Despite some major changes in location from the UK to the USA the spine tingling spirit of Alistair MacLean comes through in this adaption of The Satan Bug. MacLean novels seem almost to roll out of the printed page and right on the screen. It's been done, but's pretty hard to make a dull film out of a MacLean work.

George Maharis plays our protagonist investigating a leak in security at a very top secret germ warfare laboratory. What leaked out seems to be the ultimate in germ warfare, a virus in a vial called The Satan Bug and it will guarantee destruction of life on a planetary scale. The viewer's knowledge that these are the stakes being played for is what makes this film harrowing watching.

Maharis is aided in his quest by Anne Francis who is the daughter of General Dana Andrews for whom he works. But the performance that dominates the film is that of Richard Basehart as the maddest scientist of all. He has stolen The Satan Bug and he's got big plans for it. I will say that the fact he got in and did the job speaks volumes about the lack of competence of American security. See the film and you'll see what I mean.

John Sturges brought in a first rate thriller in The Satan Bug, do not miss it if broadcast.

Biological warfare is as scary in 2020 as it was in the mid 1960's with new threats found every year, and I certainly picked the wrong time to watch a film on this very subject. It focuses on scientists George Maharis and Dana Andrews who have discovered that a top research scientist (Richard Basehart) has discovered a toxin that can wipe out a whole city in a matter of minutes. Maharis and Andrews find this out quite by accident while with Andrews' pretty daughter Anne Francis and some other scientists, and a tube of this toxin goes flying through their window, causing two of the men within minutes to clutch their throats and drop dead instantly. A rock at the window of the speeding Basehart gives Maharis the opportunity to find out what has lead the genius Basehart to turn to such a despicable act, and it is a race to the finish as Maharis, Andrews and Francis become determined to stop Basehart from carrying out his vicious plan.

I must admit that in addition to being intrigued but scared in regards to the timing of viewing this movie I was also entranced by the beautiful scenery of the California desert with its pastel colors flying off of the screen as the three leads hang out at a gorgeous desert home with beautiful streams and pools and backgrounds of cactus and other colorful plants. This is an opportunity to see a few other famous actors before they became well known such as Richard Bull ("Little House on the Prairie") and Ed Asner ("Lou Grant"). Andrews, still very handsome with his silvery hair, is dashing as always, and Maharis is an interesting anti-hero. But the performance by Richard Basehart is very theatrical, almost Shakespearean in its intensity, and that is who you will be mesmerized by in his big scenes. The direction of John Sturges helps this become an intriguing sleeper that has been forgotten over time but is certainly worthy of re-discovery and discussion.

I have watched this film several times, and never find it boring. That this film was not a hit at the time of release, and was not able to make a movie star out of George Maharis, shows that either the studio did not know how to market it at the time, or that a movie, even with all the right ingredients, will not become a hit movie, if people don't go and see it.

I do see some problems with the screenplay however, in that things see to happen in the film, that just pop up from nowhere. A mans car getting stuck that we the audience are not entirely clued in on, two agents just coming on the screen at a particular time, what where the motivations for this to happen is not explained, and a dead body, that without the use of a DVD player or DVR that we can view the movie on Turner Classic Movies, and look back on, might make us wonder who this dead body is.

The Maharis character is the most interesting of the lot, he is a man who is at odds with his government throughout his life, and he is a character in films ahead of his time. We didn't get to see people like this in movies before. He is a man who it is emphasized at the beginning of the film to be a rebel, but knows the difference between wrong and right. When his country needs him as he shows in this film he will be there for the correct cause. His last line in this film, is a telling one, I'm paraphrasing it here, but it goes something like this "Will start over again." This film, makes one ask the question, how could any country sanction a sight that could create something so deadly, and which might, as we learn towards the end, might destroy life on earth? At the same time, while the film I think questions this, it does at least give us some comfort that our government agencies fighting terror might be able to stop it as shown by agents, beside Maharis, as being capable of stopping mad men through their hard work.

A great supporting cast helps the film as well, Richard Basehart is outstanding, and I just realized that Frank Sutton, (Sargent Carter) of GOMER PYLE fame, is one of the villains, and what a different role it is.

John Sturges in his direction, shows a man who knew how to direct an action film, and an entertaining one to boot. The film was also ahead of its time, in warning us that we had more to fear than just a hydrogen bomb, as that fear of the bomb I believe was coming to an end at the time. A flawed, but entertaining film, that still holds up some forty years latter.