From prominent sixties and seventies director J. Lee Thompson comes this 'red menace' film where Oscar winner Gregory Peck plays a Nobel Prize winning scientist named Dr. John Hathaway. When the movie begins, the government of the United States has enlisted Hathaway's help – it seems that the Chinese have almost finished development of a powerful growth enzyme that will allow them to grow wheat anywhere even under the harshest of weather conditions. This will give them some serious control over the world's food supply and they'll be able to throw their weight around and maybe even take over the world. Uncle Sam is none too happy about that, which is where Hathaway comes in. You see, the lead Chinese scientist on this project is one Dr. Soing Li, an old acquaintance of Hathaway's. The government decides to send him in to pose as a traitor in hopes of Hathaway being able to get the secret from Soing Li and bring it back to the U.S.A. before the Chinese can finish it. So serious is this issue that the Americans have opted to work with the U.S.S.R. on this project to assure that it gets taken care of properly.

Before the feds ship Hathaway off to China, they install a transmitter in his head that will allow them to listen in on his conversations. He's okay with this as he knows it'll help him get the job done. What Hathway doesn't realize is that the government has also installed a bomb in his head, so that if he's found out or captured they can kill him remotely before he can talk. Hathaway's knowledge is so great that he could very well hold the key that the Chinese need to finish things up, so they don't want to chance anything.

Hathaway makes it in, reunites with Soing Li, and even convinces the current Chairman that he's on the up and up. Things seem to be going well until Soing Li is accused of being a traitor and the resulting turmoil causes him to take his own life. Before he killed himself, however, he gave his foxy daughter a book of Mao Tse Tung's teachings and hidden inside this book, in code that only he and Hathaway could possibly understand, is the formula. Hathaway soon finds out that he has to get this book and make it from China to the Russian border before the Chinese figure out what he's up to or the Americans decide to detonate the bomb in his head. He's going to have to go this one alone as sending in any troops or firing even a single shot could start a war.

A fascinating and completely paranoid look at the political climate of the late sixties, The Chairman has not aged so well. It plays to some rather ugly stereotypes and it isn't the most politically correct of films. That being said, it's also a whole lot of fun. With the world have changed a lot in the last three or four decades, it's easy to forget how things were when this film was made and how scary things might have seemed (not that the world is any less scary today – it's just scary for different reasons) to the average Joe on the street. With that in mind, it's hard to grasp how the film could have played up to those fears during its era. The politics are interesting in that even if the Chinese are the villains, the script does allow for some thought provoking moments where they are able to make a bit of a case for their beliefs. If they are the bad guys, they're at least not portrayed as completely inhuman

Thankfully, none of the entertainment value that the film provides has been lost. Peck is still great in the lead, playing his part with style and wit and coming across as ever so brave and noble. Thompson's direction is also strong, as it keeps things moving at a really good pace ensuring that even during the quieter moments, of which there are a few, things are never boring even if they do get a little too talky in spots. The whole thing is played very straight despite some Bond-ish borrowings here and there (the bedroom scene for one!) but there is definitely some minor camp appeal here, particularly in some of the science employed in the movie. The ending is quite tense and very exciting, which makes up for the aforementioned talkier bits with ease. Not a classic, despite Fox's banner on the top of the packaging, but a fun and entertaining spy thriller none the less.

Video:

Fox's 2.35.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is good, but it isn't perfect. First off, there's a bit too much in the way of visible blemishes on the print used for this transfer in addition to some moderate grain. The image is pretty sharp and the colors are good but a little more effort in the clean up department would have gone a long way to making this look better than it does on this DVD. There's also a bit of edge enhancement visible in a few scenes that isn't too distracting but is noticeable none the less. Thankfully there aren't any compression artifacts and the detail levels are fine. This is, when the dust settles, a good transfer of an old movie, though there was definitely some room left for improvement.