Nathan Muir is the CIA's man in Near East Operations. It is his last day before retiring and he learns that an agent he has worked a lot with is about to be executed. When he realises that the company is not going to even try and save Tom Bishop, Muir uses his life savings to bribe a power company official to turn off the power at the prison. He forges the Director's signature and orders a rescue mission which succeeds.But earlier, we learn that he has callously arranged for Bishop's lady friend to be abducted and sent to the prison for the rest of her life.We can't decide whether he is a hero for saving Bishop's life (and the lady), or a devil for consigning her there in the first place. Brilliantly played by Robert Redford