A new issue of the British film magazine Cinema Retro arrived in my mailbox yesterday and it might be my favorite issue yet. I’ve been feeling under the weather lately, but flipping through a new issue of Cinema Retro overstuffed with fantastic color photos from ’60s and ’70s era films can cheer me right up.
I’m tempted to refer to issue #10 as the “Blond Bombshell” issue since it contains articles on no less then four fabulous blond starlets including Susan George, Joy Harmon, Doris Day and gorgeous cover girl Elke Sommer. Elke has long been one of my favorite actresses and Cinema Retro #10 features an extensive look at one of her best films, Ralph Thomas’s super spy thriller Deadlier Than the Male (1967). Besides lots of amazing photos from the film you’ll find a piece called In Conversation with Elke Sommer where she discusses her experiences while making the movie. The article also mentions that Elke will be appearing regularly in upcoming issues discussing her life and career in film, which I’m really looking forward to reading.
Other highlights from issue #10 include an insightful look at one of my favorite British films from the sixties, Michael Winner’s smart satire about the world of advertising called I’ll Never Forget What’s’isname (1967), which starred the great Oliver Reed in one of his best roles as an angry young man working for an advertising agency while trying to manage his chaotic love life. Orson Welles also has a memorable role in the film as Reed’s ex-boss who tries to lure him back to the company once he gives up advertising to write for a small literary magazine.
Top: Doris Day and Oliver Reed
Bottom: Peter Cushing and Susan George
In the new issue there is also a firsthand account of the 50th Anniversary celebration of the release of Hammer’s first color film The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) that was held at Bray Studios last summer, a fascinating look at cuts that were made to Sam Peckinpah’s controversial film Straw Dogs (1971), as well as the magazine’s ongoing features on special effects wizard Ray Harryhausen, the actress and Bond girl Luciana Pauluzzi, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. star David McCallum and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. films, which were recently shown on Turner Movie Classics here in the states.
Naturally there’s lots more to read in Cinema Retro #10 such as soundtrack reviews and various bits of film related news and information. I’m sure the new issue is going to sell out fast so grab it while you can. It has inspired me to revisit some of my favorite Elke Sommer movies so you can expect me to be writing more about the actress and her films in the future.
In the meantime check out my previous posts about Cinema Retro and visit the magazine’s official site for more information on how you can get yourself a copy of the latest issue. The web’s great, but please continue to support print magazines!
Anne Francis as Honey West with her pet ocelot (1965)
Honey West is one of my favorite television shows from the sixties and I just discovered that VCI Entertainment will be releasing the entire short-lived series on DVD sometime in 2008. The series has been available in the U.K. on PAL Region 2 DVD for awhile now, but this will mark the first time that Honey West has been released on DVD in the U.S.
The fabulous Anne Francis plays Honey West, a beautiful judo expert who holds a black belt in karate. After inheriting her late father’s high-tech detective agency, Honey and her partner Sam Bolt (John Ericson) become crime fighters who use lots of James Bond style gadgets and weapons to stop the criminals they go after. Naturally Honey also uses her seductive charms and wits to stop various villians as well. Honey West had a cute, but deadly exotic cat as a pet and she often wore animal prints and fabulous sixties fashions on the show. Anne Francis looks amazing in Honey West, which is a lot of fun to watch. In many ways she resembled an American version of the lovely Honor Blackman from the season two of The Avengers.
If you enjoy great television shows like The Avengers or The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., you’ll probably enjoy Honey West as well. Unfortunately the show only aired for one season in 1965, but all 30 episodes are scheduled to be released on DVD by VCI Entertainment. To get a taste of what to expect from this terrific series check out the opening credits from the show below:
During the sixties there were literally thousands of spy spoofs made following the popularity of the early James Bond films. One of the silliest of these was Norman Abbott’s Last of the Secret Agents? (1966), which was the first and last film that attempted to make cinema stars out of the comedy team Allen & Rossi (Marty Allen & Steve Rossi). Allen & Rossi were a comedic duo that became popular on the Ed Sullivan Show during The Beatles’ heyday and they were patterned after Martin & Lewis (Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis), but their style of comedy was becoming rather dated as the sixties wore on. Last of the Secret Agents? was butchered by critics on its initial release and Allen & Rossi never appeared in a film together again. They ended their partnership in 1969 and Last of the Secret Agents? was basically forgotten.
The years have not been kind to the film and as far as I know Last of the Secret Agents? has never been released on video, much less DVD. A quick look at the film’s IMDb page shows that most viewers have given the film a 3 star rating out of a possible 10 and the comments are less then flattering, but I happen to think the movie is well worth a look if you enjoy slapstick style humor and silly sight gags, as well as sixties spy spoofs. The film doesn’t contain much comedic gold, but it’s also not the unwatchable mess that so many critics seem to think it is. If you enjoy Mel Brooks’ style of humor or the Austin Powers films you’ll probably find yourself laughing a few times while watching Last of the Secret Agents? and if you like fun-filled spy capers with good soundtracks and stylish wardrobes, then you might actually enjoy the film as much as I do.
Top: Marty Allen
Bottom: Steve Rossi with twins Kay & Ann Hughes
The plot involves Marty Allen and Steve Rossi as two American ex-pats looking for work in Europe. They soon discover that they’ve been unwillingly used as couriers for art thieves who are part of an evil organization known as THEM. They get recruited by the GGI (Good Guys Inc.) and help concoct a plan to put an end to the criminal activities of THEM. Naturally lots of chase scenes and fights take place in the process. Like any good spy film there are plenty of beautiful women that help and hinder the two stars. The film also contains a musical number performed by Steve Rossi and it ends with an appearance of Allen & Rossi on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Allen & Rossi try hard to make the film work, but they’re no Martin & Lewis and they end up being one of the film’s main problems. They don’t seem to have much chemistry here and the jokes they deliver often fall flat. I’m not sure if it’s the fault of the comedy team or the writers, but it’s a shame that the script didn’t seem to really give them an opportunity to show off whatever made audiences enjoy their stand up act so much. Since Allen & Rossi are the stars of the movie I think it’s easy for viewers to get caught up in their rather lackluster delivery and overlook all the funny performances from their costars, which is a shame.
The talented character actor Theodore Marcuse is really terrific here and especially funny as the evil mastermind Zoltan Schubach who heads THEM. His character is obviously inspired by the notorious Bond villain known as Ernst Stavro Blofeld and I’m sure Mike Myers was inspired by Theodore Marcuse’s performance as Zoltan Schubach in Last of the Secret Agents? when he created the character of Dr. Evil for the Austin Powers movies. The great British actor John Williams lends a nice sense of gravitas to the proceedings and the very funny Harvey Korman even shows up in a brief, but memorable bit as an actor playing a frazzled German Colonel.
Top: Nancy Sinatra and Carmen Dell’Orefice
Bottom: Susan Jean and Thordis Brandt
The film also features plenty of lovely female co-stars. Nancy Sinatra gets top billing here, but unfortunately she doesn’t get enough screen time. She plays Steve Rossi’s neglected love interest and she ends up spending most of her time in the film trying to get him to notice her. Rossi is a good-looking guy, but I couldn’t believe that he would turn down Nancy’s marriage proposals even if she would have gotten in the way of his swinging lifestyle. Fashion icon Carmen Dell’Orefice is really wonderful as the wicked Baby May Zoftig and she vamps it up on the set as much as possible. Unfortunately she only has a few lines in the film and I wish the director had given her more to do. Other sixties starlets and femme fatales in Last of the Secret Agents? include Russ Meyer’s lovely wife Edy Williams and the actress Thordis Brandt.
Besides the lackluster performances of the films stars Allen & Rossi, Last of the Secret Agents? is not without some other obvious problems. The stale looking set designs often make the movie look more like a television production instead of a feature length film. The movie would have really benefited from being shot on location in Europe. Last but not least, someone also should have hired a dialogue coach for the cast. There are a lot of actors in the film trying to sound like they weren’t born in America and most of them fail terribly. Since Last of the Secret Agents? is a comedy I find it easy to overlook the bad accents, but they can still be a little jarring at times.
With all its problems, Last of the Secret Agents? still has a lot to offer potential viewers including one of the funniest opening sequences that I’ve ever seen in any spy spoof. There’s also a terrific long running sight gag that takes place on a train that is very clever and just plain fun to watch. The pop art style of the film gives it a comic book feel at times and the soundtrack by Pete King and Neal Hefti is really terrific.
Top: Carmen Dell’Orefice and Theodore Marcuse
Bottom: Theodore Marcuse and evil members of THEM
The film also boasts a wonderful theme song composed by Lee Hazlewood and sung by Nancy Sinatra. I personally think it’s one of Sinatra & Hazelwood’s best songs and it was released the same year that they released their huge hit single “These Boots Are Made for Walkin.” Unfortunately the title song for Last of the Secret Agents? wasn’t a big hit and I’m sure the movies lackluster reception was a factor. In retrospect, the theme song is just as good as any of Sinatra & Hazelwood’s early recordings so I can’t understand why the song didn’t become more popular after its release.
Before making Last of the Secret Agents? director Norman Abbott had previously made a name for himself working on popular television shows like Leave It to Beaver, McHale’s Navy and The Munsters. For better or worse, he brings that same comedy sense to Last of the Secret Agents? and as I mentioned above, the film often suffers from the somewhat stale television-like quality of the production.
Last of the Secret Agents? would become a minor launching point for some of the cast and crew to go on to bigger and better spy-related productions. Norman Abbott would return to television and direct episodes of the entertaining spy spoof Get Smart and Nancy Sinatra would go on to record the popular theme song for the James Bond film You Only Live Twice in 1967. Theodore Marcuse had acted in other spy spoofs before making Last of the Secret Agents? but afterward he appeared in the Doris Day spy comedy The Glass Bottom Boat and television shows like The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Wild Wild West, before his unfortunate and untimely death in a car accident in 1967.
It’s a shame that Last of the Secret Agents? isn’t available on DVD and is rarely shown on television anymore. With the popularity of the Austin Powers films, as well as current interest in the James Bond series, I personally hope that Paramount will consider releasing the movie in the future. It deserves to be seen by a wider audience that might enjoy its silly charms now that over 40 years have passed since the films initial release.
I recently discovered Mort Todd’s terrific website Go Sadistik which is devoted to the diabolikal super-kriminal Sadistik (also known as Kriminal, Kilink and Killing). The site is well worth a look if you enjoy sexy sixties era pulp-style crime thrillers as much as I do.
I first read about the Sadistik / Kriminal / Kilink films in Pete Tombs’ great book Mondo Macabro : Weird & Wonderful Cinema Around the World back in 1998 but they seemed impossible to find then. Thankfully that has changed in recent years with companies like Onar Films making the Turkish Kilink movies easily available.
The history of Sadistik is long, complicated and incredibly convoluted, but at the Go Sadistik site Mort Todd does a good job of explaining how the character of Sadistik went from being an Italian comic book anti-hero inspired by Diabolik and created by Max Bunker (pen name for the Italian artist Luciano Secchi) to being the star of his own films in Europe and Turkey. Besides information about the history of Sadistik and the various films, you can find detailed profiles of all the actors involved in the movies there and some eye-popping galleries featuring amazing cover art from the original photo story magazines.
Mort Todd is currently publishing a wonderful bi-lingual Sadistik tribute magazine with co-editor Roberto Barreiro called Killing Time that is filled with lots of great articles and info. The first issue is currently available as a PDF file which you can download for free right from the site and it’s really a must read! You’ll also find free download sample pages from the classic Sadistik photo novels that Mort Todd is translating and publishing in association with Comicfix.
Comicfix and Mort Todd are also helping to promote Italian director SS-Sunda’s documentary about the history of Sadistik called Diabolikal Super-Kriminal which is currently in production. They’ve recently released a nice looking trailer for the upcoming film that you can watch below.
Besides the Go Sadistik website, Mort Todd and director SS-Sunda both have blogs which I also recommend visiting if you’re like me and can’t get enough of Sadistik:
The latest issue of Cinema Retro recently arrived in my mailbox and I think it’s one of their best issues yet. It has lots of great articles that will appeal to anyone who enjoys sixties and seventies era films as much as I do. I’ve mentioned before how much I love this magazine, but if I haven’t convinced you to become a subscriber yet, you really should reconsider it. Cinema Retro rightfully calls itself “The essential guide to movies of the ‘60 & ’70s” so if you enjoy the kinds of films I write about here, you’ll definitely enjoy the magazine.
Issue #8 features a cover story about the terrific James Coburn Flint films called ‘Flint Unseen!” which includes lots of rare and never-before-seen photos and production stills from Our Man Flint (1966) and In Like Flint (1967). Other great spy related articles in this issue of Cinema Retro include Part II of an in-depth Interview with my favorite Man From U.N.C.L.E., David McCallum and an interview with the beautiful Bond Girl Luciana Paluzzi from Thunderball (1965). There is even an interesting article from Robert Sellers called “The Bond Film That Never Was” that offers an inside look at how Agent 007 almost came to the screen in a very different way.
You’ll also find terrific pieces about two of my favorite films, Mario Bava’s Danger: Diabolik (1968) and Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita (1960). Dave Brown’s tribute to Danger: Diabolik was fascinating to read and included information about the film that was new to me. I also really enjoyed reading film critic Shirley Sealey’s personal account of seeing La Dolce Vita when it was released in Italy and her brief meeting with Fellini.
The new issue also features a detailed behind-the-scenes look at the making of Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda’s classic motorcycle film Easy Rider (1969), information about the upcoming DVD release of the Steve McQueen film The Sand Pebbles (1966) and Part II of a tribute to Elvis Presley’s female film co-stars such as Nancy Sinatra, plus lots more including reviews of new DVDs, books and CDs that retro cinema enthusiasts like myself should really enjoy.
Cinema Retro has recently updated their website and if you haven’t checked out their current layout you should stop by and give the new site a look. You can also subscribe to the magazine and purchase back issues there.
A quick reprieve from my French obsessions to chat about my obsession with spies & secret agents…
I was recently the very lucky Grand Prize Winner of the first contest held over at Tanner’s wonderful Double O Section blog. I received a brand new Wild Wild West - The Complete Second Season DVD set in the mail on Monday and I couldn’t be more happy about it. Thanks Tanner!
The Wild Wild West has long been one of my favorite TV shows (but I must add that I loathe the Will Smith movie) and I actually prefer Season II of The Wild Wild West to Season I because the show gets more entertaining and just plain crazy at times. The earlier episodes were shot in black and white and they’re a little more subdued. The second season has a few more laughs and it’s shot in color, which adds a lot to the almost psychedelic inspired action that often takes place.
I’m really happy that the success of the recent James Bond film has led to a renewed interest in all things spy related. Lots of great old TV shows like The Wild Wild West and Jason King are now being released on DVD and many old films such as Kommisar X and Espionage In Tangiers are also finding their way onto DVD. This coming weekend there is even a 007 Film Festival happening in San Francisco that I would love to attend.
If you happen to be interested in spies and secret agents yourself, I highly recommend visiting Double O Section. Tanner knows his stuff and shares lots of great info about the latest spy films, books and anything else he comes across that is spy related. He’s also planning to hold other contests in the future.
Many groovy old British television shows have been finding their way onto PAL DVD recently in the UK, but most of them are not available in the US. This is really unfortunate, because there were lots of great television programs produced in Britain during the sixties and seventies, but many of them are almost unheard of outside of the UK. Thanks to Image Entertainment, Americans are finally able to see the popular British crime and espionage series Jason King which ran on British television in 1971-72 and it’s well worth a look if you enjoy other British shows such as The Avengers, Secret Agent Man, The Prisoner, The Saint and The Persuaders.
The Jason King series was a spin-off from another good British series called Department S, which featured a team of detectives who were able to solve the most impossible crimes. For some reason American audiences are getting Jason King on DVD first and I have no idea if we’ll ever see a DVD release of the Department S show in the US, but at least American audiences can now enjoy the exploits of the international man of mystery known as Jason King.
The series features the talented British actor Peter Wyngarde as the suave, witty pulp novelist and detective Jason King, who smoks a pipe and wears tailored suits that would have made Brian Jones envious. He seems to own an endless amount of ascots and beautiful ladies are constantly charmed by him. In the series Jason King wrote crime novels that featured a fictional character called Mark Caine and when he wasn’t writing his trashy novels, he was helping Scotland Yard solve crimes. The “real” world of Jason King often mixed with the fictional world of Mark Caine, which led to some interesting plot twists and laughs.
The show is well written and very entertaining, and it often spoofs the various James Bond type of thrillers that it takes its inspiration from. The humorous elements help keep the show interesting and give Peter Wyngarde plenty of opportunities to have fun with his character Jason King. The series also features lots of beautiful British actresses from the period such as Hammer glamour queens Ingrid Pitt, Yutte Stensgaard and Stephanie Beacham, as well as the lovely Alexandra Bastedo. It might be hard for modern audiences to understand Jason King’s appeal now, but back in the early seventies his big hair, thick mustache and low-cut shirts were considered very sexy.
Peter Wyngarde is a fascinating actor with an interesting background. He was the son of an English diplomat and spent much of his childhood moving around the world. In 1941 he was left in the care of another family living in Shanghai just as the Japanese military took over the city. Following his capture, the young Wyngarde spent four years imprisoned in the Lung-Hai prison camp where he experienced extreme brutality until he was finally rescued by British soldiers.
While Wyngarde was in college he started acting on the stage and finally begun appearing in movies in the early sixties. He was in two of Britain’s best horror films early in his career (The Innocents, 1960 and Night of the Eagle, a.k.a. Burn Witch Burn, 1962), and then went on to have a very successful career in television. He had guest roles in many of the decade’s best television shows including The Avengers, The Saint, I Spy, The Champions and The Prisoner, where he played Number Two in the infamous “Checkmate” episode before he got a starring role as Jason King in Department S. Wyngarde’s popularity on the show led him to star in his own series simply called Jason King.
During this period Peter Wyngarde even recorded an album called When Sex Leers Its Inquisitive Head which was released in 1970. The album is a strange mix of psychedelic, lounge and folk songs that include Wyngarde’s unusual spoken word lyrics. One of the record’s most memorable tracks is called Rape, where Wyngarde casually explains what rape means in different languages and cultures in 1970. It also includes a song called The Hippie and The Skinhead where Wyngarde reads a letter written by two skinhead girls and then goes on to describe a beating that skinheads give a “queer, pilly, sexy Hippy” named Billy. It’s impossible to take the songs completely seriously, but it seems that many people did. RCA had expected Wyngarde to record some kind of pop record where he crooned sexy songs to his many adoring female fans at the time, but instead they got an extremely odd and experimental album that sounds very campy now, but actually does contain some interesting music. When Sex Leers Its Inquisitive Head caused such a ruckus that it was pulled from record stores after only a few weeks and disappeared into obscurity until it was reissued on CD in 2001.
When Jason King went off the air in 1972 Pete Wyngarde was one of Britain’s most popular actors, but unfortunately his fame was short-lived. In 1975 he was arrested and convicted for an act of “gross indecency” with a truck driver in the bathroom of a British bus station. Sadly his career never really recovered from that and he had a hard time finding work as an actor in Britain. After losing his celebrity status, Wyngarde began acting and directing at the English Theater in Vienna and appeared on German television. In 1980 he had a role in Mike Hodges’ Flash Gordon as Klytus and since then Wyngarde has acted in a few worthwhile television programs like Doctor Who (1984) and Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense (1986), but for the past 14 years he hasn’t seemed to have done much.
It’s impossible to measure the influence that Peter Wyngarde’s Jason King has had on popular British culture. Mike Myers has signaled out Jason King as one of the main influences for his popular Austin Powers films and Jason King has been the inspiration behind many interesting comic book characters including Fireball from Beano’s Bullet series, Jason Wyngarde from John Byrne’s hugely popular Uncanny X-Men series and Mr. Six from Grant Morrison’s brilliant, but brief comic book series The Invisibles.
American audiences now have a chance to enjoy the entertaining Jason King series for themselves with the release of the show on DVD last week. The new Image Entertainment DVD set is very bare-bones, but it includes all 26 episodes of the show without any extras. The picture quality is a little rough on some episodes, but considering that this is a British television series from 1971 shot on 16 mm film, I’m just happy to have access to it. Hopefully it will be successful enough to warrant the release of the Department S series in the future.
Espionage in Tangier (1965) & Cool, It Carol! (1970)
Just wanted to remind any readers who might visit this blog that I’m also a regular contributor to Cinedelica, which is a great international site with lots of information about cult films.
At Cinedelica you can also find lots of news and information about new and old cinema, book reviews, festival updates and great Cult Clips from many unusual and entertaining films.
I’ve recently become a regular contributor to a great new cinema site called Cinedelica. If you like cult films as well as interesting news and information about movies from around the world, please stop by and give this terrific new site a look!
Cinedelica is an international site and a lot of it’s focus is on what’s happening in the U.K. and Europe, but I’ll be contributing news and information about cinema from an American perspective.
I’ll be posting news, information & reviews at Cinedelica at least 5 days a week so please check back there frequently for updates. Of course I’ll also continue to update Cinebeats and I hope to share some thoughts about film composer Ennio Morricone before the week is over in honor of the upcoming Lifetime Achievement Oscar he’ll be receiving at this year’s Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, Feb. 25th.
Honey West is one of my favorite television shows from the sixties and I just discovered that 
During the sixties there were literally thousands of spy spoofs made following the popularity of the early James Bond films. One of the silliest of these was Norman Abbott’s Last of the Secret Agents? (1966), which was the first and last film that attempted to make cinema stars out of the comedy team Allen & Rossi (Marty Allen & Steve Rossi). Allen & Rossi were a comedic duo that became popular on the Ed Sullivan Show during The Beatles’ heyday and they were patterned after Martin & Lewis (Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis), but their style of comedy was becoming rather dated as the sixties wore on. Last of the Secret Agents? was butchered by critics on its initial release and Allen & Rossi never appeared in a film together again. They ended their partnership in 1969 and Last of the Secret Agents? was basically forgotten.
back in 1998 but they seemed impossible to find then. Thankfully that has changed in recent years with companies like 
and created by Max Bunker (pen name for the Italian artist Luciano Secchi) to being the star of his own films in Europe and Turkey. Besides information about the history of Sadistik and the various films, you can find detailed profiles of all the actors involved in the movies there and some eye-popping galleries featuring amazing cover art from the original photo story magazines.
The new issue also features a detailed behind-the-scenes look at the making of Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda’s classic motorcycle film Easy Rider (1969), information about the upcoming DVD release of the Steve McQueen film The Sand Pebbles (1966) and Part II of a tribute to Elvis Presley’s female film co-stars such as Nancy Sinatra, plus lots more including reviews of new DVDs, books and CDs that retro cinema enthusiasts like myself should really enjoy.
I was recently the very lucky Grand Prize Winner of the first contest held over at Tanner’s wonderful 
DVD set in the mail on Monday and I couldn’t be more happy about it. Thanks Tanner!
which ran on British television in 1971-72 and it’s well worth a look if you enjoy other British shows such as The Avengers, Secret Agent Man, The Prisoner, The Saint and The Persuaders.
, 1960 and 
, 1962), and then went on to have a very successful career in television. He had guest roles in many of the decade’s best television shows including The Avengers, The Saint, I Spy, The Champions and The Prisoner, where he played Number Two in the infamous “Checkmate” episode before he got a starring role as Jason King in Department S. Wyngarde’s popularity on the show led him to star in his own series simply called Jason King.
During this period Peter Wyngarde even recorded an album called 
which was released in 1970. The album is a strange mix of psychedelic, lounge and folk songs that include Wyngarde’s unusual spoken word lyrics. One of the record’s most memorable tracks is called Rape, where Wyngarde casually explains what rape means in different languages and cultures in 1970. It also includes a song called The Hippie and The Skinhead where Wyngarde reads a letter written by two skinhead girls and then goes on to describe a beating that skinheads give a “queer, pilly, sexy Hippy” named Billy. It’s impossible to take the songs completely seriously, but it seems that many people did. RCA had expected Wyngarde to record some kind of pop record where he crooned sexy songs to his many adoring female fans at the time, but instead they got an extremely odd and experimental album that sounds very campy now, but actually does contain some interesting music. When Sex Leers Its Inquisitive Head caused such a ruckus that it was pulled from record stores after only a few weeks and disappeared into obscurity until it was reissued on CD in 2001.
