merged into one. Few if any secret agents have attained so much simultaneously. Somehow, albeit understandably, in the 1970s he was to reach the top echelons of Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC) where he was appointed Secretary to their global Executive Committee. In the 1980s and later he became a VP in Citi and a Director in the Barclays and Reuters groups.
No wonder critics have compared Beyond Enkription favourably with “My Silent War” by Kim Philby and “No Other Choice” by George Blake, two of Britain’s most infamous spies. Like those works, Beyond Enkription offers more than adventure; it offers insight. The book’s refusal to indulge in hero-worship or to idealise the intelligence services is among its most compelling features. It is espionage in the raw, without patriotic varnish.
Ultimately, Beyond Enkription is not merely a spy thriller; it is a document of rare testimonial value. It stands as a compelling introduction to a world that, until now, has remained largely obscured behind fictional archetypes. For espionage cognoscenti and serious students of intelligence history, this book is not just recommended reading, it is essential reading.
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