Sebastian (1968 film)
| Sebastian | |
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| Directed by | David Greene |
| Produced by |
Michael Powell Herbert Brodkin Gerry Fisher |
| Written by | Gerald Vaughan-Hughes (screenplay) Leo Marks (story) |
| Starring |
Dirk Bogarde Susannah York Lilli Palmer John Gielgud |
| Music by | Jerry Goldsmith |
| Cinematography | Gerald Fisher, BSC |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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100 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Sebastian is a 1968 British film directed by David Greene, produced by Michael Powell, Herbert Brodkin and Gerry Fisher, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The motion picture is based on a story by Leo Marks, and Gerald Vaughan-Hughes wrote the screenplay.
Filmed in location in Oxford, London, Jodrell Bank and at Twickenham Film Studios, St Margarets, Twickenham, Middlesex, England, the film debuted in New York City, New York on 24 January 1968.
Mr. Sebastian is a former Oxford professor, who in the late 60s directs the all-female decoding office of British Intelligence. One day, while running through the streets of Oxford to attend the bestowing of an honorary degree on his friend the Prime Minister, Sebastian runs into Rebecca (Becky) Howard and her jeep. After insulting Sebastian on the spot, Becky is intrigued by him and follows him to the ceremony. After Becky is able to spell her own name backwards, he gives her a phone number to call if she wants an unspecified "job."
Becky calls the number, and after Sebastian's personal assistant Miss Elliott describes the job as being part of the "civil service," Becky is turned off by the idea. Overcoming her concerns, she calls again, and after a successful interview, obtains a job deciphering codes used by secret agents and foreign spies. Once settled in her new job, Becky slowly starts to fall for the aloof Mr Sebastian. However, problems arise when Gen. John Phillips, Head of Security, accuses Sebastian's senior Jewish decoder Elsa Shahn of being a poor security risk, because of her left-wing Communist leanings.
Sebastian convinces the Head of Intelligence to retain Shahn despite Phillips' objections, expressing how vital Shahn is to the decoding office and reaffirming that she enjoys his full confidence. Eventually, Becky and Sebastian engage in an affair, which upsets Sebastian's longtime girlfriend (and washed-up pop singer) Carol Fancy. Ultimately, Shahn betrays Sebastian's trust by providing recently decoded information to a left-wing political organisation. When confronted with the security breach by the Head of Intelligence and by Phillips' watchdog Jameson, Sebastian tenders his resignation and breaks up with Becky, thinking she was on to him. He leaves London and returns to his teaching position at Oxford University. Months later, Sebastian is visited at Oxford by the Head of Intelligence, who convinces Sebastian to return, temporarily, to the decoding office to help the Americans decipher some unidentified signals emanating from a Sputnik-type Russian spy satellite circling the earth. To prepare for this assignment, Sebastian visits a secret British eavesdropping installation, where he meets the American Ackerman (Donald Sutherland), who is working on the project.
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