The Domino Principle

The Domino Principle is a 1977 neo-noir thriller film starring Gene Hackman, Candice Bergen, Mickey Rooney and Richard Widmark. The film is based on the novel of the same name and was adapted for the screen by its author Adam Kennedy. It was directed and produced by Stanley Kramer. Kramer wrote in his memoirs that he "wouldn't be surprised" if Hackman, Bergen and Widmark "would prefer to remain as anonymous as the conspirators" in the film, adding "if I'm right, it's a feeling I share." Plot Roy Tucker, serving time in San Quentin for the murder of his wife's first husband, is introduced to a man named Tagge by Warden Ditcher. Over a series of interviews with Tagge and an associate named Pine, Tucker learns the two men represent a mysterious organization, and Tagge presents him with an offer: in exchange for helping him escape and start a new life, Tucker must work for the organization for a few weeks. Tucker is initially wary of the offer and confides in his cellmate Oscar Spiventa, who warns him that he is being groomed as an expendable hitman by "them", a nameless cabal that runs the country from the shadows. Tucker dismisses Spiventa as paranoid. In the end, Tucker is unable to resist the prospect of reuniting with his wife Ellie and decides to accept the offer. Spiventa turns down Tucker's invitation to come along during the escape, but changes his mind at the last second. With arrangements made for the prison staff to turn a blind eye, the two convicts are driven out the main gate in a bread delivery truck to a rendezvous point underneath the Golden Gate Bridge. The two organization agents there immediately kill Spiventa and take Tucker to the Hyatt Regency San Francisco, where he meets General Tom Reser, a confederate of Tagge and Pine. Tucker is allowed to enjoy himself in the city before he is taken to his wife. He learns from news broadcasts that Spiventa's body was found and authorities believe Tucker himself escaped to Canada. He also surreptitiously meets with his lawyer, Schnaible, only for Schnaible to turn up dead soon afterward. Tucker is flown to Puntarenas, Costa Rica, where he is given a bank account with $200,000 and a house to share with Ellie, who was led to believe that Tucker had been released from prison pending a new trial. After a few idyllic days, Tagge, Pine, and Reser return the couple to Los Angeles.