# The Black Windmill
**The Black Windmill** is a 1974 British-American spy thriller directed and produced by [Don Siegel](https://www.edgepedia.org/don-siegel), in which [Michael Caine](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-caine) plays Major John Tarrant, a British intelligence agent whose young son is kidnapped and held for a ransom of diamonds.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/67564) • [2](https://storage.vernonpress.com/files/web/bab4beb8-45a7-4662-92ce-be3d22eeeb6a/1537766942.pdf) The screenplay by Leigh Vance adapts Clive Egleton's 1973 novel *Seven Days to a Killing*, and the film was produced in Britain by the Zanuck-Brown company for release by Universal.[2](https://storage.vernonpress.com/files/web/bab4beb8-45a7-4662-92ce-be3d22eeeb6a/1537766942.pdf) A critical and commercial failure on release, it has since been reassessed by some reviewers as an underrated entry in both Siegel's and Caine's filmographies.[3](https://blueprintreview.co.uk/2021/03/the-black-windmill/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 16 May 1974 (United Kingdom and United States); New York opening 16 May, Los Angeles 24 May[4](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67564-THE-BLACKWINDMILL?cp=1&cxt=Filmography3&pos=7&sid=01e808ce-5d41-415d-9b43-5bb3e67a150b&sr=0.092171535) |
| Source | *Seven Days to a Killing*, a 1973 spy novel by Clive Egleton; screenplay by Leigh Vance[2](https://storage.vernonpress.com/files/web/bab4beb8-45a7-4662-92ce-be3d22eeeb6a/1537766942.pdf) |
| Lead role | Michael Caine as Major John Tarrant of the Department of Subversive Warfare, a sub-section of MI6[2](https://storage.vernonpress.com/files/web/bab4beb8-45a7-4662-92ce-be3d22eeeb6a/1537766942.pdf) |
| Supporting cast | Donald Pleasence (Cedric Harper), Delphine Seyrig (Ceil Burrows), John Vernon, Janet Suzman, Joss Ackland, Clive Revill, Catherine Schell, Joseph O'Conor[5](https://kinolorber.com/film/the-black-windmill-special-edition) |
| Technical | 106 minutes, Technicolor, Panavision, MPAA rating PG; music by Roy Budd, cinematography by Ousama Rawi, editing by Antony Gibbs[4](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67564-THE-BLACKWINDMILL?cp=1&cxt=Filmography3&pos=7&sid=01e808ce-5d41-415d-9b43-5bb3e67a150b&sr=0.092171535) |
| Production | Shot 25 June to early October 1973; production company the Zanuck/Brown Company; budget US$1,500,000[4](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67564-THE-BLACKWINDMILL?cp=1&cxt=Filmography3&pos=7&sid=01e808ce-5d41-415d-9b43-5bb3e67a150b&sr=0.092171535) • [6](https://filmradar.nl/waar-kijken/the-black-windmill-1974) |
| Reception | 57% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (7 reviews), a Metascore of 50, and 6.3/10 on IMDb[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/black_windmill) • [8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-black-windmill/critic-reviews/) • [9](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071229/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The story concerns Tarrant, a spycatcher whose son is kidnapped by an arms-trafficking gang demanding a ransom in uncut diamonds. The demand, well over a million dollars' worth, exactly matches the sum Tarrant's intelligence unit was about to use against an arms-smuggling plot, so the kidnappers' knowledge of the precise figure points to a leak at the highest level of security.[10](https://time.com/archive/6845204/cinema-quick-cuts-25/) When his superiors refuse to pay, Tarrant steals the diamonds intended for use against an arms ring supported by the KGB to pay the ransom himself. He is outsmarted by the criminals, relieved of the jewels, and arrested for the theft. While the prisoner is on his way back to Britain, a gang led by Drabble ([John Vernon](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-vernon)) arranges his escape, planning to do away with him. Tarrant eludes the killers during a night-time chase through Paris, tracks the gang to a deserted windmill in the south of England, rescues his son, and exposes the traitor at the top, Sir Edward Julian (Joseph O'Conor). The action is set against a family melodrama in which Tarrant deals with his disintegrating marriage to Alex (Janet Suzman).[2](https://storage.vernonpress.com/files/web/bab4beb8-45a7-4662-92ce-be3d22eeeb6a/1537766942.pdf)
Sources differ on John Vernon's character name: the trade and database listings give McKee,[11](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071229/fullcredits/) while the scholarly account of the spy thriller calls the gang leader Drabble.[2](https://storage.vernonpress.com/files/web/bab4beb8-45a7-4662-92ce-be3d22eeeb6a/1537766942.pdf)
## Production
[Richard D. Zanuck](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-d-zanuck) and David Brown, the producers of *The Sting* and later *Jaws*, acquired Egleton's novel a year before its publication, in November 1972, and Don Siegel was reported as director and producer that December.[4](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67564-THE-BLACKWINDMILL?cp=1&cxt=Filmography3&pos=7&sid=01e808ce-5d41-415d-9b43-5bb3e67a150b&sr=0.092171535) • [3](https://blueprintreview.co.uk/2021/03/the-black-windmill/) The shoot was problematic. Preparations were wrecked by a screenwriters' strike in America, Siegel found the British special-effects technicians and stuntmen lacking in expertise, and he believed he received only lukewarm support from Universal. He felt lumbered with the release title, which he found meaningless because the climax unfolds at distinctive twin windmills, neither of which is black. The film received little push from the distributor, and Siegel ended his relationship with Universal.[2](https://storage.vernonpress.com/files/web/bab4beb8-45a7-4662-92ce-be3d22eeeb6a/1537766942.pdf)
Filming took place in Britain and France. Kent locations included the Ramsgate Hoverport and Pegwell Bay,[12](https://kentfilmoffice.co.uk/filmed-in-kent/tag/the-black-windmill-film-locations/) and the film features [London Underground](https://www.edgepedia.org/london-underground) scenes shot at the then-closed Aldwych station and at Holborn, with signage dressing Holborn's Aldwych branch platform as [Shepherd's Bush](https://www.edgepedia.org/shepherds-bush).[13](https://railwaymoviedatabase.com/the-black-windmill/) The score was composed by Roy Budd, known for *Get Carter*.[5](https://kinolorber.com/film/the-black-windmill-special-edition)
## Reception
**Contemporary criticism.** The film opened to general disappointment. Roger Ebert of the *Chicago Sun-Times* gave it 2 of 4 stars, writing that it "commits the one crime no thriller can be pardoned for. It's not thrilling," and that Siegel directs Caine "almost to a standstill."[14](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-black-windmill-1975) *Time* called it an "odd, superior little thriller" whose first half "has the texture of steel," praising [Donald Pleasence](https://www.edgepedia.org/donald-pleasence)'s "true virtuoso turn," but judged that the picture degenerates into melodrama in its later portion.[10](https://time.com/archive/6845204/cinema-quick-cuts-25/) Penelope Gilliatt of *The New Yorker* wrote that the film "is full of set pieces that are nearly up to 007 at his groomed best" and that Caine "makes peril seem real."[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/black_windmill) The *Monthly Film Bulletin* compared it favorably with [Graham Greene](https://www.edgepedia.org/graham-greene) and called it a "highly professional" production.[2](https://storage.vernonpress.com/files/web/bab4beb8-45a7-4662-92ce-be3d22eeeb6a/1537766942.pdf) The common critical line was that Siegel, fresh from *Dirty Harry* and *Madigan*, had failed to bring his usual flair to the lone-wolf intelligence agent.[2](https://storage.vernonpress.com/files/web/bab4beb8-45a7-4662-92ce-be3d22eeeb6a/1537766942.pdf)
**Aggregate scores.** The film holds a 57% Tomatometer score from 7 critics and a 38% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes,[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/black_windmill) a Metascore of 50 based on 6 critic reviews,[8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-black-windmill/critic-reviews/) and 6.3/10 from about 3,700 users on IMDb.[9](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071229/)
**Television and home video.** The film's BBC1 premiere on 1 September 1979 drew 19.4 million viewers, ranking fifth among the highest-rated feature-film transmissions on British television from 1970 to 1979.[15](https://shura.shu.ac.uk/10192/3/Hall_Sex_spies_and_Shirley_Temple.pdf) Kino Lorber released a Special Edition Blu-ray in the United States in December 2018, and 101 Films issued the film on UK Blu-ray in March 2021.[16](https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Black-Windmill-Blu-ray/210346/) • [3](https://blueprintreview.co.uk/2021/03/the-black-windmill/)
## Assessment
Later reviewers have been more generous than the original critics. Time Out argued that the film is "a much more coherent work than it is given credit," a playful piece at the expense of the British stiff upper lip, made with "a discerning American's eye for London."[17](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-black-windmill) The 2021 [Blueprint](https://www.edgepedia.org/blueprint) review called it "a gripping, tautly directed thriller" ripe for rediscovery, while noting that the film is at times too efficient for its own good, with characters crossing borders at a click and one rushed, anticlimactic death.[3](https://blueprintreview.co.uk/2021/03/the-black-windmill/) Dennis Schwartz praised Caine's "marvelous low-key performance" while acknowledging plot holes and an at-times incoherent climax.[18](https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/blackwindmill/) Ebert's contemporary diagnosis, that Siegel directed Caine as if he were [Clint Eastwood](https://www.edgepedia.org/clint-eastwood), an actor of emotional force rather than shading, remains the most quoted explanation of the film's flatness.[14](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-black-windmill-1975)
## References
1. [The Black Windmill (1974), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/67564)
2. [The Spy Thriller in the Cinema, Vernon Press](https://storage.vernonpress.com/files/web/bab4beb8-45a7-4662-92ce-be3d22eeeb6a/1537766942.pdf)
3. [The Black Windmill, Blueprint: Review (2021)](https://blueprintreview.co.uk/2021/03/the-black-windmill/)
4. [The Black Windmill, AFI Catalog full record](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67564-THE-BLACKWINDMILL?cp=1&cxt=Filmography3&pos=7&sid=01e808ce-5d41-415d-9b43-5bb3e67a150b&sr=0.092171535)
5. [The Black Windmill (Special Edition), Kino Lorber](https://kinolorber.com/film/the-black-windmill-special-edition)
6. [The Black Windmill, FilmRadar.nl](https://filmradar.nl/waar-kijken/the-black-windmill-1974)
7. [The Black Windmill, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/black_windmill)
8. [The Black Windmill critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-black-windmill/critic-reviews/)
9. [The Black Windmill (1974), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071229/)
10. [Cinema: Quick Cuts, Time (June 3, 1974)](https://time.com/archive/6845204/cinema-quick-cuts-25/)
11. [The Black Windmill (1974) full cast and crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071229/fullcredits/)
12. [The Black Windmill film locations, Kent Film Office](https://kentfilmoffice.co.uk/filmed-in-kent/tag/the-black-windmill-film-locations/)
13. [The Black Windmill, British Railway Movie Database](https://railwaymoviedatabase.com/the-black-windmill/)
14. [The Black Windmill movie review, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-black-windmill-1975)
15. [JICTAR/BARB top-rated feature-film transmissions 1970-79, Sheffield Hallam University](https://shura.shu.ac.uk/10192/3/Hall_Sex_spies_and_Shirley_Temple.pdf)
16. [The Black Windmill Blu-ray (Special Edition), Blu-ray.com](https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Black-Windmill-Blu-ray/210346/)
17. [The Black Windmill, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-black-windmill)
18. [Black Windmill, The, Dennis Schwartz Reviews](https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/blackwindmill/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 1970s films*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license