This film was a vehicle for both Moore and Perkins to try to escape typecasting. Previously Moore had been practically typecast as a womanising, happy-go-lucky playboy in such series as The Saint, The Persuaders! and James Bond. In contrast to those parts, he is shown here as a bearded, eccentric, arrogant cat-loving, misogynist showing heroic qualities as a master strategist. Moore once said in an interview that he preferred this film to all the James Bond movies he had starred in while acknowledging that he had been miscast in the lead role.