In The Tamarind Seed (1974), Omar Sharif played Feodor Sverdlov, a Soviet official who, while on holiday in Barbados, falls in love with a British Home Office employee, played by Julie Andrews. Directed by Blake Edwards, the film is a romantic thriller of the Cold War, in which love and loyalty are tested by politics.
Feodor is charming, intelligent and sincere, and Sharif plays him with a warmth that makes the romance believable, even as both characters are watched by their own governments. The film, based on Evelyn Anthony’s novel, gave Sharif a leading romantic role opposite Andrews, and it remains a favourite among his fans for its Barbados setting and its gentle, old-fashioned romance.