You won't be disappointed!

Wonderfully offbeat film!

People are voting emotionally.

For having a relatively low budget, the film's style and overall art direction are immensely impressive.

The whole story is preposterous. The moment anyone in the British Embassy had an inkling that Andrews was romantically interested in - let alone emotionally involved with - a Russian espionage agent, she would be home on the first flight and FAREWELL FCO!Direction is incipient, Andrews tries her best but is better at comedy, and Sharif never really found his feet as an actor after debuting in Lawrence of Arabia, even his tearful Dr. Zhivago is difficult to rate as serious acting. Here he is a very dark Russian, in appearance and motivation and apparently never gets to see the light... which defines the pointlessness of the entire film. Photography is much too mediocre to save the film, the John Barry soundtrack is probably the best thing about THE TAMARIND WEED... and it is much too long. I fell asleep after 30 minutes, and had to rewind to watch the rest, only to fall asleep again. It took a third viewing, and that was a mistake, because the schmaltzy ending is - in my humble opinion - the worst part of a pretty poor flick.A generous 4/10

Blake Edwards made many entertaining films; some, like "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "Victor Victoria," retain their class and glamour, while others, like "The Tamarind Seed," aimed for those same qualities, but fell short. Opening titles by Maurice Binder and a score by John Barry evoke the feel of a James Bond film and underscore the espionage elements. Unfortunately, the film, which was also scripted by Edwards from a novel by Evelyn Anthony, is saddled with an insipid love story that overwhelms the action and sinks the plot, and the Cold War intrigue is too little and too late to save the movie. While Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif have star power, the pair do not have much chemistry. The prim and proper Andrews is too cool for the smoldering Sharif, who should have been better teamed with an Ava Gardner.Andrews plays Judith Farrow, an English widow, who works at the British Home Office and has access to sensitive information. After a failed love affair, she travels to Barbados to recover. Sharif is Feodor Sverdlov, a military attache to the Russian Embassy in London, who also goes to Barbados; but is he on holiday or out to recruit Andrews? His motives are ambiguous, and his unconvincing attraction to the chilly Andrews skews viewers to believe the worst. While Sharif pursues Andrews, back in London, Anthony Quayle and Dan O'Herlihy monitor the situation in Barbados for Her Majesty's Goverrnment, while the pursuit of a Russian mole in British intelligence simmers. O'Herlihy is a man of secrets, and Sylvia Syms as his ambitious wife snipes at her husband's gay orientation, while she pursues an affair with a young employee of Quayle. During their romantic trysts, Syms's paramour leaks confidential information to her during the pillow talk. Got all that? The supporting players, who also include Oscar Homolka as a Russian general, are professional, if unexceptional, although Syms is a cut above the others.Similar comments could be made about the film, professional, if unexceptional. "The Tamarind Seed" is certainly well made, but predictable. Sharif and Andrews go through the motions, know their lines, and hit their marks, but nothing ignites between them. The plot is similarly mundane. Although a James-Bond like song is heard, Andrews never has an opportunity to sing, which may disappoint her fans. The glossy film resembles other Blake Edwards films in its polish, but not in its entertainment value. Perhaps "The Tamarind Seed" is not the worst way to pass two hours, but all involved have done much better work.

I watched this as a reissue around 1978 and then a few more times on television in the early 80's. I watched it again yesterday and found it to be as good as I remember it if not better. The plot open with Julie Andrews who works in a sensitive job at the Foreign office on holiday in Barbados trying to recover from the death of her husband and a subsequent love affair with a married embassy employee. During the holiday she is romanced by a Russian working at the Russian embassy in France thereby raising suspicion that the russians are trying to recruit her. The romance and spy elements are played against a background of various love affairs and relationships which all tie up nicely in one plot strand at the end. Andews may be a few years too old for the part but her acting and that of the mostly British cast is uniformly excellent, with as often happens Quayle excelling, with only Sharif's performance occasionally appearing perfunctory. Excellent script and dialogue and a brilliant John Barry score make the film linger in the memory.. The film's ideology is in the right place ( pun intended) with the script being subtly, intelligently but unmistakeably anti communist, a unique ideological stand in the leftist seventies.

When a British civil servant strikes up a relationship with a member of the Russian intelligence she meets on holiday, the authorities on both sides grow increasingly alarmed. From the James Bond style opening credits to John Barry's gorgeous score, this is wonderful 70s spy territory. Who can be trusted? Is everyone who they seem or claim to be? Flitting between Paris and London, Granadas and Mercedes aplenty, Sharif is deliciously charming, relaxed and believable as Feodor Sverdlov. Each time we think we know what he's up to, he does or says something to make us doubt again. As a bitter and scheming diplomatic wife caught up in the subterfuge, Sylvia Syms steals every scene she's in, and well deserved the BAFTA nomination that year. Only Andrews looks uneasy, and whilst we believe Sharif's romantic intentions, she is so subdued throughout that we wonder whether it's meant or just wooden acting. Still, it's a great yarn, and worth a look.