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You can ask a Neopolitan Mastiff to do a Norwich Terrier's job of ratting, or ask a Bloodhound to run like a Saluki. And dogs being dogs - that is, creatures who aim to please us humans - they would do their darnedest to oblige, but they'd be out of their element. Such is the case with single dad James Wormold (Alec Guinness), a mild-mannered Englishman who sells vacuum cleaners in pre-revolutionary Cuba.
Feeling pressure to please his gorgeous teenage daughter, a head-turning blonde with expensive tastes in everything from clothing to horses, Wormold is recruited into espionage service by a fellow Brit, a suave secret agent named Hawthorne (Noel Coward). Of course, asking a vacuum cleaner salesman to be an international spy is asking a lot. But Wormold gamely takes on the challenge, and with a little help from his friend Dr. Hasselbacher (Burl Ives), begins inventing reports - fantastic ones.
Pretty soon, he's in way over his head. Meanwhile, back in London, the home office believes every word on his "intelligence" - although Hawthorne doubts the veracity of Wormold's drawing of a secret military installation because, well, it looks an awful lot like a gigantic vacuum cleaner.
Carol Reed's adaptation of the Graham Greene novel is, like all of Reed's films, brilliant. The dialogue crackles, but it's a voiceless actor who steals a key scene. He happens to be arguably the cutest Dachshund ever seen on film, and the survival of our hero depends on him. That little dog should've been out hunting badgers as Doxies were meant to do; he'll stay with you long after this movie ends.
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