The Assassination Bureau 1969

In the midst of London’s foggy streets in 1908, Sonia Winter (Diana Rigg), an intrepid journalist and women’s rights advocate, stumbles upon the clandestine world of Assassination Bureau Limited. Seeking to dismantle this ruthless organization, she commissions a hit on its enigmatic chairman, Ivan Dragomiloff (Oliver Reed), for a hefty £20,000, courtesy of her patron, Lord Bostwick.

To Sonia’s surprise, Dragomiloff is not outraged by the commission but rather sees it as an opportunity to turn the tables. As he explains, his bureau has traditionally been driven by moral principles, targeting despots and tyrants. However, more recently, his colleagues have prioritized financial gain over moral justifications. Seizing this chance to reclaim the bureau’s original ethos, Dragomiloff decides to accept his own demise and issues a challenge: kill him or he will eliminate them.

With Sonia in tow, Dragomiloff embarks on a perilous tour of Edwardian Europe, systematically eliminating the bureau’s senior members. Their first stop is Paris, where Dragomiloff assumes the persona of Le Comte and visits a notorious brothel. Unbeknownst to him, Sonia materializes, and they find themselves hiding in a laundry room as the staff prepares to blow it up with gas pipes. A police raid ensues, and they escape down the chute, leaving behind a booby trap that incinerates Lucoville when the door is finally smashed in.

Sonia finds herself under arrest while Dragomiloff makes his escape. Their next encounter takes place on a train to Zürich, where Popescu appears as a train waiter, attempting to take out Dragomiloff with a gun. However, the chairman outwits him by dousing his face with fiery brandy, courtesy of his cigar, and sends him jumping off the train to his demise.

In Zürich, Weiss, a bank manager, mistakes a suspicious customer for a terrorist and throws their bag into the street. Distracted by the commotion, Dragomiloff slips a real bomb onto the scene, claiming Weiss’s life in the ensuing chaos.

As the couple watches a grand military parade in Vienna unfold before their eyes, a sinister plot unfolds behind them. A man, seemingly intent on carrying out an assassination attempt, pulls out a pistol and takes aim at the Archduke perched on a balcony opposite - but it’s merely a diversionary tactic, designed to draw attention away from the true objective. Dragomiloff, ever the seasoned operative, remarks to Miss Winter that if “The Assassination Bureau” had taken on this assignment, the Archduke would undoubtedly still be alive today.

Meanwhile, in Venice, Cesare Spado, a member of the esteemed Assassination Bureau, meets his untimely demise after succumbing to poison administered by none other than his wife, Eleanora. With her lover Angelo’s assistance, she attempts to take out Dragomiloff as well, and subsequently enlists the services of Baron Muntzof to eliminate Miss Winter. However, Dragomiloff proves to be a formidable foe, not only surviving these multiple attempts on his life but also exacting brutal revenge upon both Angelo and Muntzof, ultimately rescuing Miss Winter from certain doom.

Eleanora Spado, now bereft of her husband’s protection, tries to leverage her knowledge of the Bureau’s existence in exchange for a handsome sum. Unfortunately for her, this desperate ploy only serves to earn her a death sentence at the hands of General Pinck and his Luger pistol, decreed by the Bureau itself.

Little do Dragomiloff and Miss Winter realize, their actions have inadvertently set the stage for Lord Bostwick (Telly Savalas), their sponsor and newspaper publisher, to orchestrate a sinister plot. As the vice-chairman of the Assassination Bureau, Bostwick has long harbored resentment towards its founder, who had chosen his son over him as the organization’s leader. Seeking revenge and a quick fortune, Bostwick concocts a plan to manipulate events from behind the scenes.

Bostwick and the remaining members of the Bureau hatch a scheme to exploit Europe’s fragile state by orchestrating a massive conflict, buying stocks in arms companies and then using the ensuing chaos to propel their financial interests. Their ultimate goal: to eliminate all European heads of state, paving the way for their own riches. They infiltrate a secret peace conference where the continent’s leaders are desperately attempting to prevent war following the accidental assassination of a Balkan prince - who had inadvertently been killed by a bomb intended for Dragomiloff.

As tensions reach a boiling point, Dragomiloff and Miss Winter stumble upon Bostwick’s diabolical plan. Their mission: to stop him from executing his sinister scheme, which involves using a hijacked Zeppelin airship to drop a massive aerial bomb directly onto the castle in Ruthenia where the peace conference is being held.

Without hesitation, Dragomiloff boards the airship and takes matters into his own hands, destroying the bomb while disposing of Lord Bostwick and the remaining members of his board. He exploits General Pinck’s one weakness - a sword duel challenge to the death - emerging victorious once again. As a hero, he is subsequently decorated by the very leaders he has saved, and with his reputation redeemed, he may now finally be able to tie the knot with Miss Winter.