The Executioner is a 1970 British cold war neo noir spy thriller film directed by Sam Wanamaker in Panavision and starring George Peppard as secret agent John Shay who suspects his colleague Adam Booth, played by Keith Michell, is a double agent. In the film, Peppard's character tries to prove the double role of his colleague to his spy-masters and when he fails to do so he kills him. It was produced by Charles H. Schneer for Columbia Pictures and filmed in Panavision and Eastmancolor.

Samuel Wanamaker,, was an American actor and director who moved to the United Kingdom after becoming fearful of being blacklisted in Hollywood due to his communist views in the 1950s. He became extensively involved in English theater, while continuing film and television work, eventually returning to some Hollywood productions while remaining based in the UK. There, he is also credited as the person most responsible for saving The Rose Theatre, which led to the modern recreation of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London, where he is commemorated in the name of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, the site's second theatre. He was awarded an honorary knighthood for his work.