spy-fi channel

2011-11-04T03:32:00.000-04:00

I don't hate it.

Review: BALLISTICA (2009)

2011-10-10T23:35:00.001-04:00

For the last few years, I've been watching the many sci-fi mockbusters and megamonster movies of The Asylum and thinking that Paul Logan, who has had supporting or co-starring roles in many of the studio's productions (TERMINATORS, MEGAFAULT, MEGA PIRANHA, et al) would make a great 80's-styled action hero. He's ruggedly good looking, physically fit, has some mad fighting skillz, and even some genuine screen presence. But The Asylum has never released a straight-forward, contemporary action flick... until now. And that action flick, BALLISTICA (2009), is a genuine star vehicle for the aforementioned Mister Logan.

About time. But... was I right? Does Logan make a good action hero? Let's see....

Logan is "Damian," a CIA agent trained in ballistica, a form of martial arts that combines hand-to-hand combat moves with gunplay - a sort of "gun-fu, " if you will. As the movie opens, he's on a one-man raid of some sort of scientific facility in Russia, where he is searching for a deadly "micropulse warhead," a "genetic bomb" that causes people in its blast radius to literally explode, while leaving structures and technology unscathed. Unfortunately, the weapon isn't there, and all he gets away with is a pretty American physicist named Alexa (C.B. Spencer) who claims she didn't know what she was working on. Turns out that the warhead is in the hands of a dangerous terrorist named Dragomir (Andrew Divoff, LOST, THE WISHMASTER), so Damian is ordered by his C.I.A. superiors (Martin Kove, KARATE KID and Robert Davi, LICENCE TO KILL, MANIAC COP 2) to hunt down the mad Russian and retrieve the weapon, with Alexa at his side.

I wish I could say that BALLISTICA's a great little action movie, but unfortunately, that's not the case. It doesn't suck, but an espionage action flick should have some scope and a strong forward momentum, and BALLISTICA doesn't have that. The best spy thrillers have their heroes jetting around the world to exotic international locales, but this one stays firmly planted in L.A., even when the filmmakers would have us believe otherwise. The low budget and reliance on cheap CGI for explosions, muzzle flashes, flying bullets and other pyrotechnics, undercuts the film's effectiveness, especially since the action scenes as a whole are underwhelming. Logan's got some decent moves, but it's clear that most of his opponents don't, leading to some lethargically-paced and blandly-choreographed fights. The titular martial art, ballistica, is also unimpressive, with one scene consisting of two "masters" just running at each other, firing pistols wildly while pretending to dodge CGI bullets.

There is a pretty fair car chase in the final act, though.

As for the script - well, screenwriter Sean Rourke does try to give Damian some backstory and angst, but all the other characters are stock, and their motivations shallow. The third act "twist" is telegraphed early, and the dialogue seems cribbed from episodes of 24 and ALIAS. Logan is perfectly adequate as the stoic, heroic lead, while Kove and Davi (both of whom also have producer credits) manage to bring some dramatic weight and professionalism to their primarily office-bound scenes.

The DVD from the Exclusive Entertainment/Hollywood Wizard label presents BALLISTICA in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, with a flawless transfer that properly showcases the sharp, colorful digital videography. The audio track is available in 5.1 or 2.0 mixes. Extras include a "Making Of" featurette and the usual assortment of Asylum previews.

While I think that BALLISTICA is a bit of a misfire, it does have its good points, and I still think that Logan has the potential to be a good B-action leading man. Maybe if someone could slot him into a "lone wolf cop" flick or a "one man vs terrorist gang" DIE HARD-type role, he might actually get a chance to show his chops. But a micro-budget spy flick like BALLISTICA, which hasn't the resources to exploit its more complicated & fantastic plot elements, doesn't seem to be the right vehicle.

BUY: Ballistica

Review: THE GIRL FROM U.N.C.L.E. - THE COMPLETE SERIES

2011-09-28T03:01:00.000-04:00

At the height of the 60s spy-fi craze, one of the most popular adventure shows on television was THE MAN FROM U.N.CL.E., which ran for four years on NBC. It was so popular, in fact, that the network felt the audience would enjoy two U.N.C.L.E. shows every week, and demanded a spin-off.

So, during the parent program's third year, THE GIRL FROM U.N.C.L.E (1966) made its debut. Unfortunately, the network had miscalculated, and GIRL only lasted one season (and MAN took a ratings dive). Still, fans of the franchise have long desired the show on home video, and now Warner Archives has obliged.

The "Girl" of the title is sexy April Dancer (Stefanie Powers, HART TO HART) a glamorous, classy brunette with a knack for undercover work, employed as an agent of the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement, a global security organization. Her partner is Mark Slate (Noel Harrison), a hip Englishman who handles most of the physical duties on their missions. As on the parent show, her boss is Mr. Waverly (Leo G. Carroll), and he keeps her busy thwarting ambitious gangsters, nefarious masterminds, and the machinations of the International crime cartel called THRUSH.

Over on THE MAN FROM U.N.CL.E. the producers had made the bad decision to "camp up" the program in order to emulate the incredible success of the BATMAN television show, and, unfortunately, the distaff spin-off was forced to follow suit, with many episodes played almost entirely as comic capers. In my opinion, GIRL manged the tongue-in-cheek humor better than MAN, but TV audiences were not amused by the tone of either show. After a single season, GIRL was cancelled, and MAN only barely got renewed - for what turned out to be a truncated fourth year.

Still, watching the shows now, there's a lot of fun to be had. The characters are charming (and Powers is plain gorgeous), the production values are generally high (although, watching episodes back-to-back tends to reveal a lot of recycled sets, backlot streets and even effects footage), and while there are a few outright awful episodes, most are breezy, devil-may-care romps and a lot of fun to watch.

Guest stars include Robert Vaughn (the Man from U.N.C.L.E. himself), Boris Karloff in drag(!), sultry Luciana Paluzzi, Michael Ansara, John Carradine, Fernando Lamas, Dom DeLuise, Denny Miller, Yvonne DeCarlo and many others.

Warner Archives has released GIRL's sole season in two manufactured-on-demand volumes. Volume One is a four-disc DVD-R set and contains the first 15 episodes in decent-looking, 1.33:1 "full-frame" format. The picture quality is generally pretty good, but there are a lot of specks and other minor imperfections throughout. Audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, and is perfectly adequate. Volume Two contains the remaining 14 episodes on four discs. There are no supplemental features provided in either set.

THE GIRL FROM U.N.C.L.E. is light television entertainment from the mid-60s, filled with bright "mod" fashions, jazzy music, charming leads, and plenty of chuckles. It's not the greatest spy show - and it's far from the best that the U.N.C.L.E. franchise has to offer - but it is genuinely fun. If you're an U.N.C.L.E. aficionado and already have the MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. box set that came out a few years back - or a fan of 60s TV spies, in general - then you'll almost certainly want to pick these up to complete your collection.

Me, I loved watching it, and am pleased to have it on my shelf.

BUY: The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.: The Complete Series Part One

BUY: The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.: The Complete Series Part Two

Review: AGENT 8 3/4 (HOT ENOUGH FOR JUNE)

2011-08-31T05:00:00.002-04:00

When James Bond came along in 1962's DOCTOR NO, he changed the way audiences enjoyed spy movies and the way that filmmakers made them. The success of the franchise also inspired a slew of imitators and spoofs, and one of the earliest - and best - has just come to Blu-ray disc courtesy of VCI Entertainment: 1964's AGENT 8 3/4 (a/k/a HOT ENOUGH FOR JUNE), starring Dirk Bogarde and Sylva Koscina.

Nicholas Whistler (Bogarde, MODESTY BLAISE) is an unemployed, Czech-fluent writer living in England, when he is - completely unbeknownst to him - recruited by British Intelligence for a mission to Prague. He thinks he's on a goodwill visit from a London glass manufacturer, but the Czechoslovakian Secret Police - and everyone else - knows he's a spy. A female Czech operative, the comely Comrade Simonova (Koscina, DEADLIER THAN THE MALE) is assigned to be his driver and keep an eye on him, but before long, she falls for the handsome, hapless writer. By the time that Whistler finally realizes that he is, indeed a spy, he's trapped in Prague, hunted and pursued by the Secret Police, and only the lovely, conflicted Comrade Simonova can possibly help him.

Deftly directed by Ralph Thomas, AGENT 8 3/4 is a breezy, Cold War-era satire that evokes not only 007, but Hitchcock's espionage thrillers, as well. It's suspenseful and even thrilling at times, but also witty and occasionally farcical - which is why a lot of modern viewers might not be able to get a handle on it. The script is clever and sharp, and the cast, which also includes Leo McKern and Robert Morley, is exceptional across the board. Bogarde is amusing and convincing as the somewhat clueless unintentional agent who must rise to the occasion when his support system falls apart, and Koscina is just stunningly gorgeous. The cinematography is beautiful, even when portraying the drab, behind-the-Iron Curtain world of Communist Czechoslovakia. Overall, it's a slick, early-Sixties spy-fi spoof and highly entertaining, if you're in the right mindset.

VCI's new Blu-ray disc appears to be the same high-def transfer used by the UK company, Network, presented in 1.78:1 widescreen 1080p HD. Picture quality is astoundingly good - with the exception of one or two brief shots, detail and colors appear to be perfect. VCI offers two audio options: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono and an enhanced 5.1 remix. The only extras are a theatrical trailer (under the original British title of HOT ENOUGH FOR JUNE) and a still photo gallery. The title is also available in standard-def DVD.

AGENT 8 3/4 (I have to say, I like the British title much better) is a great slice of sly Cold War pop culture, and a must-see for fans of 60s spy flicks. Highly recommended.

BUY: Agent 8 3/4 aka: Hot Enough For June [Blu-ray]

BUY: Agent 8 3/4 [DVD]

THE GIRL FROM U.N.C.L.E. on DVD At Last!

2011-08-19T00:12:00.003-04:00

It's April in August -- According to Stephanie "April Dancer" Powers herself, the complete The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. television series will be out on DVD from Warner Archives next week! Man, I love Manufactured-On-Demand DVD.... of course, I'd love it more if the discs were a little cheaper.

Review: BURN NOTICE - S4 DVD

2011-06-21T06:21:00.003-04:00

The fourth season of USA Network's enjoyable and explosive action series, BURN NOTICE, is now available on DVD.

This season, ex-spy Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan, BLAIR WITCH 2) and his colleagues/friends Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar, BODY SNATCHERS) and Sam Axe (Bruce Campbell, EVIL DEAD) are joined by Jesse Porter (Coby Bell), a former U.S. counter-intelligence agent that Michael, inadvertently, caused to be "burned" during an investigation into a vast, international criminal conspiracy. Jesse, unaware of Michael's role in his blacklisting, joins the trio of troubleshooters in their work helping the helpless of Miami, all the while trying to uncover the identity of the man responsible for ruining his life. Odds are, he won't be happy when he finds out...

As with the previous three seasons, BURN NOTICE continues to be one of the best - if not the best - action shows on television, with plenty of masterfully-executed car chases, gunfights and explosions packed into every episode. Add in a group of likable - and generally heroic - characters, charismatic guest stars, a compelling-but-not-overwhelming "mythology," and plenty of South Beach glamor (not to mention acres of tanned, bikini-clad female flesh), and you have some nigh-perfect escapist television.

Fox Home Entertainment brings all 18 episodes of the fourth season to DVD on 4 discs, each episode presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. As in previous seasons, the transfers are excellent, with a nice film-like grain, bright colors and exceptional detail. Audio is a robust 5.1. Dolby Digital. Bonus material includes a handful of deleted scenes, audio commentary on the final episode, and featurettes on the stunt work and "Sam Axe's Guide to Ladies and Libations." There is also some promotional material for USA Network's WHITE COLLAR series: including the entire pilot episode, and the amusing "BURN NOTICE Roasts WHITE COLLAR," and "WHITE COLLAR Roasts BURN NOTICE" features.

As I've stated in previous reviews, I watch this series exclusively on DVD, so I'm always a year behind what's on the air. But the show is so good and so much fun, it's worth the wait to me to watch it uninterrupted by commercials and at my own (rapid) pace. Highly recommended.

BUY: Burn Notice: Season Four

Cocktail Nation

2010-09-12T05:28:00.002-04:00

The Spy-Fi Channel may be on a bit of a hiatus, but it's not off the radar completely, apparently. On this week's Cocktail Nation podcast, host Koop Kooper gives the Channel a nice plug, along with his usual mix of swanky lounge music and features.

Thanks, Koop!

Signing Off....

2010-07-17T17:15:00.006-04:00

The Spy-Fi Channel is going off the air for a while.

As much as I love spy movies, television shows and fiction - and brother, I love them a lot - I really haven't had much to say/write about the genre lately. And as for keeping up with the latest spy news or reviewing flicks and books, well, frankly, my fellow C.OB.RA.S. are much better at it and do a more in-depth job of it.

But mostly, it's because, for whatever reasons, my pop culture obsession of late has been more focused on the science fiction television shows and movies that I grew up with as a child in the 1970s, and less with the spy-fi I discovered in my teens. When I get the itch to blog, it's that science fiction stuff that seems to be on my mind lately, and I've been writing about it over on my Space: 1970 blog.

That site is devoted to my first pop culture love affair - shows and movies like Star Trek, Star Wars, Logan's Run, Battlestar Galactica, Space: 1999, etc. - and I guess as I hit my mid-Forties, my nostalgia for that "first love" has become pretty strong. My nostalgic time-traveling has also seemed to strike a chord with a larger number of people - the Space: 1970 blog has, by far, the largest following/readership of anything I write for the web.

Now, I never completely abandon a blog, and I will still post here occasionally, but I can't promise any sort of regular updates. For the foreseeable future, most of my blogging will be over at Space: 1970 and my personal blog, Atomic Pulp. Knowing me, though, sooner or later I'll get in my "spy mode" again, and this blog will come in from the cold with a vengeance.

Now, I don't know how many people even visit this site these days, nor how many of you guys have any interest in 1970's-era sci-fi, but if anyone wants to drop by over on my other site, I'd love to see you there.

Thanks to all my readers & followers for your support over the last year or so, and especially to my fellow C.OB.R.A.S. It's been great.

The Spy-Fi Channel will return....

Daniel Craig is James Bond in... GOLDENEYE?

2010-06-18T14:37:00.005-04:00

Without question, RARE's Goldeneye 64 from the 90s is one of the great video games. A hugely popular title on the old Nintendo 64 platform, it is widely-regarded as the definitive first-person "shooter" of its era and not only sold millions of game cartridges, but Nintendo consoles as well. It also kicked off a series of 007 shooters from different developers, none of which matched its smooth gameplay, immersive environments and superb storytelling. And although the version of Bond in the game didn't possess the specific likeness of film star Pierce Brosnan, it was clear that it was based on him physically.

Well, the N64 system is long-gone (although I still play mine every once in a while), and apparently, someone feels that it's time to revisit the Goldeneye franchise and update it for the mega-popular Wii platform. From the trailer below, it appears to be the same basic game, with the same levels and story, just enhanced with more detailed graphics and some improved AI. Oh yeah, and the character of Bond is portrayed by Daniel Craig.

WTF?

Maybe it's my nostalgia for the original game, or maybe it's because I remember how Brosnan was so instrumental in the success of the 007 franchise back in the 90s, at a time when many people thought the character was irrelevant in a post-Cold War world, and many were speculating that the franchise itself had run its course... but I find it personally offensive that the powers-that-be seem to want to erase Pierce from the history books. (Of course, it may simply be that I prefer Brosnan over Craig as Bond anyway.)

Thanks to fellow C.O.B.R.A.S. HMSS for the head's up.

Video: Before He Was Bond Redux

2010-06-08T03:19:00.005-04:00

Another Diet Coke commercial from 1988 pitting a very James Bondian Pierce Brosnan against some nasty ninjas in a scenario reminiscent of a major sequence in Octopussy.

Review: BURN NOTICE S3 DVD

2010-06-07T02:48:00.003-04:00

The third season of the USA Network action series, Burn Notice is new on DVD, once again delivering for fans and collectors sixteen hours of some of the best escapism on television.

In this third season, "burned" ex-spy Michael Weston (Jefferey Donovan, Blair Witch 2) finds himself still stuck in Miami, but now completely unprotected. He and his "team" - gunrunning lover Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar, If Looks Could Kill), ex-SEAL Sam (Bruce Campbell, Evil Dead) and his mom, Madeline (Sharon Gless, Cagney & Lacey) - are soon under scrutiny by a tenacious Miami police detective and fending off attacks by a slew of Weston's old enemies, all while continuing to help the helpless and trying to get his old government job back.

As with the previous seasons, fine casting and engaging performances make a potentially routine premise into something highly entertaining. Bright South Florida locations, lots of Miami Beach glamour (including seemingly endless background beauties in bikinis), exciting car stunts, fiery explosions, convincing fights and intriguing scripts mix smoothly into a tasty action-adventure stew.

The characters are the key, though, and the third season does a great job of keeping them fresh and the viewer genuinely interested in what happens to them. In this third year, Weston really pushes his friends to the limits of their loyalty, and has to involve his mother in his schemes to a much greater extent than before. There are a number of great guest stars this year, as well, including Tim Matheson (Animal House) making a return appearance as one of Weston's old adversaries, and Tyne Daly (The Enforcer), who shows up for a cute Cagney & Lacey reunion with Gless.

The four-disc set from Fox Home Entertainment includes all 16 Season Three episodes in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfers and Dolby 5.1 Digital audio. Image quality is bright and sharp, and the audio is robust. This set is slim on bonus features - unlike the previous seasons - containing only a short documentary on the series' stunts and video of the cast & crew's appearance at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con.

I follow this show on DVD (Season 4 is just starting on USA now, but I don't have cable and hate watching shows on my desktop), and I always burn through the seasons in a couple of days. The year-long waits between sets can be rough, but by the time the new season hits DVD, I'm really missing the characters and am eager to jump back into their world. Burn Notice is smart, fast-paced television and is highly recommended.

May Debrief

2010-05-12T16:14:00.006-04:00

Cripes. It's been a long time since I posted anything here at the Channel except for those DVD reviews that I actually wrote for my DVD Late Show site. Sad (and rather obvious), isn't it?

Anyway, lots of the things have happened lately that I should write about here, like the passing of Peter O' Donnell, creator of the legendary comic strip Modesty Blaise, who died on May 3rd, just a week after his 90th birthday.

He’s best known for creating the classic newspaper strip Modesty Blaise with artist Jim Holdaway. The strip appeared in the London newspaper, The Evening Standard, beginning in 1963 and chronicled daily the adventures of the seductive adventuress for nearly forty years. In 1966, O'Donnell sold the rights to a feature film and wrote the screenplay. The producers changed the script much though, that, in frustration, O'Donnell turned his script into a novel. It was a huge success and led to a dozen or so Blaise novels and a couple of short story collections. The movie, starring Monica Vitti and Terrence Stamp is something of a mess (though still kinda fun to watch), but the novel is a great adventure story. I only have about half of the books, and I'm always on the lookout for more.

R.I.P. Mister O'Donnell. You had a great run.

Over at Tanner's Double-O Section, he's a several days into a OSS 117 Week, looking at the cinematic legacy of author Jean Bruce's incredibly long-running spy hero, Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, from the original films from the 50s and 60s to the modern spoofs starring Jean Dujardin. The second of these, OSS 117: Lost In Rio is getting some theatrical play in limited markets, and Tanner's got the scoop. You really have to check it out.

I've actually got part of a review written for the OSS 117 film, Murder For Sale, starring John Gavin. I really need to finish that soon.

Over at Mister 8, Armstrong Sabian's got a fun "tournament of secret agenting" going on, pitting the most legendary fictional spies of literature and cinema against each other. Drop by and cast your votes!

More soon....

Review: FROM THE ORIENT WITH FURY DVD

2010-04-07T16:38:00.001-04:00

The second film in the "Dick Malloy, Agent 077" trilogy starring Ken Clark (ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES, SPECIAL MISSON LADY CHAPLIN) is a fun, fast-paced slice of Eurospy adventure, with the requisite amount of beautiful women, furious fistfights, and a familiar but fun sci-fi McGuffin.

FROM THE ORIENT WITH FURY (1965, a/k/a FURY ON THE BOSPHOROUS), opens with the abduction of scientist Professor Kurtz (Ennio Balbo), inventor of a powerful new disintegrator ray (an Eurospy staple), by a villainous crimelord named Goldwyn (Franco Ressel, SABATA). Of course, the CIA assigns their top op, Agent 077 (Clark), to find the missing prof, and his investigation first leads him to Kurtz' errant daughter Romy (Fabienne Dali) in Paris. Soon, he's following a trail of tenuous leads that take him to Madrid and then Instanbul, and encounters with Goldwyn's sexy henchwoman (Evi Marandi) and fellow agent Evelyn Stone (popular Eurospy vixen Margaret Lee, SECRET AGENT SUPER DRAGON). Eventually, it all leads to Goldwyn's cliffside hideout and a lethal demonstration of the Professor's death ray gun....

Not quite as polished as the first and last 077 adventures, ORIENT is, nonetheless, an enjoyable international romp with a slew of sexy women (I'm a big fan of the curvaceous Ms. Lee), plenty of rough and tumble two-fisted action for the athletic Clark, and professional direction by Sergio Grieco. Agent 077 is equipped with a few nifty gadgets, and his globetrotting provides the viewer with some nice travelogue footage. Although the death ray is a common McGuffin in these flicks, I thought that in this case, at least, the ray gun prop was pretty cool, and the simple special effects nicely executed.

Dorado Films' DVD features a solid 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer from a reasonably decent source print. There's a little bit of dirt and print damage evident, and some very minor color shifting issues, but otherwise, it's quite stable, with solid contrasts, good detail, and no obvious cuts or missing frames. Audio is English 2.0.

Dorado has include text bio/filmographies for Clark and Ms. Lee and trailers for the other 077 films, as well as another Ken Clark Eurothriller, THE TIFFANY MEMORANDUM.

For fans of the genre, FROM THE ORIENT WITH FURY is a fine, if low-budget espionage adventure, not quite as odd as some of its contemporaries, but with a full complement of glamorous women and fisticuffs. Recommended.

Review: OSS 117; CAIRO, NEST OF SPIES DVD

2010-04-07T16:36:00.000-04:00

In 1949, French author Jean Bruce penned the first of what would become a long-running series of spy novels starring American secret agent Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, code named OSS 117. The book series, which predated Ian Fleming's first James Bond novels by a couple years, eventually ran to a staggering ninety-one titles(!) and a slew of film adaptations that were extremely popular in Europe during the 007-fueled spy craze of the Sixties.

In 2006, French director Michel Hazanavicius and writer Jean-François Halin collaborated on a revival of the character, OSS 117: CAIRO, NEST OF SPIES - a brilliantly funny parody of 60s Eurospy films and one of the smartest comedies of the decade. It took two more years for that movie to make it to the United States, where it - unjustly - went mostly unnoticed, despite being a huge hit in Europe.

Jean Dujardin plays French secret agent OSS 117, who's sort of a cross between Maxwell Smart, Inspector Clouseau and a Gallic Sean Connery. He's sent to Cairo – a "nest of spies" – to investigate the death of another agent, his "close friend," Jack. His ham-fisted and fumbling investigation brings him into conflict with the British, the Russians, Arab revolutionaries and holdout Nazis, but he ultimately manages to get the job done. Set in 1955 (with a hilarious WW2-set prologue), CAIRO, NEST OF SPIES is a dead-on parody of the Eurospy genre.

The jokes and sight gags are hysterical and clever, the characters are great (I especially enjoy how the filmmakers were willing to let their hero be a complete and utter ass sometimes), the girls are gorgeous, and the production and costume designs are incredible, flawlessly recreating the film's 1950's milieu. I especially dug the swinging, loungy musical score by Ludovic Bource. Most importantly, Dujardin is perfect as the arrogant, self-absorbed de la Bath, masterfully handling the script's many comic challenges while still being utterly convincing in action.

A second OSS 117 film starring Dujardin has been made, OSS 117: RIO DOES NOT RESPOND (2009), this time set in the swinging Sixties, but unfortunately, it has not received a stateside release in any format. And a third film, as yet untitled, is apparently being prepared.

The Region 1 DVD of CAIRO, NEST OF SPIES from Music Box Films sports a gorgeous 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and Dolby Digital 2.0 audio. The dialogue is in French, and optional English subtitles are provided. Supplemental features include a "Making Of" documentary, some deleted scenes, and a blooper reel.

Fans of Sixties spies like James Bond, the men from U.N.C.L.E. or our man Derek Flint, will definitely want to add this movie to their collections – it is vastly funnier than the recent GET SMART remake and smarter by far than the Austin Powers films.

OSS 117: CAIRO, NEST OF SPIES gets my highest recommendation. Rent it today, or better yet, buy a copy for your collection.

Obit: Robert Culp, R.I.P

2010-03-24T17:49:00.009-04:00

Well, shit. Just ten days after the passing of Mission: Impossible's Peter Graves, we have the loss of another great Sixties spy-fi star, Robert Culp, who played American agent Kelly Robinson on I Spy (1965-68). Not only did he co-star with Bill Cosby on the show, but he was instrumental in its creation, and wrote seven of its finest episodes. He also directed one. Perhaps most memorably, in the episode "The War Lord," which he wrote, he played dual roles: Robinson and a ruthless but philosophical Asian criminal. It's a fantastic performance, and the script is phenomenal.

I first actually encountered Mr. Culp when I was a teenager watching the Stephen Cannell series, The Greatest American Hero (1981-86). Culp played FBI agent Bill Maxwell, a gloriously gung-ho Conservative forced to work with a goofball, Liberal schoolteacher with a super-suit. Not only was he incredibly funny, he gave the potentially cartoonish character great dignity and strength of character. I was a fan from the first episode. Later, I discovered reruns of I Spy on cable, and was immediately enamored of the superior writing, chemistry between the leads, and global scope of the series.

Culp made many other excursions into the spy-fi genre. Aside from reprising the Robinson role in a 1994 TV reunion movie, he played a great (and surprisingly sympathetic) villain in a first season Man from U.N.C.LE. episode, had a hilarious cameo in the Get Smart parody of I Spy, appeared on A Man Called Sloane and the short-lived 90s series Spy Game, and hosted the Comedy Central special Spyography (parodying Peter Graves!) to promote the second Austin Powers film.

The IMDb lists over 160 acting credits for the man, who was a prolific guest star on series television from the 50s through the 90s, as well as an in-demand character actor in features. He was justly praised for his starring role in the classic Outer Limits episode, "Demon With A Glass Hand," written by Harlan Ellison. One of my favorite, virtually forgotten, Culp roles was as the lead in Gene Roddenberry's unsold TV pilot, Spectre (1977), where he played a Holmesian occult investigator. I also loved him in Hickey & Boggs (1972), the feature film he wrote and directed for himself and Cosby. It's another nearly-forgotten film, and that's a shame, because it's a great crime flick.

Rest well, Mister Culp. And thanks.

Review: SCARECROW & MRS. KING S1 DVD

2010-03-19T17:15:00.007-04:00

Back in the Eighties, I never watched Scarecrow And Mrs. King (1983-1987). Even though I dug spies and adventure stories, and had enjoyed star Bruce Boxleitner in TRON and his short-lived Bring 'Em Back Alive series (which aired the season before Scarecrow premiered), as a teenager/young adult, I simply had no interest in watching some "old" housewife with kids as the female lead in such a show. In fact, I'd always thought of actress Kate Jackson as the somewhat plain Charlie's Angel that was just on the show to emphasize how beautiful Jacquelyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd were in contrast.

But you know, I wasn't really the audience for this series.

For nearly half the decade, Scarecrow And Mrs. King chronicled the adventures of American secret agent Lee Stetson (great 80s name!), codename "Scarecrow," ('natch) and his untrained - but gutsy and spunky - divorcee partner, Amanda King, as they worked to preserve national security from KGB Commies and other nefarious organizations and individuals.

Back in the Sixties, the early episodes of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. almost always had a pretty civilian woman - usually a housewife - caught up in the espionage caper of the week, and she had to help the heroic secret agent heroes complete that particular mission. The idea behind this was that the women watching at home would identify with these "innocent" characters, and enjoy fantasizing about what they'd do if they were swept off their feet by a handsome stranger and into a glamorous world of danger and adventure for a while. What the producers of Scarecrow did was simply take that formula and build the entire show on it, and instead of bringing in a new woman every week, they'd actually make that "identification character" the star.

And it must have worked, because the show ran four seasons, and was extremely popular among female viewers. Understandable, I guess, because, at least in the first season episodes just released by Warner Brothers on DVD, suburban single mom Mrs. King seems to be a lot smarter and more capable than Boxlietner's so-called professional spy. Scarecrow has a suspicious tendency to keep getting captured by bad guys and thus need rescuing by his civilian partner. He also seems to keep missing huge, sometimes obvious clues that Mrs. King always catches pretty easily.

The show itself is pretty standard Eighties escapist fare, with non-taxing plots, likable leads, familiar guest stars, lots of amusing fashion and hairstyling disasters, and a light, amiable tone. I do find the theme music to be insidiously annoying, though. Boxleitner is solid in his role, and Jackson is both more attractive and less irritating than I remembered. TV and B-movie veteran Beverly Garland (It Conquered The World, Not Of This Earth), co-stars as Mrs. King's mom, Dotty.

Warner Brothers has brought the first season of Scarecrow And Mrs. King to DVD in a perfectly satisfactory, if bare-bones, 5-disc, 21 episode set. The full-frame, 1.33:1 transfers are rock solid and in good shape for a nearly 30 year-old show. Audio is a clear, crisp Dolby Digital mono. There are no extra features.

If you are - or someone you know is - a fan of the show, Warners' DVD set is fine, reasonably-priced, and would make a worthy addition to your spy-fi video library.

Japanese Spy-Fi Poster Week, Day Five

2010-03-18T23:58:00.004-04:00

The Japanese one-sheet for 1965's Thunderball. Again, I find the composition of the montage and the graphic design very appealing.

Japanese Spy-Fi Poster Week, Day Four

2010-03-17T01:51:00.005-04:00

The Japanese one-sheet for the second James Coburn Derek Flint film, In Like Flint, uses a variation on the original U.S. art (although apparently re-painted) , but adds into the montage some new artwork for a nicely appealing design. These posters are so cool.

Japanese Spy-Fi Poster Week, Day 3

2010-03-16T04:58:00.002-04:00

Today we've got the Japanese poster for 1967's Fathom, starring Raquel Welch. Pretty much every poster for this film is awesome, but how could they not be, with a bikini-clad Raquel as the central image on all of 'em?

Japanese Spy-Fi Poster Week: Day 2

2010-03-15T00:58:00.003-04:00

I think this may be my absolute favorite poster for On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The photo montage is nicely balanced, and the central image of Lazenby with the gun is a bit different from the usual 007 portrait. Of course, they were probably trying to hide his face so the audience wouldn't know a different actor was playing James Bond - Connery was friggin' huge in Japan - but I like it anyhow.

Obit: Peter Graves, R.I.P.

2010-03-14T23:36:00.005-04:00

Peter Graves, who joined the cast of Mission: Impossible in its second year as mastermind Jim Phelps, passed away today at his home in California, just a few days shy of his 84th birthday.

As Phelps, the actor became a television (and spy-fi) icon, his rugged good looks, shocking white hair, earnest demeanor and resonant, amiable voice instantly identifiable to millions. He reprised the role from 1988 to 1990 in an updated revival of the series and parodied the character in the Hong Kong spy spoof Mad Mission III: Our Man From Bond Street.

The brother of Gunsmoke's James Arness, Graves had a long career in motion pictures and television, working for directors as varied as Billy Wilder and Bert I. Gordon. He made guest appearances on many television shows, and was the host of A&E's Biography from 1994 to 2006. Just yesterday, I was visiting my parents for few minutes, and saw him in a rerun of the police procedural Cold Case that happened to be playing on TV.

As I've said before, I first became exposed to Mission: Impossible with its 80's revival, but ever since then, I've been a great admirer of Mr. Graves. Now that I have all of the original seasons of M:I on DVD, I appreciate even more what he brought to the show and spy-fi genre.

Good evening, Mister Phelps. Rest well.

Japanese Spy-Fi Poster Week, Day 1

2010-03-12T02:43:00.003-05:00

While you patiently wait for me to get my act together and start posting here regularly again, I hope you enjoy looking at the lovely Monica Vitti as Modesty Blaise.

Man, the Japanese posters for 60s spy-fi films are so cool. In fact, I think I'll scrounge up and post a few more....

Intel: IF LOOKS COULD KILL Available on DVD from Warners Archive

2010-03-03T23:39:00.006-05:00

The 1991 spy-fi spoof, If Looks Could Kill (a/k/a Teen Agent) starring Richard Grieco, Burn Notices's Gabrielle Anwar and Linda Hunt, is finally available on DVD, albeit from Warner Archive, Warner Brothers' "manufacture-on-demand" service.

According to their website, this high quality DVD-R is presented in full-frame (same as the old VHS) release, and has no extra features.

It's a fun spoof of the 007 series, with a number of cool action set-pieces of its own. I don't much care for Grieco, but the rest of the cast is quite good, and the villain's plot is pretty cool.

I transferred my own VHS copy to DVD-R a while back, but I have to assume that this Warner Archive transfer is probably a lot sharper. To bad it's not in widescreen, though I'm not absolutely certain what the correct theatrical aspect ratio should be. I'm tempted to order it, but there are a lot of other titles in the WA collection I'd want to get first (like the Lex Barker and Gordon Scott Tarzans).

The retail price is $19.95 and it is only available through the Warner online store.

Pierce Brosnan Speaks Lark

2010-02-18T04:17:00.005-05:00

Last year, I posted some Japanese Lark cigarette commercials featuring Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and James Coburn portraying characters very much like their famous screen spies. Here's another one, with Pierce Brosnan shilling for the same brand of coffin nail.

Thanks to fellow COBRAS Phillipe's Quantum of Bond.

Win DOUBLE IDENTITY on DVD!

2010-02-16T13:36:00.003-05:00

Courtesy of First Look Studios, my review site, DVD Late Show, has copies of the upcoming neo-Eurospy thriller DOUBLE IDENTITY, starring Val Kilmer, to give away free to three lucky Late Show readers! These are standard, Region 1 DVD editions (NOT Blu-Ray).

All you have to do to qualify for the random drawing is send an e-mail containing your name and mailing address to dvdlateshow@atomicpulp.com with the words "DOUBLE IDENTITY GIVEAWAY" in the subject line.

Three entries will be chosen at random, and I'll send the DVDs to the lucky winners. Entries must be received before midnight Monday, February 22nd. The winners will be announced here on Tuesday the 23rd. Good luck!

One entry per person, please. Double entries will be disqualified. Entries that do not follow the above instructions will be disqualified and discarded. Three winners will be drawn at random and announced on February 23, 2010. The winners' names will be posted at www.dvdlateshow.com and winners will be notified via email. All entries will be deleted immediately after the contest’s close, and no personal information will be retained or transmitted to any third parties. The contest is open to U.S. residents only. Prizes will be shipped by media mail. Unfortunately, DVD Late Show cannot assume responsibility for items lost or damaged in transit.

Status Report

2010-01-25T02:59:00.003-05:00

Whew. Been a while.

Well, with luck, I should be posting here at the Channel (and my other pop culture blogs) again on a fairly regular basis soon. For the last month, I've been very busy with some freelance writing assignments and building and launching my new DVD Late Show site.
After five years of posting my reviews of cult, B-movie and genre films on DVD and Blu-Ray at other people's sites - first at filmmaker Kevin Smith's Movie Poop Shoot, then Quick Stop Entertainment, and, most recently, at Forces of Geek - I have finally decided to publish them exclusively on my own, dedicated website. DVD Late Show Version 2.0 is now "live" at www.dvdlateshow.com.

There are a number of reasons for this move. Among them is a general dissatisfaction with how the "column" version of DVDLS had evolved, and the fact that it didn't really seem to fit in stylistically with the other features at FOG. Also, I confess that I had trouble maintaining the regular schedule. One reason for that was my self-imposed requirement to have a certain word count per installment, and sometimes it took too long to get the necessary number of reviews done to fill a column. Sometimes, there would be a drought of review material, which also made keeping the schedules difficult to keep. And, finally, sometimes I had more pressing assignments that had to take priority over the unpaid gig.

Well, no longer. In the new incarnation, I will be posting reviews as they are completed rather than waiting to fill out a column, which means more frequent overall updating. I will also be free to include Amazon links for the convenience of my readers, in case anyone wants to purchase the reviewed titles. And most importantly, I will be able to archive all my DVD Late Show reviews - several hundred of them, going back to early 2005 - in one place. This last one is very important to me; those reviews represent a whole lot of hours' investment, and I didn't like the fact that the earliest ones were effectively lost.

I am currently moving all of those reviews to the new site. I have over 350 in place now, and I have a few more to go, but I'm getting there!

PLEASE check out the site, and if you find it entertaining and/or helpful, bookmark it, and make it a regular stop. Spread the word, link to it. If I'm going to need a lot of traffic/hits to make it feasible and keep it going. I'll continue to cross-post appropriate, spy-fi reviews on this blog, though.

And, speaking of this blog, since Christmas, I've completed my Mission: Impossible, I Spy and Get Smart DVD collections, picked up the Val Kilmer Saint film from '97 (which I intend to review here shortly), and started re-watching my old laserdiscs of The Hunt For Red October, Patriot Games and Clear And Present Danger. I still plan on writing up my thoughts on that film series, probably in February. I'm also hoping to read and review a lot more spy paperbacks in 2010, and will probably try and come up with a few more "theme week" like the Spy Vixen series I ran back in December.

So, thanks for your patience, and keep checking back.

Sorry About That...

2010-01-14T04:42:00.006-05:00

My sincere apologies for the temporary interruption of transmissions. I've been on a top secret mission in exotic locales, where I've been in constant danger, exposed to deadly peril on a daily basis, living moment-to-moment on the knife-edge of total destruction, risking life, limb and sanity for the security of the free world.

And loving it.

While waiting for me to get my act together, I strongly recommend checking out the other C.O.B.R.A.S. sites - there's a lot of great spy-fi news and commentary out there, courtesy of my fellow agents. You'll find links to all of the C.O.B.R.A.S. sites in the sidebar to the left.

Regular posting will resume shortly... hope 2010's treating you all well so far!

*Actually, I've been busy with freelance work and rebuilding & re-launching my DVD Late Show website. But I've been watching some great spy-fi and will be back here writing about it soon. Promise.

New Spy-Fi Poll

2009-12-28T02:53:00.005-05:00

Shortly after the first of the year, I plan on devoting a theme week here at the Spy-Fi Channel to the films based on author Tom Clancy's "Jack Ryan" character/novels. I'll be re-watching and reviewing the first three movies - The Hunt For Red October, Patriot Games and Clear And Present Danger - and watching 2002's The Sum of All Fears for the first time, courtesy of the convenience of Netflix.

Man, I haven't even seen the first three in a very long time; I last watched them back when I bought them on laserdisc... so that should give you an idea of just how much time has passed.

While I'm preparing those posts, I'd be curious as to the opinions of our regular Channel visitors regarding those films, so if you get a moment, please cast your vote in the poll. You'll find it over there in the left-hand sidebar, as usual.

And, just in case I don't get back here before then, Happy New Year, everyone!

Christmas Royale

2009-12-25T08:31:00.001-05:00

Season's Greetings from the Spy-Fi Channel

2009-12-23T16:30:00.004-05:00

Whatever holiday you celebrate, here's wishing you the most sincere season's greetings and a great new year. I hope you'll keep tuning in the Channel through 2010 and beyond.

Now, I've got to get back to watching my new Mission: Impossible discs!

Weekly Debriefing 016

2009-12-18T00:29:00.011-05:00

Begin Transmission.

Well, it looks like I'm going to have a spy-fi holiday after all.

Originally, it didn't appear that my wife and I were going to have any gifts under the tree this year, but courtesy of my generous in-laws and a few giftcards, I was able to order a handful of items to fill a few gaps in my spy-fi collection. For one, I'm finally going to get my hands on Matt Blake and David Deal's The Eurospy Guide, which I've had on my Amazon wishlist for at least four years.

I'll confess - not having a copy of this book on my shelf made me feel a bit like a fraud as a spy blogger. I'm glad I'll be able to rectify this now... and I can't wait to dive more deeply into the Eurospy waters, since I know I've only barely broken the surface with my explorations to date.

I don't know if it's in the book, but at the same time I ordered a really inexpensive disc called Code 7 Victim 5, which appears to be a Eurospy-esque crime thriller starring Lex Barker. I got it yesterday. It's a pretty crappy pan & scan print, but it still looks like it might be fun.

Finally, thanks to low sale prices at Best Buy, I was also able to order the seasons of Mission: Impossible (Seasons 1, 2 & 5) and I Spy (Season 3) that I was missing, so now I'll finally have complete DVD runs of those 60s genre essentials. I'm especially looking forward to filling the holes in my Mission: Impossible library, as it's become one of my favorite spy-fi shows ever, combining - as it does - both the espionage and "caper" genres. I've never seen any of the first season episodes, and I'm eager to do so.

Hopefully, this means I'll have some new stuff to write about here in the new year.

Whatever you celebrate this season, I wish all readers of the Spy-Fi Channel, my fellow C.O.B.R.A.S. and pretty much everyone else, a great holiday and a happy new year. Thanks for visiting my site and reading my ravings, and I look forward to sharing more Spy-Fi goodness with you all in 2010!

End Transmission.

Rare OHMSS Screen Test Photos Unearthed

2009-12-14T14:36:00.006-05:00

In honor of On Her Majesty's Secret Service's 40th anniversary, Life.com has posted a selection of rare, previously unpublished, photographs taken for Life magazine during the pre-production of the first non-Sean Connery James Bond film. These photos, by Loomis Dean, show the top five contenders for the coveted 007 role, taken during their screen tests for director Peter Hunt.

We all know that George Lazenby won the part, but this is a fascinating look at the other men who might have been Bond, James Bond: John Richardson (pictured above with Hunt and an unnamed actress), Anthony Rogers, Robert Campbell, and Hans de Vries.

To see all of these amazing pix, click here.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE '88

2009-12-12T04:08:00.004-05:00

Now that CBS/Paramount has released all seven seasons of the original Mission: Impossible television series on DVD, next, hopefully, they can put out the two seasons of the late Eighties revival. This was actually the first Mission: Impossible I ever saw, and while I'm certain that it's not nearly as good as the original series (at least its early seasons), I'd really enjoy seeing it again.

Alex Rider Week @ Double O Section

2009-12-11T05:04:00.004-05:00

Fellow COBRAS agent Tanner is looking at Anthony Horowitz' "Alex Rider" series of young adult espionage adventures this week over at his Double O Section blog.

It looks like he'll be giving the franchise his usual in-depth examination, and has kicked off his latest theme week with a review of the latest Alex Rider novel, Crocodile Tears.

I'm a fan of the Rider series, and am looking forward to reading the latest installment, as well as Tanner's no doubt exhaustive essays over the next week. Horowitz' books may be written and marketed for tween/teen boys, but they're about as enjoyable as any other spy-fi available today. If you haven't yet sampled the series, I recommend getting your hands on the first volume, Stormbreaker, and giving it a shot.

Obit: Gene Barry, R.I.P.

2009-12-10T22:05:00.005-05:00

Gene Barry, star of Amos Burke, Secret Agent, has passed away at age 90. I've never seen the "secret agent" incarnation of the show, but I have the first season of Burke's Law on DVD, and it's an astoundingly entertaining series, driven almost entirely by Barry's star power.

Burke's Law debuted in 1963 as a mystery series about a suave millionaire playboy named Amos Burke who also happened to be a Los Angeles Captain of Homicide, who always showed up at murder scenes in his chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce. The Aaron Spelling-produced series was notable for its witty writing, big name guest stars and the formidable charm of its lead actor. In 1965, at the height of the 007/U.N.C.L.E.-fueled spy-fi craze, the format of the series changed, and Burke became an agent for the United States government.

Barry also starred in Bat Masterson and The Name of the Game on television, films like Forty Guns and The War of the Worlds, and was a Tony-nominated Broadway performer.

R.I.P. Mister Barry.

Burchett Cries U.N.C.L.E.

2009-12-09T22:14:00.007-05:00

My pal and collaborator Rick Burchett (Gravedigger, Skorpion) recently sent me this unpublished page of U.N.C.L.E. art, and when I asked him if I could share it with the readers of the Spy-Fi Channel, he graciously consented.

According to Rick, he's been working on expanding his portfolio recently, and has been taking the opportunity to draw some things that he's always wanted to try his hand at - especially subjects that are unlikely to actually come his way professionally. (Aside from The Man From U.N.C.L.E. sample above, he's also drawn a Have Gun Will Travel Sunday newspaper strip!)

I want to be clear - this is not from an actual comic book. It's simply an art sample that Rick drew for fun and his portfolio. Hope you enjoy this peek at some U.N.C.L.E. fan art by a pro!

Art © by Rick Burchett and used with permission.

SECRET AGENT SUPER DRAGON for Free!

2009-12-08T21:15:00.010-05:00

Of course, it's the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version, but if you've never seen this 1966 Eurospy adventure starring Ray Danton (Our Man Flint: Dead on Target) and the lovely Margaret Lee, then you can watch it for a limited time over at Hulu, where it's part of their holiday promotion.

"I've gotta go drain the super dragon..."

It's a funny episode of MST3K, and the movie itself is a pretty goofy and entertaining slice of Eurospy. And it's got both Margaret Lee and Danger Diabolik's Marisa Mell for eye candy.

Here's the link.

Spy-Fi Poll 008: Results

2009-12-06T23:24:00.010-05:00

Wow. That's the largest "turnout" for one of our polls yet! After a long hiatus, inspired by the Saint celebration over at Permission To Kill, the Spy-Fi Polls returned a week ago with the question: "Which actor portrayed the best Simon Templar (The Saint) on film or TV?"

With 18 out of an astounding 33 votes cast, the clear favorite was Sir Roger Moore, who portrayed the gentleman rogue in the eponymous ITC television series from 1962 to 1969. For millions of people who'd never even read a Leslie Charteris novel, the charming, handsome and athletic actor was and will always be Simon Templar.

Coming in second, with a respectable 7 votes was droll George Sanders, who portrayed the character in five Saint features for RKO between 1939 1nd 1940.

Ian Ogilvy, who starred in the 24-episode TV series The Return of the Saint in 1978-79, garnered four votes for third place, while 80's television Saint Simon Dutton and Val Kilmer, star of the 1997 feature film, manged two votes apiece.

Neither Louis Hayward nor Hugh Sinclair, both of whom portrayed the hero in 30s movies, managed a single vote, and Andrew Clarke, of 1987's The Saint in Manhattan TV pilot, was also snubbed in the voting.

Ogilvy was actually the first Simon Templar I ever saw, back when CBS was running Return late nights in the 70s. But Moore is definitely the man I think of as being the definitive Saint. I'm a big fan of George Sanders' films, too, and really wish Warners would put them out in a boxed set.

As always, feel free to explain (or defend - Kilmer? Really?) your choices in the comments, and if anyone has suggestions for other Spy-Fi polls, please send 'em along!

Spy Vixen Week - Day #7: Elke Sommer

2009-12-06T00:58:00.008-05:00

Truly Deadlier Than The Male, statuesque Elke Sommer, a 36-22-36 Teutonic stunner, made a huge impact on 60's spy-fi even though she only really made a small handful of notable appearances in the genre. But as I said before, it only takes a couple of spy-fi credits to qualify as a Spy Vixen on this site.

Of course, one of those credits was the aforementioned 1967 Bulldog Drummond adventure, Deadlier Than The Male where she proved (along with the equally lovely Sylva Koscina) to be a formidable opponent for star Richard Johnson. The same year, she appeared with Robert Vaughn (and Lucianna Paluzzi) in The Venetian Affair, and was the primary femme fatale in Dean Martin's last Matt Helm outing, The Wrecking Crew. She played sexy foil for Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau in A Shot In The Dark and co-starred with Paul Newman in The Prize.

Her IMDb page lists just over a hundred appearances in both European and American productions. I'm most familiar with her spy films and horror roles for director Mario Bava (Danger: Diabolik), but she's acted in almost every film and television genre, including comedy.

Fellow COBRAS comrade Tanner has written quite eloquently about the beautiful Ms. Sommer several times over at his Double O Section blog. Check it out.

Well, this wraps up the first Spy-Fi Channel theme week. I certainly had a pleasant time searching the interweb for just the right photos of these lovely women, and I hope you enjoyed my choices. Like I said in an earlier post - they just don't seem to make unique beauties like these anymore....

Spy Vixen Week - Day #6: Daniela Bianchi

2009-12-05T00:00:00.002-05:00

After her historic role as the girl who came to Sean Connery's 007 From Russia With Love in 1963, Italian beauty queen Daniela Bianchi appeared in several notable Eurospy flicks before retiring from the screen just five years later.

The most well-known of these is Operation Kid Brother (OK Connery) where she starred opposite Sean's brother Neil in an all-out spoof of the 007 film phenomenon. But her best genre appearance - in my opinion - was as the titular villainess of Special Mission Lady Chaplin, the third and best of Ken Clark's 077 trilogy. As the eponymous Lady Chaplin, Miss Bianchi was a delightful femme fatale, employing a vast repertoire of deceptions and double crosses to keep her opponents off balance - and looking great doing it!

Other spy-fi flicks that she graced with her elegant beauty include Code Name: Tiger, Operation Gold, and Requiem for a Secret Agent.

Spy Vixen Week Day #5 - Martine Beswick

2009-12-04T00:11:00.007-05:00

Friday's seductive siren is the always memorable Martine Beswick. Though a veteran of two James Bond films, Martine's spy-fi credits are relatively slim. Still, with appearances on Danger Man and It Takes A Thief, plus those aforementioned 007 roles, I've decided to include her. Hell, it's my list, after all.

A tall, striking, raven-haired beauty, Martine was frequently cast as "bad girls" - especially when those bad girls were required to be scantily-clad. She was a savage cavegirl in Hammer's One Million Years B.C. and the imposing leader of a tribe of brunette amazons in the same studio's Prehistoric Women. She was even the ultimate femme fatale as Ralph Bates' seductively evil female alter ego in Doctor Jeckyll and Sister Hyde!

But it's her small but unforgettable roles as a fiery, catfightin' gypsy girl in From Russia With Love and as Sean Connery's luscious bikini-clad assistant Paula in Thunderball, that secure her position here as one of the Sixties' premiere Spy Vixens.

Spy Vixen Week - Day #4: Senta Berger

2009-12-03T00:00:00.002-05:00

Today's Spy Vixen is sultry Senta Berger, the statuesque Austrian beauty who, by her very presence, almost managed to save Dean Martin's otherwise disappointing third Matt Helm picture, The Ambushers.

With her 38-26-36 figure and simmering, Teutonic sexuality, Senta was a memorable femme fatale not only in the previously-mentioned Helm film, but in 1966's The Quiller Memorandum, the Eurospy caper Our Man in Marrakesh, and in episodes of the American spy-fi shows It Takes A Thief and The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Her IMDb page lists over 140 screen appearances, and she's still active as an actress today.

Spy Vixen Week - Day #3: Luciana Paluzzi

2009-12-02T00:00:00.003-05:00

As I wrote at the beginning of the week, the women I'm choosing for this "Spy Vixens" theme are actresses that I associate primarily with 60s spy-fi. It doesn't mean necessarily that they made a lot of films in the genre, but when I see them, my immediate reaction is one of recognition from their espionage cinema credits.

For example, the lovely Luciana Paluzzi. The voluptuous Italian redhead is best known for her role as sinister SPECTRE assassin Fiona Volpe in 1965's 007 spectacular, Thunderball. But she also made memorable appearances in the 1968 OSS 117 adventure Murder For Sale, The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and (again with Robert Vaughn) in The Venetian Affair. She also appeared in a wide variety of other films and television shows, from cult sci-fi faves like The Green Slime and Captain Nemo's Underwater City to blaxploitation thrillers like Black Gunn.

She's always been a personal favorite, with her lush figure, flaming hair, penetrating eyes and air of class and sophistication. Today's actresses tend to all look alike, as if they were ejected from the same three or four molds. Luciana - like the other Vixens on this list - was a unique beauty and a powerful, sensual screen presence. They just don't seem to make 'em like that anymore....

Obit: Tony Kendall, R.I.P.

2009-12-01T04:51:00.008-05:00

Our man in Sweden, Pidde Andersson, reports:

Tony Kendall died sunday night at the age of 73 after a lengthy bout of cancer.

Kendall (born Luciano Stella) rose to fame in Europe in the mid-sixties as the lead in the movie adaptions of german pulp novel series "Kommissar X". He starred in 54 films over the years (with his last one in 2007), among them The Return of the Evil Dead, The Loreley's Grasp (both part of the "Blind Dead"-series) and Yeti - The Giant of the 20th Century.

Just a few months ago, this last september, Kendall reunited with his friend and "Kommissar X" co-lead Brad Harris and director Gianfranco Parolini (aka Frank Kramer) at an event in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

Rest in peace, Joe Walker....

The Spy-Fi Poll Returns!

2009-12-01T00:26:00.005-05:00

At least for one week, anyway. Inspired by fellow COBRAS David Foster's celebration of Leslie Charteris' inimitable Simon Templar, alias The Saint over on his Permission To Kill blog, I thought it would be fun to see who Spy-Fi visitors thought portrayed the best Simon Templar on film or television. So, take a second and cast your vote - as usual, you'll find the poll question over there in the left-hand sidebar.

Poll closes on December 7.

Spy Vixen Week - Day #2: Margaret Lee

2009-12-01T00:00:00.003-05:00

Sexy blonde bombshell Margaret Lee was a prominent Eurospy siren, who appeared in such continental cloak-and-dagger thrillers as From The Orient With Fury (with Ken Clark's 077), Murder for Sale (with John Gavin's OSS 117), Secret Agent Super Dragon (with Ray Danton's, uh, Super Dragon) and Kiss The Girls And Make Them Die, among many, many others.

In fact, skimming her IMDb page gives one the impression that she was European producers' first choice for any and all spy-fi films produced on the continent between 1964 and 1968!

It's no surprise, really, because she was not only gorgeous, but charismatic and charming as well, with sex appeal to spare. And although I've only ever seen her on film with her voice dubbed, she seemed to be a pretty fair actress, too.

It's rather surprising that Eon Productions never tapped her for a Bond film, actually....

Spy Vixen Week - Day #1: Daliah Lavi

2009-11-30T02:20:00.011-05:00

Due to a variety of factors, I haven't had time lately to really put together any interesting posts for this blog, or at least, not write anything of any weight or significance. But, I also didn't want the site to continue to go neglected, so I tried to think of a "theme" that I'd be able to keep up with for a week or so.

Fellow COBRAS Paul Bishop has been devoting a fair amount of space to "Spy Girls" in his blog over the last couple of weeks, and that gave me an idea. For the next seven days, I'll be showcasing a different lovely actress from the heyday of the 60s spy film, actresses that I primarily associate with the genre. But whereas Paul threw his spotlight on the catsuit-clad heroines, I'm going to instead feature some of the most devious and delicious femme fatales of espionage cinema.

To begin, I've chosen Daliah Lavi, the raven-haired Israeli beauty who shared the screen with Dean Martin's Matt Helm in The Silencers (1966), Woody Allen's Jimmy Bond alias Doctor Noah in Casino Royale (1967) and Richard Johnson's Hugh Drummond in Some Girls Do (1968), among other memorable roles.

Beautiful and exotic, with a flair for comic menace, Miss Lavi is one of my favorite fatimas of the Sixties. Unfortunately for fans of cinematic sirens, she retired from acting early and went on to a successful singing career in Europe.

Obit: Edward Woodward, R.I.P.

2009-11-16T23:40:00.010-05:00

Edward Woodward, the distinguished and intense star of the Spy-Fi television series Callan and The Equalizer, passed away yesterday at age 79.

I'm a huge fan of The Equalizer and Woodward's portrayal of Robert McCall, an ex-spy who used his espionage skills to help those in trouble against terrible odds. It was refreshing to have a television hero who had maturity, class, and intelligence, but also knew when to blow away the bad guys with his PPK. Woodward brought both great dignity and a convincing toughness to the role, and received numerous awards for his performance on the show.

Woodward was a very fine actor, and I enjoyed watching him in almost anything he appeared in, from the original Wicker Man and Breaker Morant to Hot Fuzz. He'll be missed.

Weekly Debriefing 015

2009-11-12T01:34:00.007-05:00

Begin Transmission:

• The Channel has been issuing little but static of late, and I apologize. I've been very busy recently with several writing projects and various pressing personal issues (not to mention kicking off yet another pop-culture genre blog). Also, aside from my weekly 007 films with my wife (this is week #19 and A View to A Kill), there has been very little Spy-Fi action going on around here.

I do have a couple of reviews partially written (OSS 117: Murder For Sale and T.R. Sloane/Death Ray 2000), and I just got software for my computer that allows me to take screen captures off of DVDs, so there will be some new material shortly. I also plan on adding photos to some of my older reviews as I get time.

• One of the projects I've been working on is tenuously Spy-Fi related - an all-new prose anthology featuring adventures of the classic radio/comics/serial/television character Captain Midnight. Long in the works, I've now delivered the final components to the publisher, and it should be out in the late Spring of '10. I'm the editor of the anthology and wrote the "Bible" for this version of the character, which is set in an alternate history where WWII never happened.

Captain Midnight is the commander of an independent, world wide intelligence and peace-keeping force known as The Secret Squadron, and some of his adventures are genuine espionage thrillers. In fact, his primary nemesis is a would-be world conqueror named Ivan Shark, a megalomaniac in the Bond-villain mold. Contributors to the anthology include New York Times best-selling author/aviation expert John J. Nance (Medusa's Child, Pandora's Clock), Stephen Mertz (The Korean Intercept), Chuck Dixon, Robert Greenberger, Trina Robbins, Mark Justice, Tim Lasiuta, Win Scott Eckert, Howard Hopkins, Robert Jeschonek, and yours truly. The cover art is by my pal Richard Clark.

Rich and I will also be teaming up on a series of Captain Midnight comic book stories as well.

• While I may have been neglecting my spy blogging duties, the rest of the COBRAS have not been idle. In fact, a new agent has joined us in our goal of global blog domination. Specifically, Peter Lorenz of The Illustrated 007 - The Art of James Bond.

I've been a fan of Peter's blog for a while now. He's doing an incredible job scouring the world for virtually every piece of illustration related to our favorite MI6 agent. Book covers, film posters, comic books, magazine illustrations... you name it, he's got it. His site is a must for both Bond fans and art lovers.

• In my last Debriefing I mentioned rumors about the 80s spy series Scarecrow & Mrs. King coming to DVD in 2010. Well, the first season has been confirmed for March. TV Shows on DVD has the cover art and additional details.

• Well, that's about it for now. Hopefully, things will settle down for me this winter and I'll be back to posting more regularly.

End Transmission.

Intel: IT TAKES A THIEF coming to DVD?

2009-10-30T04:16:00.008-04:00

TV Shows On DVD is reporting that they have received information from a reliable source that the late Sixties spy-fi series, It Takes A Thief, will be coming to DVD in 2010. Since there's been no official announcement, though, they're labeling their report as a rumor.

The series, which ran from 1968 to 1970, featured Robert Wagner as Alexander Mundy, a playboy and cat burglar recruited out of prison by a secret agency of the United States government to steal for them. His boss was Noah Bain (Malachi Throne), and Mundy's father - also a thief - made frequent appearances in the form of the legendary Fred Astaire.

Episodes from the series were recently available for free online viewing at Hulu, but appear to be gone now. (Correction: Apparently the episodes are still up on Hulu. I just didn't find them.)

Video: David Hasselhoff "Secret Agent Man"

2009-10-23T00:50:00.006-04:00

This is a weird one, as the Hoff interprets the classic Johnny Rivers tune amid some faux Maurice Binder-inspired graphics. Of course, Hasselhoff did portray Marvel Comics' superspy, Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. in a mid-90s television movie (which I have on DVD and should probably review one of these days)...

Weekly Debriefing 014

2009-10-23T00:13:00.008-04:00

Begin Transmission:

• Finished watching the fourth season of Get Smart. Having Max and 99 actually get married was a bold move, and allowed the writers to play around a bit with the series format and bring a little "domestic humor" to the show. Obviously, the dynamic between Don Adams and Barbara Feldon changed somewhat, too. I also noticed that there was less repetition of classic Smart bits in Season 4, unlike earlier seasons, where every episode seemed to have a "cone of silence" gag or a "would you believe?" routine.

Good stuff, and it really demonstrates just how far off the mark last year's Steve Carrell version was. I'm looking forward to the retail release of Season Five.

• My weekly Bond movie marathon hits week 23 today with For Your Eyes Only on Blu-Ray. It's my favorite Roger Moore movie (though I really enjoyed viewing Moonraker in hi-def last Friday), so I'm looking forward to watching it again this evening.

• I also finally got around to rewatching OSS 117: Murder For Sale with near-Bond John Gavin. Look for a review here soon.

• INTEL: I never watched the show, but according to TV Shows on DVD, the 1980s spy-fi series Scarecrow And Mrs. King, starring Bruce Boxleitner and Kate Jackson, will probably be hitting DVD in 2010.

As I said above, I never watched it. Was it any good? I liked Boxleitner on Babylon 5 and the old Bring 'Em Back Alive show -not to mention TRON! - so I'm curious.

• C.O.B.R.A.S. News: The cabal continues its world domination plans with the addition of yet another blog to its ranks. Welcome to Paul Baack and the rest of the crew at the HMSS Weblog. The blog is an adjunct of the Her Majesty's Secret Servant webmagazine, probably the finest online 007 fanzine around.

• Anyway, that was my week. How was yours?

End Transmission.

Review: A MAN CALLED SLOANE - "The Shangri-La Syndrome"

2009-10-22T05:17:00.005-04:00

Well, we come at last to the final episode of A Man Called Sloane, "The Shangri-La Syndrome," directed by none other than T.R. Sloane himself, Robert Conrad.

I wish I could say that the series went out on a high note, but "Syndrome" is a rather lackluster affair.

Sloane is investigating the theft of some top secret material from Doctor Karla Meredith's (Daphne Reid) scientific institute. A meeting with one of her (young and pretty, 'natch) researchers is interrupted by an intruder whom Sloane pursues. By the time Sloane gets back, she is dead of apparent old age. It turns out that Meredith is working with KARTEL and an ex-Nazi named (of course) Hans Kruger (Dennis Cole) to clone a South American dictator.

There are some interesting concepts in here - Kruger is being kept young by an age-reversing formula and must stay in a hot environment to avoid reverting his to his true age - but nothing is done with them. There's only one gadget in this episode, and it's rather pedestrian, too.

It's a shame that the series came out when it did. NBC in 1979 was something of a creative wasteland, with network head Fred Silverman desperate to attract viewers to the floundering net. His approach to this was to program shows that were colorful, titillating, and, basically, stupid. This was the season of Supertrain, Buck Rogers In The 25th Century, Hello Larry and Pink Lady & Jeff.

It's also unfortunate that the producers didn't bother to actually give Conrad a character to play. Sloane was Conrad, basically, and was never shown to have any personal life, nor was there any backstory ever revealed for the character. In the pilot film - where the character was played by Robert Logan - Sloane was established as an art and antiques dealer, which at least provided him with a cover for his international travel, and provided a little color. This appears to have been forgotten by the time of the actual series. The character of Torque was badly used as well. A giant with a multi-purpose cybernetic hand should have been a lot more useful and interesting than he actually was. I don't blame actor Ji-Tu Cumbuka, though. He simply wasn't given anything much to do, most of the time.

Anyway, it was fun re-visiting the series. One of these days, I'll get around to reviewing the pilot film, T.R. Sloane/Death Ray 2000.

Happy Birthday, Roger!

2009-10-14T18:16:00.003-04:00

Happy 82nd to the man with the longest cinematic run as 007 - not to mention being the definitive Simon Templar - Sir Roger Moore!

The New Men From C.O.B.R.A.S.

2009-10-12T23:15:00.007-04:00

I may not have had much time for Spy-Fi blogging of late, but that doesn't mean that my fellow COBRAS (Coalition Of Bloggers wRiting About Spies) have been slacking off. Just check out the blogroll at left and check out their sites for the best in spy-fi news, reviews and opinion.

And speaking of that blogroll, there's a few new additions to the list, as the COBRAS organization welcomes several new members to its ranks.

So, join us in welcoming the UK's Rob Mallows of the Deighton Dossier, Argentina's Johny Malone and his Una Plaga de Espias, and Philippe Lombard of France, proprietor of Quantum Of Bond.

Clearly, the COBRAS are well on their way to world domination, with agents in the US, UK, Argentina, France and Australia... so far.

Weekly Debriefing 013

2009-10-10T01:21:00.005-04:00

Begin Transmission.

• Wow. It's been a while since I posted anything substantial here. I've been dealing with some grueling freelance deadlines and other stuff, and really haven't had time to indulge my Spy-Fi obsessions. The only exception is that my wife and I are continuing to work our way through the 007 films, watching them in order, one every Friday evening. This week it was The Spy Who Loved Me, which, in my opinion, is Roger Moore's second-best Bond film. It is also, I think, the best of the "spectacle" Bonds. It's interesting that director Lewis Gilbert made essentially the same movie three times, but I have to admit that while the stories may not be particularly strong, Gilbert really knew how to take advantage of the 'scope frame with some visually impressive compositions and really put the money on screen.

I really miss Ken Adams' sets. That guy's a genius.

• My only recent Spy-Fi purchase is the fourth season of Get Smart, which I picked up Friday evening. This is the season where Max and 99 tied the knot, and I'm really looking forward to watching these episodes.

As I noted with the last couple of DVD Season releases, I'm amazed at how well the comedy holds up overall. Great writing.

• I'll be making a sincere effort to get back to posting more regularly. I have a few films and books to review, and will be getting to them soon.

How was your week?

End Transmission.

C.O.B.R.A.S. Alert: Mister 8's Len Deighton Contest

2009-10-06T00:04:00.005-04:00

While I gear up to get back to regular posting here at the Spy-Fi Channel, I'd like to direct your attention (assuming that you haven't already directed said attention there already) to fellow C.OB.RA.S. site Mister 8, where Armstrong Sabian has been exhaustively examining the phenomenon of Len Deighton and The IPCRESS File - novel and film.

It was supposed to be a month-long project, but Armstrong found so much to write about the book and the movie (starring Michael Caine as reluctant agent "Harry Palmer") that it ran throughout the summer and into the fall.

Now, he's come up with a remarkably interesting and unusual Deighton-themed contest:

So here’s the challenge: Give us a glimpse of what an adaptation of Horse Under Water might look like. Show us a movie poster, a scripted scene, a theme song, an animation, a trailer, a level from a video game, a comic, a selection from a radio play, etc. etc. We’re not too particular. Just get it to us by midnight EST on Dec. 12th by emailing your submission (or a link to your submission) to mister8 (at) mister8.com! Improve your odds with multiple entries!

Visit the Mister 8 blog for more details, and while you're there, check out the archives.

I Wish I Was James Bond

2009-10-02T16:46:00.007-04:00

Really, don't we all? Song by the band Scouting For Girls.

My attentions have been elsewhere, but regular posting will resume soon.

Spy-Fi Flashback: U.N.C.L.E. @ 45

2009-09-22T22:16:00.006-04:00

Cinema Retro reminds us that forty-five years ago tonight, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. premiered on NBC. Starring Robert Vaughn as suave secret agent Napoleon Solo and David McCallum as his enigmatic Russian colleague, the show ran for four years.

The first U.N.C.L.E. show I ever saw was the 1983 TV movie reunion. Not the greatest example, obviously, but it was good enough to make me want to see more.

I never saw an episode of the original series until the mid-1980s, when cable's CBN, the Christian Broadcasting Network, ran the first season, black & white U.N.C.L.E. episodes at five AM on weekdays. I set my VCR timer to record the show, and enjoyed finally seeing the series I had been reading about for years.

In subsequent years, I caught episodes from the later seasons on stations like TNT, and last year I finally got my hands on the complete series DVD set.

U.N.C.L.E. was both a product of its time and a bit ahead of it. It was a Cold War era spy show that flat out ignored the Cold War, and showed an American agent (some sources claim Solo was Canadian, but that was never mentioned on the air) and a Russian agent working together to keep the world safe. Despite the limitations of a television budget, the producers and directors used the resources of the then-fading MGM studios -- especially its vast backlot -- to give the show a sense of scope and spectacle that its contemporaries lacked. And it was its success that helped give rise to the TV spy boom of the Sixties, making it responsible, in part, for the existence of shows such as Get Smart, The Wild Wild West, I Spy and Mission: Impossible.

So, happy anniversary to the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement, for without it, this blog may not have been possible.

Review: THE 10TH VICTIM DVD

2009-09-17T01:38:00.007-04:00

A cult classic from the swinging sixties, Elio Petri’s The 10th Victim may not be a spy movie, but it is a fun bit of speculative, sly Europop, with an intriguing sci-fi premise that has proven, in the years since the film was made, to be somewhat prescient.

It is the 21st century and the governments of the world have turned murder into a sporting event called The Big Hunt. Intended as a sort of pressure valve for society, volunteers sign on to hunt and be hunted by other players. Each volunteer is contracted to ten "hunts;" five as hunter and five as victim. Survivors receive huge cash prizes, and if they survive all ten hunts, they get a million bucks cash. When lovely Caroline Meredith (Ursula Andress, Doctor No) is pitted against Italian champion Marcello Polletti (Marcello Mastroianni) in her last hunt, she arranges to have her expected victory – Marcello's death – televised for her corporate sponsors. Unfortunately for her, Marcello has no desire to cooperate.

An audacious mix of satire, farce, science fiction and romance, The 10th Victim is a genuinely unique film experience. In its tone, story and production design, it has influenced a wide variety of subsequent films, from Death Race 2000 and The Running Man to Mike Myers’ Austin Powers series, and predicted the "reality television" craze that plagues us today.

Blue Underground’s recently released DVD is a reissue of an out of print Anchor Bay edition, with the same anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen transfer and limited extras. Much better cover art, though, taken from the original film poster. Audio options include both the original Italian dialogue tracks and the English dub. The only extras are the theatrical trailer and text bios of Andress and Mastroianni.

A one-of-a-kind film, The 10th Victim is very much a product of its era, with a 60s pop art vibe that may seem campy or dated today, but if you have a genuine interest in cinematic satire, I strongly recommend checking it out. It’s a minor masterpiece and should appeal to fans of the era's Eurospy and "psychedelic" films.

Video: THE SILENCER

2009-09-12T12:43:00.005-04:00

Continuing my efforts to find rare spy-fi-related clips: buxom Joi Lansing performs the theme from the Dean Martin Matt Helm film The Silencers in this burlesque-inspired musical short for scopitone "video jukeboxes" of the Sixties.

Review: OPERATION KID BROTHER

2009-09-10T06:07:00.005-04:00

After years of reading about it, I finally got a chance to watch Operation Kid Brother (a/k/a OK Connery, Operation Double 007) the infamous Eurospy film starring Neil Connery, the younger brother of 007 himself, Sean Connery. The film also stars 007 film veterans Adolfo Celi, Daniela Bianchi, and Anthony Dawson, as well as (much to the annoyance of Bond producers Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli) series regulars Bernard Lee and Lois Maxwell.

Directed by Alberto De Martino, Operation Kid Brother is an amusing novelty of a movie. Neil Connery plays, uh, Doctor Neil Connery, the younger brother of England's top secret agent. Doctor Neil is not a spy – but he is a plastic surgeon, master hypnotist, lip reader, expert archer, and probably hell of a croquet player. He looks a bit like his brother, but sports a neatly-trimmed van dyke beard and utterly expressionless eyes – which is regrettable since we get so many close-ups of those vacant orbs. When his sibling is unavailable for a mission, a Commander Cunningham (Lee) and Miss Maxwell (Maxwell) recruit the multi-talented civilian.

It seems that an evil organization called THANATOS (actually, that's a pretty cool name) is out to conquer the world with a magnetic device that will cause all machinery to stop working. The man in charge of the operation is Mr. Thai (Celi), and he's aided by the lovely Maya (Bianchi). Fortunately, defeating Thai and THANATOS specifically requires a lip-reading plastic surgeon with hypnotic powers – and, let's not forget, master bowman – so everything works out all right in the end.

Actually, there's a lot of fun stuff in this flick. Lois Maxwell gets to do a lot more here than she ever did as Miss Moneypenny, even toting a machine gun and participating in a commando raid. The climax, in which a group of Dr. Neil's archery buddies invade Thai's underground lair and perforate his leather-clad guards with arrows, is entertainingly surreal. Bianchi's costumes are delightfully over-the-top, and the score, by Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai is bouncy and upbeat.

Neil's just awful, though. Calling him a block of wood is an insult to trees. As I mentioned above, his eyes are lifeless, which, combined with his nearly immobile face, is somewhat disturbing. When a young woman – one of his patients, mind you – is shot in front of him while passing on secret information under hypnosis, he shows no emotion at all. Occasionally he manages to look irritated, so I guess that's something. It doesn't help that his voice is dubbed by someone with a flat, American accent. Assuming his own line readings were unusable, couldn't they at least found someone with a Scottish accent?

Anyway, I've finally seen it, and I'm glad I did. I also watched the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version of the film this week, and that was fun, too. The movie inspired some particularly funny commentary from Joel and the 'bots, and their Connery-inspired comedy sketches were great.

• Interestingly, the movie poster art above was the work of the legendary Bob Peak, who also painted the poster for 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me and some ultimately unused promotional art for 1989's Licence To Kill.

Happy Birthday, George!

2009-09-06T09:15:00.003-04:00

Actually, the star of my favorite James Bond movie celebrated his 70th birthday yesterday, but what's a day among friends?

Review: KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE

2009-09-05T15:07:00.006-04:00

Just a year before assaying his most famous role as TV's tough private eye, Joe Mannix, Mike Conners starred in this fun 1966 spy-fi adventure from producer Dino DeLaurentis (Danger Diabolik) and director Henry Levin (Murderer's Row, The Ambushers).

Conners plays CIA agent Kelly. We don't learn much about the character over the course of the film, not even whether "Kelly" is his first or last name. All we really find out is that he's smart, good with his fists, and likes bananas.

Kelly is in Rio de Janerio, investigating a millionaire named Ardonian (played by Italian actor Raf Vallone), who seems to collect girlfriends -- several at a time. These young women (all beautiful, of course) all seem to go missing eventually. Among Ardonian's most recent amorous interests is Susan Fleming (Dorothy Provine), an aristocratic Englishwoman.

Eventually, it is revealed that Susan is also a secret agent, working for MI6 and also investigating Ardonian. Her chauffeur, James (Terry-Thomas) is also her partner-in-espionage, working as her back-up man and bodyguard. He also drives her Rolls Royce, which is equipped with numerous secret weapons and gadgets.

Working together, Kelly and Susan uncover Ardonian's sinister plot: the Red Chinese have provided him with a rocket, with which he intends to launch a satellite into orbit. This satellite will emit waves of radiation that will destroy the male sex drive, and ultimately cause the human race to die out. The Chinese have been assured that he will only "sterilize" the West, but Ardonian has bigger plans. Those missing girls? He has them cryogenically preserved in his underground rocket base/secret lair, and intends for them to be the mothers of his own, world-conquering progeny.

Kiss The Girls And Make Them Die surprised me. I had expected it to be an outright spoof, but it wasn't quite as cartoonish as the Matt Helm movies, instead playing out a bit more like the Flint films; outlandish but played straight-faced. It was also a more lavish production than I expected, with a seemingly larger budget than any of its Eurospy contemporaries. The Rio locations were used well (especially a nice action scene in and around the Redeemer statue on Corcavado) and Ardonian's lair was nicely designed and impressive in scope. The fight scenes were very well staged and performed, too.

I really liked Mike Conners' laconic performance, and was really surprised at how much I enjoyed Terry-Thomas' character. I had previously only seen him play stereotypical upper-class twits and clueless bureaucrats, so I was caught of guard the first time he laid out some thugs with surprisingly convincing judo moves. I was less impressed with Dorothy Provine; she was okay in the role, just not my "type." Eurospy vixen Margaret Lee also appeared in the movie, though, and she's always welcome eye candy.

And yeah, it's true: an awful lot of this movies plot -- including it's Rio setting -- seems to have been cribbed by screenwriter Christopher Wood for the 1979 James Bond film, Moonraker. Several scenes are almost identical, and it just doesn't seem likely that it was coincidental.

I wish someone would give this film a legitimate DVD release.

Weekly Debriefing 012

2009-09-04T23:00:00.004-04:00

Begin Transmission.

• Sorry for the lack of posts over the last couple of weeks. I've been under the gun (a Walther PPK, of course) on several freelance assignments. I did come into possession of a few new spy-fi discs (courtesy of a fellow aficionado), and will be reviewing some of them here.

• My only spy-fi purchase this past week was the Blu-Ray special edition disc of Casino Royale (2006). I'm slowly building up my Bond Blu-Ray collection, and can't wait for them to get around to On Her Majesty's Secret Service and The Spy Who Loved Me.

• This week's Bond film was You Only Live Twice. Man, that movie makes no sense if you think too hard about it. I love the spectacle - Ken Adams' sets are amazing - and it has several extremely well-staged action sequences, but that script! It's Roald Dahl's Tales of the Inexplicable! Still, it's fun.

Look for more posts this week.

End Transmission.

Weekly Debriefing 011

2009-08-28T23:37:00.003-04:00

Begin Transmission:

• Been watching Joss Whedon's Dollhouse on DVD through Netflix. Not bad, but not quite the show I thought it was going to be, either. I'm a bit more than halfway through Season 1, and mildly intrigued, certainly enough to want to see the rest of the season.

• With the covert cooperation of fellow COBRAS, Tanner, I also obtained copies of and watched the Eurocrime flicks Kriminal and Mark of Kriminal. I considered this research for my Skorpion project. I enjoyed both movies a great deal, and was impressed at how slick and polished the productions were. Of course, the both co-starred the lovely Helga Line (in Kriminal she even played twins!), so that increased the entertainment value considerably.

• This week's All-Bonds-In-Order Friday night feature was the 1967 Casino Royale. It's the first time I've watched it all the way through in probably fifteen years, and the very first time I've seen the entire film in widescreen. (I have the first MGM DVD, not the newer special edition.)

I will say that I found it slightly funnier than I remembered, chuckling more often and even laughing out loud once or twice. Afterwards, I told my wife that I'd never ask her to sit through it again, but she surprised me by admitting that she "didn't hate it."

• No spy-fi purchases this week, nor have I begun reading any espionage novels. I hope to finish a couple of overdue assignments this weekend, so hopefully I'll have a bit more time next week to devote to this blog's theme.

How was your week?

End Transmission.

Happy Birthday, Sean!

2009-08-25T22:58:00.004-04:00

Happy 79th birthday to the first - and arguably best - James Bond of them all, Sir Sean Connery.

Video: Spy Vs. Spy - "Defection"

2009-08-22T14:56:00.004-04:00

They're reprinting the original Spy Vs. Spy strips by Antonio Prohias from MAD Magazine in digest-sized trade collections. J. Caleb Mozzocco reviews the first volume at the Newsarama Blog:

When two nations go to war, neither one wins. Well, actually, one side usually wins, but that victory is fleeting. In the next encounter, the winner is just as likely to end up the loser, and that cycle of conflict can continue forever. That seems to be the message of Antonio Prohias’ Spy Vs. Spy strips: One day you’re clubbing/shooting/poisoning/bombing/dropping a boulder on your foe, the next you’re being clubbed/shot/poisoned/bombed/having a boulder dropped on you.

Read the entire review at the link above.

Video: OUR MAN FLINT

2009-08-20T15:21:00.003-04:00

A rather decently-edited "music video" set to Jerry Goldsmith's wonderful Our Man Flint theme.

Enjoy!

Review: A MAN CALLED SLOANE - "Architect of Evil"

2009-08-18T00:10:00.001-04:00

I don't know if it was because I was groggy and watching it at four in the morning, but I really enjoyed the penultimate episode of A Man Called Sloane, "Architect of Evil."

Worthington Pendergast (Michael Pataki) is the titular architect, who has conceived a "perfect city" for KARTEL to build and rule in an undisclosed location. Who will construct – and ultimately, live in – this city? Well, Pendergast has a typically complicated and insane plan to solve that problem: using a ray projector that can increase the mass of objects, he intends to sink a ship carrying nuclear waste which will then contaminate a large portion of the West Coast of America. This will dispossess millions of people, who KARTEL (will somehow) then draft as slave labor to build their city.

Unfortunately for Pendergast, the unique "blue crystal" that makes the ray weapon work, has been stolen from his home safe along with his other valuables, by a cat burglar named Harry Helms (John Aprea), who has no idea what it is and thinks it's worthless. Fortunately, UNIT had Pendergast under observation and caught the thief on film, so Sloane is able to track him down, and ultimately impersonate him (an impersonation which, as usual, isn't very effective) in order to infiltrate Pendergast's operation...

The story is nonsensical, but for some reason, it plays out pretty well. Pataki's villain is suitably over-the-top, executing his own henchmen with sonic deathtraps and playing Bach's tocatta and fugue in D minor on the organ to relieve stress. There's a sequence set in a health club where burglar Helms attempts to kill Sloane in a manner highly reminiscent of the Shrublands scene in Thunderball, and an interesting – and unusual climax featuring Sloane, Torque, a helicopter, and a lot of soapsuds.

Well directed by veteran TV and B-movie (Cujo, Alligator) director Lewis Teague, "Architect of Evil" is a satisfyingly silly but entertaining hour of spy-fi adventure, and is probably one of the best in the series.

Only one more episode to go!

Review: DANGER: DIABOLIK

2009-08-14T14:53:00.005-04:00

Danger: Diabolik is one of my all-time favorite films in any genre.

Mario Bava, the accomplished cinematographer, special effects artist and director best known for such stylish Euro-horror classics as Black Sunday, Black Sabbath, Planet Of The Vampires and Blood And Black Lace was hand-chosen by legendary movie mogul Dino DeLaurentis to direct this 1968 adaptation of the popular Italian fumetti (comic book), Diabolik. Budgeted at a generous three million dollars, the frugal maestro Bava – using economical camera tricks and his legendary ingenuity – ended up spending only $400,000 of his budget (much to DeLaurentis' delight). Yet, he still created one of the most visually stunning films in the entire genre.

The film follows the episodic escapades of master thief and super villain Diabolik (John Phillip Law, Barbarella, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad) as he carries out a series of audacious heists, constantly making the police and civil authorities look like incompetent buffoons. At one point, the law even covertly recruits a ruthless gangster (Adolfo Celi, Thunderball) to kidnap Diabolik's girlfriend, Eva Kant (the gorgeous Marisa Mell), figuring to pit the two criminals against each other. But Diabolik – clad in a striking all-black costume – is more than a match for the mafioso.

Diabolik isn't a super hero by any definition, nor is he a Robin Hood-styled "thief with a heart of gold." In the commentary, star Law admits bluntly that his character's "basically a terrorist." He's a refreshingly genuine antihero, out for all he can get, and innocent bystanders be damned. If you're looking for a role model, look elsewhere. Personally, I find these sorts of characters fascinating, and am always interested in how the creators of such characters manage to manipulate their audiences into rooting for such despicable people. In Diabolik's case, it's pure style – he's just so much more audacious, fearless and admirable than the cops and other crooks around him.

Beautifully shot, and awash in bright primary colors, Danger: Diabolik is among one of the "truest" comic book adaptations ever filmed. Not only does Bava nail the tone and character of the original comics, but he successfully translates comic book storytelling from one medium to another, with brilliant results.

Paramount Pictures released the film on DVD a few years ago, presenting the film in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, with a fine, startlingly sharp anamorphic transfer. The Dolby Digital mono sound is clear and free of hiss, but one wishes they'd been able to do a new sound mix, as the mono doesn't do justice to Ennio Morricone's wonderful, lounge-y score.

Among the bonus features is an informative documentary "From Fumetti to Film," which details the origins of the movie and examines it from the perspective of Sixties psychedelic filmmaking and as a comic book adaptation. The documentary includes interviews with star Law, comic book creator Stephen Bissette, filmmaker Roman Coppola, and Diabolik fan Adam Yauch of The Beastie Boys. The disc also includes The Beastie Boys music video, "Body Movin'," which incorporates footage from the movie, two trailers and a commentary track by Law and Bava expert Tim Lucas, editor of the excellent Video Watchdog magazine.

The commentary is one of the best I've heard in a long while, with Law obviously very fond of the movie and the character and full of reminisces. Lucas is a fount of knowledge on Bava and the production of the film, and prompts Law whenever necessary to keep the trivia and gossip (Law cops to a having a hot and steamy affair with his co-star Mell during filming) flowing. The track is never boring, and is fascinating to listen to.

If you've never seen the movie, it demands a Netflix rental; better yet, try and track down a copy of the DVD. It's technically out of print, but can still be found with a little diligence.

Weekly Debriefing 008-009

2009-08-14T14:17:00.005-04:00

Begin Transmission.

Well, really, I've got virtually nothing to report. Since the beginning of August, I've been devoting most of my time to catching up with writing and editing assignments, and have had very little time to indulge in my various pop culture obsessions.

One rare exception is that my wife and I have started watching all of the 007 films in order, one each Friday. Tonight the feature is Goldfinger on Blu-Ray. I'm really looking forward to seeing it in hi-def, especially considering how amazing Dr. No and From Russia With Love look on their respective Blu-Ray discs.

• In other random notes, I've been listening to the internet radio station A Fistful Of Soundtracks a lot on iTunes these days while I'm working. It's a great channel devoted solely to film/television scores and songs, and they play an awful lot of spy music (right this second they're playing "Deep Deep Down," from Danger: Diabolik). It's a great station, and I highly recommend it.

• Yesterday I received the latest DVD in Synapse Films' 42nd Street Forever series of exploitation film trailers. Both Volume 4 and Volume 5 include a few rare Eurospy trailers. Vol. 5 includes trailers for Lightning Bolt and James Tont Operation O.N.E., which features a wonderful theme song about a guy named "Goldsinger!"

• This week, I'll make a point of at least watching and posting another A Man Called Sloane episode review, 'cause I know you're all eagerly awaiting it. Maybe I can squeeze in a Nick Carter or Butler paperback, too.

How was your week, agents?

End Transmission.

Dead Air

2009-08-10T14:27:00.002-04:00

Yeah, it's been quiet here at the Channel for the last week or so. Been busy trying to catch up with various freelance gigs, and have indulged in virtually no spy-fi nerdom in days.

The exception being that the wife and I are trying to work our way through the Bond films one-by-one, and have watched Dr. No and From Russia With Love over the last two consecutive Fridays. Despite being with me for ten years, she still hasn't seen every frame of every 007 epic, and she's making the effort to go the distance with me.

That's love.

Updates soon.

Spies Speak Lark

2009-08-06T12:39:00.005-04:00

Several of our favorite secret agents have made commercials in Japan for Lark cigarettes...

James Bond – Timothy Dalton:

James Bond – Roger Moore:

Derek Flint – James Coburn:

Spy-Fi poll 007: Results

2009-08-03T22:54:00.006-04:00

Ironic that this was poll number 007, as the question at hand was about one of the more successful and well known spy-fi film series to follow in James Bond's cinematic footsteps.

The question was: "Which Dean Martin Matt Helm movie was the best?"

Now, while the character portrayed by Dean Martin in these four flix may bear no resemblance to the tall, thin, rugged outdoorsman of Donald Hamilton's excellent paperback novels, there is still much to enjoy in the Matt Helm movies. The comic book plots and Rat Pack-flavored humor can be fun, and the feminine eye candy on display is frankly exquisite.

The first movie in the series, The Silencers, won this one in a landslide with ten out of sixteen votes going to it. In second place was the second movie, Murderer's Row, with four. The final film in the four-flick series, The Wrecking Crew, picked up two. The Ambushers, the third and least of the Matt Helm quartet garnered no votes at all.

I voted for Murderer's Row. I like the Riviera setting (even if Dean never actually went there), I like the hovercraft chase, and I really like watching Ann-Margaret go-go dance. So sue me. The Silencers is right up there too, mostly because of the presence of spy-fi vixen Dalia Lavi.

By the way – in a distantly related note, apparently Steven Spielberg has passed on directing the new Matt Helm film. Oh well.

Anyway, no poll this week because I can't think of any questions. It's been a rough few days, which also accounts – in part – for my decreased activity here. Anyway, if I should come up with an interesting question (And I'm open to suggestions!) between now and then, I'll post a new poll next Monday.

Weekly Debriefing 008

2009-07-31T23:00:00.002-04:00

Begin transmission:

Not much going on, spy-fi-wise, over the last week, as I've been busy with various projects and devoting much of my leisure time to some of my other pop culture obsessions (Dr. Who, Godzilla, super-hero cartoons).

• Just about the only genre "event" of note was that I received my copy of the Dr. Goldfoot And The Bikini Machine DVD, and gave it a spin last night. I really had fun with it. Vincent Price is one of my favorite actors of all time, and I'm kinda amazed that I never managed to see this one before.

I almost always enjoy AIP comedy films of the era (though the apparent appeal of Harvey Lembeck' s "Eric Von Zipper" character continues to elude me, so I found his cameo in Goldfoot a bit irritating; Annette's was cute, though) and I had a lot of fun with the movie. The girls were gorgeous, the San Francisco locations were picturesque, and I thought the whole Pit & The Pendulum sequence was admirably shameless on the producers' part. I also thought it was interesting that AIP assumed that their teenage audiences would be familiar enough with the studio's product to pick up on all the in-jokes and references.

I'm glad I picked it up, and wish the sequel was on DVD. I know both films can be watched online at hulu.com, but I hate watching movies on a computer screen.

• I'd been thinking about it for a while, and I think I'm going to try and watch all the James Bond movies – one a week – in chronological order. To that end, I spun the Dr. No Blu-Ray this evening. This was the first time I'd watched the movie in hi-def, and I was knocked back by the amazing restoration work done by the studio. It looked gorgeous.

• That's pretty much it for the last week of July. How was yours?

End transmission.

Intel: Spielberg to Direct MATT HELM?

2009-07-30T01:24:00.006-04:00

Will Steven Spielberg direct Matt Helm next? Maybe, according to a report in Variety:

Spielberg is seriously considering a film that DreamWorks developed for several years before leaving it behind at Paramount as part of the divorce settlement between the two companies. But the question of whether Spielberg will direct involves a series of complex issues that touch on the relationship between Paramount and DreamWorks, and the latter studio's new finance partner, Reliance.
Spielberg's camp said he is attached to produce, but it's unclear if he's going to direct. Clearly, Spielberg is excited about the project again after the rewrite that Paul Attanasio delivered last week.

The full article can be found here.

Review: THE HYDRA CONSPIRACY

2009-07-28T00:00:00.002-04:00

Last Summer on our annual camping trip weekend, we stopped – as usual – at this huge old chicken barn on Route 1 that has been converted into an antique and used book store. At that time, I bought the first four "Butler" spy paperbacks by Philip Kirk, mostly because I thought the cover art (by someone named Greifinger) looked really cool, and because I like Men's Adventure spy paperbacks (and who doesn't?).

Anyway, they got packed away in a box with a bunch of other books when I made one of my rare office cleanings, and I forgot about them until earlier this month, when I stumbled across the books while looking for something else.

I decided to finally read them, and back while I was laid up with the gout, I started on the first volume, The Hydra Conspiracy, published by Leisure Books in 1979.

It's a very strange book. For one thing, it is one of the very few Men's Adventure paperbacks I've ever read with a Left-Wing political stance. I can only recall one other MA series that leaned left, and that was a P.I. trilogy also published by Leisure.

Anyway, this first volume introduces a CIA Agent named Butler (no first name is given), who has been questioning some of the missions he's been ordered to carry out. This leads to his superiors "requesting" that he "resign." He does so, and heads for a local bar to contemplate his future with a glass of whiskey. While there, he meets an attractive woman and puts the moves on her. She rejects his advances, and he heads home... only to find the same woman dead in his bathroom and the cops banging on the door.

He's been set up, of course, but by who? His ex-bosses at the CIA? Soviet or Chinese operatives hoping top drive him to defect? Nope, it turns out to be a private, international thinktank called the Bancroft Institute, an organization mostly made up of scientists who are trying to save the world.

From whom? Well, the military-industrial complex. Big business. In fact, they refer to it as "Hydra," a coalition of corporations, governments and organized crime, devoted to keeping the poor of the world poor and themselves in charge.

This makes sense to Butler, so he joins up, and is immediately assigned to investigate an oil magnate named Phillip Noble. Good thing, too, because Noble is about to lob an atomic bomb at some South American rebels – both to resolve a problem threatening his oil interests and in hope that it might piss off the Russians and Chinese enough to justify lobbing a few nukes at them, too.

It's an unusual book, with a very different slant for a spy adventure. Instead of the usual paranoid conservative conspiracies I'm used to finding in these kinds of books, this one swings all the way to the other side of the pendulum. And it's just as ludicrous. As I'm a pretty apolitical guy, and find both points of view equally ridiculous, I had no trouble going with it here. Butler himself is a pretty typical PBO hero, with an insatiable appetite for sex and violence. The writing is quite solid; whoever Philip Kirk is, he can write. His prose is punchy and well-paced, and he handles both of the requisite kinds of action well.

I enjoyed it well enough. It's trash, but fun and different trash. I'm starting the second book, Smart Bombs, tonight.

Spy Fi Poll 006: Results

2009-07-27T22:53:00.004-04:00

Last week's question was "Which James Bond continuation author handled Ian Fleming's creation the best?"

The voting was fairly close, with fifteen spy-fi visitors voting. Veteran thriller writer John Gardner, who wrote fourteen original Bond novels from 1981's License Renewed to 1996's Cold Fall, as well as the novelizations of Licence To Kill and Goldeneye, garnered the most votes at five.

Raymond Benson, who succeeded Gardner in 1997 with Zero Minus Ten, and went on to pen a half dozen original 007 adventures and three film novelizations, came in a close second with four votes.

One-shot authors Kingsley Amis (Colonel Sun) and Sebastian Faulkes (Devil May Care) tied for third place, with three votes each.

Me, I voted for Amis, because Colonel Sun is my favorite non-Fleming Bond novel. I enjoyed Gardner's earliest 007 books, but they always seemed thin on characterizations, especially in the case of Bond himself. In fact, I felt that most of Gardner's novels could have featured any secret agent; Bond was pretty much a cypher.

I very much enjoyed Benson's books, and felt that they would have made exciting films. They, like Christopher Wood's film novelizations, seemed to take the Bond of Fleming's books and drop him down into movie-styled plots. I didn't care for Devil May Care at all, so I can't say I thought much of Faulkes' take on the character.

Anyway, I'd be interested in reading which author you chose and why in the comments.

A new poll has been posted. You'll find it – as usual – in the sidebar to the left. If you read this blog in your RSS feed, you may want to swing by sometime this week and participate in the voting.

Weekly Debriefing 007

2009-07-24T16:55:00.003-04:00

Begin Transmission:

• Picked up the 2002 I Spy movie from Wal-Mart's bargain DVD bin the other night. After the last poll about 60s remakes/reimaginings, I realized that I hadn't seen this one. Mostly because I'm a very big fan of the original series. Well, I broke down, bought it and watched it last night.

Overall, I found it entertaining, although I couldn't much stand Eddie Murphy's character. I also can't quite grasp why Hollywood thinks that "buddy movies" have to be based on characters arguing all the time. The original I Spy show portrayed two men as friends who genuinely cared for each other and enjoyed each other's company. You know, like real buddies. And they even managed to be funny without forced, artificial conflict. Of course, writing insults and arguments is a lot easier than genuinely witty dialogue.

I did like that generally, Owen Wilson's spy wasn't a total incompetent, just under-appreciated and poorly equipped. Several times in the course of the story, he used his brains to get out of tough situations, and that was refreshingly different. And, of course, I enjoyed Famke Janssen, but I always enjoy Famke Janssen.

• My only other spy-fi purchase this week was the soundtrack CD for the movie Johnny English. After re-watching the movie a couple weeks ago, I decided that Edward Shearmer's musical score would make a good addition to my Spy-fi hi-fi collections, so I ordered a copy online.

• I expect to receive my Dr. Goldfoot And The Bikini Machine disc next week. I'm looking forward to watching it. I also expect to finish reading the spy paperback I'm in the middle of. It's weird. I'll review it when I wrap it up.

How was your week?

End transmission.

Review: ESPIONAGE IN TANGIERS

2009-07-23T14:39:00.009-04:00

I don't have a region-free DVD player. My wife and I have considered buying one at various times over the years since we're both huge film buffs and there are a number of movies we're interested in that are not yet available on R1 discs, but we've never actually managed to pick one up. And frankly, right now, we probably wouldn't be able to afford expensive import discs anyway.

So, when it comes to watching Eurospy films on DVD, I'm currently limited to titles that are available on R1 DVD – and that's not all that many – and gray market DVD-Rs that people have occasionally sent my way (and if anyone has some they'd like to send to Spy-Fi Command, drop me a line!)

One of the handful of Eurospy epics actually available commercially in the U.S. is 1965's Espionage In Tangiers (Marc Mato, Agente S. 077), which Dark Sky Films released a few years ago as part of one of their "Drive-In Double Feature" discs. The co-feature is Assassination In Rome (1965, starring Cyd Charrise and Hugh O'Brien), which I've yet to watch all the way through. Rome is a espionage thriller in the sub-Hitchcockian vein, but Espionage In Tangiers is a full-fledged Eurospy caper in the 007 (or 077!) tradition.

Espionage stars Luis Davila (A Quiet Place to Kill, Ypotron) as agent Matt Murphy, who is assigned to track down and recover a scientific Macguffin – in this case, a small metal plate that is the vital component of a disintegrator ray gun (one of the absolute cheapest-looking props I can recall ever seeing in a film!). Murphy heads for Tangiers to meet a man who may know something about the theft. Of course, when he arrives, the contact has been killed, so our intrepid operative is forced to pursue more and more tenuous leads, which eventually – and I'm not really sure I followed it all – leads him to Nice and, ultimately, the thieves.

As usual, the plot in this film is a throwaway, linking standard spy-fi set-pieces together, mostly (in this case) energetic fistfights and attempted assassinations of our hero by various ingenious means. The movie could certainly use a bit more juice – it often just kind of plods along, and the bizarre, whistling theme music doesn't help. While convoluted, the story isn't quite as kooky as most of the other Eurospy flix I've seen, and a little of that kookiness would have helped the film, I think. Especially the ending, which is rather anticlimactic.

Davila, on the other hand, is an energetic lead (sometimes overly so), playing his role with a near-perpetual wiseass grin and flamboyant gestures. He's a handsome guy, but there's just something a little "off" about him. I can't put my finger on it, though. In any case, he certainly throws himself into the fight scenes with great enthusiasm, even if his fists and feet rarely seem to be connecting with any of his adversaries.

The back of the DVD case calls Murphy "agent 077," and maybe the movie was sold that way in some countries, but the code number is never mentioned in the movie that I can recall. The packaging also perpetuates the myth that future James Bond star George Lazenby appears in the movie, but that's been debunked repeatedly. Just because something's stated on the IMDb doesn't make it true, folks!

Dark Sky has managed to produce one of the best looking Eurospy DVDs I've seen, with a remarkably sharp and bright 1.88:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that evidences very little age-related wear and tear. There are a few specks and a scratch or two, but they're rare.

Overall, it looks great; probably the best Eurospy transfer currently available on R1 DVD. The movie's not too bad, either... except for that damned theme!

Review: A MAN CALLED SLOANE - "Lady Bug"

2009-07-22T22:33:00.005-04:00

Episode ten of A Man Called Sloane, "Lady Bug," features more spy-fi gadgets than any other episode, including a gas-spewing silver dollar, a submersible automobile, a tape-recording wristwatch, a keyring that can give off electric shocks, and a cigarette case with a 2-way TV communicator. Oh, and The Director (Dan O'Herlihy) plays around with a rocket-launching umbrella in the lab, much to "Q"-girl Kelli's (Karen Purcill) dismay.

The villain of the piece is a KARTEL contractor named Chandler (the late Edie Adams), a glamorous, middle-aged woman who likes to surround herself with young male bodybuilders. She's working with a disgruntled entomologist (!) who has bred a hybrid species of "devil locusts" that can strip a field of crops in a matter of seconds, and whose bites are fatal to humans. With the help of a pretty young entomologist (Barbara Rucker), Torque and many of those aforementioned gadgets, Sloane manages to save America's breadbasket from KARTEL's sinister plan to corner the world's food supply.

"Lady Bug" is a hoot, with an entirely ludicrous – but amusing – plot and a great performance by Adams, who seems to be enjoying her opportunity to play against her usual image, with charm and a sly wit. Torque actually gets a little bit more to do in this episode, rescuing Sloane from a grasshopper and demonstrating a few new accessories for his cybernetic hand. There's also a fun homage to Hitchcock's North By Northwest when a low-flying crop duster drops a load of poison gas on Sloane and his lady faire in a field. Unfortunately, there's also a judo match between Sloane and a henchman (played by Martin Kove), where it's clearly – even on my crappy copy of the show – a stunt double filling in for Conrad.

A fun episode. Two more to go!

Video: THE WILD WEIRD WORLD OF DR. GOLDFOOT

2009-07-21T14:59:00.007-04:00

This is a cool find, I think – the opening titles to the AIP Television special, The Wild Weird World of Dr. Goldfoot, which aired in syndication to promote the 1965 feature film spy-fi spoof, Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, starring the legendary Vincent Price. Theme song by The Supremes!

Which, quite coincidentally, I ordered a copy of last night. I'm still trying to fill some gaps in my collection. I've never seen it, but I'm a HUGE Vincent Price fan, I dig those 60s AIP comedies, and I love attractive girls in bikinis... so why not?

Spy-Fi Poll 005: Results

2009-07-20T21:30:00.001-04:00

Wow. Apparently, if you want people to participate in a poll, asking them about what they dislike is more compelling than asking what they like.

The last poll question, "Which modern film remake/update of a classic 60s spy series was the most disappointing?" resulted in the largest number of voters to date, with 27 Spy-Fi visitors casting their ballot. There was also some last minute vote changing – perfectly within the rules, but indicating that the question certainly engendered strong opinions.

And why not? Hollywood’s lack of originality and callous treatment of other peoples’ creations in nothing new, and completely missing whatever elements made an entertainment property popular in the first place is, sadly, par for the course… which is why they keep making these movies and why they very nearly always suck.

Most voters apparently found the 1998 feature film version of the classic British spy-fi series The Avengers to be the most disappointing remake/reimagining, with 11 votes cast. Coming in second was the 1999 film version of the American show The Wild Wild West, with 10 votes. 1996’s Mission: Impossible and 2002’s I Spy tied for third place with three votes each. Last year’s Get Smart film apparently didn’t annoy anyone quite enough to take a hit, and I regret that I neglected to include 1997’s The Saint on the ballot, ‘cause I’m sure somebody out there hates that one.

I voted for The Wild Wild West. I haven’t seen the I Spy movie – and have little inclination to do so – but I’ve seen the others, and as I noted back in the first Spy-Fi Poll, West is my personal favorite of the old 60s spy shows.

And frankly, when I watch The Avengers movie, despite the lack of charm (or chemistry) in the leads and gaping plot chasms riddling the clearly studio-savaged story, I get the impression that at some point, early on in the process, somebody involved actually wanted to make an Avengers movie that did justice to the material. There’s just enough residual circumstantial evidence buried in that cinematic train wreck for me to believe that. Additionally, I rather like the movie’s production design and musical score. The film is crap, no question, but I have actually managed to watch it all the way through a few times, and may again.

The Wild Wild West, though, that abomination is wrong on so many levels, from conception to execution. A piecemeal script incorporating leftover elements from other aborted film projects (the giant mechanical spider was, infamously, originally intended for an unproduced Superman flick), horrible, illogical casting, and no attempt whatsoever made to recreate the sly, semi-surreal, tongue-in-cheek tone of the original material – instead, the filmmakers ladled on ham-fisted broad slapstick comedy that ridiculed the heroes and subverted the entire premise. Unlike in The Avengers, there’s not a single redeeming thing in that film for me, and I cannot bring myself to watch it again. Not even the pulchritudinous perfection that is Salma Hayek could salvage a frame of that disaster.

I am a bit surprised at the votes against the Mission: Impossible movie. Personally, I rather liked the first (and third) film, and while yeah, I somewhat resent the changes the filmmakers made to Bruce Geller’s original conception… I still thought the movie was pretty good, and I guess that made the difference.

Oh well. I just noticed that with two exceptions, all of these movies came out ten years ago or more. Man, time flies. As always, I encourage you to share your thoughts and the reasons for your choices in the comments, and hope you’ll check out the new poll over there in the sidebar.

Intel: Alex Rider Will Return in CROCODILE TEARS

2009-07-18T14:07:00.010-04:00

My first Spy-Fi Intelligence Item – and of course, I cribbed it from fellow COBRAS colleague Paul Bishop. I am a big fan of Anthony Horowitz' Alex Rider series – though I respectfully disagree with Paul about it being better than Charlie Higson's Young Bond series – and I'm eagerly looking forward to reading the next installment.

From BOOKSELLER.com:

Walker Books has brought forward the publication of the new Alex Rider novel, Crocodile Tears, to this autumn after author Anthony Horowitz delivered the manuscript earlier than expected. The announcement will be welcome news to the book trade in the run-up to what is expected to be a difficult Christmas on the high street.

The last Alex Rider title, Snakehead, was published in 2007 and achieved £2m of sales in hardback and paperback (figs from Nielsen BookScan TCM). The eighth Alex Rider novel will now publish on 12th November.

Next year marks the tenth anniversary of Alex Rider. Walker Books’ publishing director Jane Winterbotham said that Horowitz’ family appeal would be the focus of the marketing, sales, PR and events programmes. "We believe that in a challenging economic climate retail needs its strongest brands more than ever before," she said.

Spy-Fi Flashback: LICENCE TO KILL

2009-07-18T00:00:00.001-04:00

In May, I noted the thirtieth anniversary of Moonraker, which debuted in 1979. Ten years later, in the summer of '89, I was back in the theater for Licence To Kill, which marked the end of one Bond era while foreshadowing another.

Right up front, I want to make clear that I've always considered Timothy Dalton one of the best James Bonds. To my mind, he was perfectly cast, with the right looks, physicality and the dramatic weight the character deserved. I also feel that Dalton, arguably, came the closest to Ian Fleming's literary conception of the character. I would have been thrilled if he'd headlined a full half-dozen 007 epics.

Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way, and through no fault of his performance, both of the series entries he starred in were deeply flawed. The Living Daylights began as a Roger Moore (or Pierce Brosnan) vehicle and had to be hastily re-tailored to better suit Dalton's interpretation of the role. It also suffered from a ham-fisted "safe sex" approach to the character and a very uninspired villain, leading to an unsatisfying climax.

Licence To Kill was tailored to Dalton's style, however, with a grim 'n gritty 007 the likes of which we wouldn't see again until 2006. The script posited a very atypical mission for Her Majesty's Secret Servant, a mission born out of loyalty and personal loss. I frequently see LTK dismissed as a "typical revenge film," but there's more to it than that. Not only is Bond seeking vengeance for the maiming of his friend and the murder of his friend's wife, but it's strongly suggested that he's trying to make up for not having brought his own wife's killers to justice years before.

BTW – I'm going to assume here that everyone reading this blog has seen and is familiar with the plot of the movie. I don't have the energy to write a detailed synopsis. And this isn't a review, anyway; it's just my personal thoughts and musings on this polarizing film.

Bond goes rogue – and the scene at Hemingway House in Key West where he resigns to a startled M is one of my favorite scenes in the canon (though the "Farewell to Arms" gag doesn't work on the pan & scan TV and VHS versions of the movie, since the sign identifying the historical residence is cropped out and never seen). When the MI6 sniper actually opened fire on the fleeing ex-007, I actually let out with a "holy shit!" in the theater.

Pursuing his own vendetta against Central American druglord Sanchez, Bond keeps screwing up other people's plots (Hong Kong Narcotics agents, the CIA, etc.) against the villain. And I love that. It's so rare to see Bond make mistakes, and even rarer to see him own up to them, which he does in LTK, once he realizes how his actions are messing things up.

Unfortunately, this strong, personal story is undercut by other factors, and that's made the movie quite controversial among Bond fans, many of whom outright hate it.

There were budget and tax problems, so the movie was mostly shot in Mexico and Key West, Florida instead of England and more exotic locations. The story's milieu, with it's Noriega-styled heavy and drug running scheme, resembles a lot of other 80s action flicks, mostly of the "B-movie" variety. And, for some reason, Eon chose to cast this film out of Los Angeles, filling the cast with too-familiar American character actors. Robert Davi, Don Stroud, Anthony Zerbe, Priscilla Barnes, Wayne Newton(?) – these people are good performers, but to American audiences, they were too familiar, mostly from TV. We tend to expect fresh new faces (usually of the European variety) in our Bond films.

Oh, and that "happy Felix" tag at the end. WTF?

Still, LTK is one of my favorite Bond movies. Not since On Her Majesty's Secret Service had the mission involved any personal stake for Bond (an element, you'll note, they tried to force into most of Brosnan's subsequent outings). Bond demonstrates his skills and detective ability rather than having M and Moneypenny lay everything out for him. He uses virtually no gadgets (not even the "signature gun" – he's attacked before he can actually fire it). He's smart, using his brains – and charm – to insinuate himself into Sanchez' good graces. It really is a great exploration of the James Bond character, and Dalton plays it masterfully.

When LTK was released twenty years ago this month, it opened against Ghostbusters 2, Lethal Weapon 2, Star Trek 5, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade... and Batman. With its overly-familiar trappings and horrible promotional campaign, it never had a chance. And then, the producers got tied up in legal proceedings that led to seven years without another 007 movie... and Dalton, understandably, declined to return with the series in the 90s, opening the door for Brosnan to finally claim the role.

When I saw Licence To Kill in '89, I loved it. From the pre-credits sequence to Maurice Binder's (final) titles – to the last frame of the film, I loved it. I was pleased to see elements of the Live & Let Die novel and a couple of Fleming's short stories woven into the plot, I enjoyed seeing David Hedison return as Felix Lieter, but most of all, I loved seeing James Bond off the reservation, kicking ass and taking names. ... and all with style, class and intelligence, and never descending to the level of a thug.

Weekly Debriefing 006

2009-07-17T16:48:00.006-04:00

Begin transmission:

• Was laid up for most of the last eight days, so I didn't do much, spy-fi-wise. As noted previously on the site, I finished reading Tod Goldberg's second Burn Notice novel, purchased and viewed Fathom... and that's about it.

• I have started reading the first "Butler" paperback original spy novel by Philip Kirk, published by Leisure Books in the early 80s. A couple years ago, I bought the first four books in the series at a used bookstore, then promptly boxed them up with some other stuff and forgot about them. I stumbled across the books a few days ago, dug them out and started reading the first one, The Hydra Conspiracy, yesterday. I'll post a review if and when I finish it.

• Will be watching another Sloane episode this weekend. I'm sure you were all anxiously waiting on the next review. Look for it in a few days.

• Just in case you haven't seen it on any of the several thousand other websites that ran it over the last several days, you'll find above a picture of actress Scarlett Johansson as The Black Widow, Marvel Comics' ex-Soviet superspy, as she will appear in next summer's Iron Man sequel. Looks good to me.

How was your week?

End transmission.

Review: FATHOM

2009-07-16T23:19:00.005-04:00

Several years ago, right around the time that Mike Myers unleashed/inflicted his third Austin Powers parody on the public, Fox Home Entertainment dug four Sixties spy-fi romps out of their vaults and released them on DVD. These four titles included the two Derek Flint flix – Our Man Flint and In Like Flint – the eccentric 1966 Modesty Blaise film, and this one, 1967's Fathom, starring Raquel Welch.

I bought the first three, but for reasons now forgotten, I passed on picking up Fathom at the time.

Recently, I decided to rectify that oversight – it's not as if there are a whole lot of 60s spy movies available commercially on disc, after all – and ordered a used copy from an online dealer. It showed up this morning, and I watched it this afternoon.

For those who haven't seen it, the story revolves around a lovely young dental hygienist from California named Fathom Hargill (in an amusing touch, whenever anyone inquires about her unique moniker, she always gives a different explanation for it), who also happens to be part of a U.S. skydiving team touring Europe. In Spain, she is recruited by operatives of an international espionage agency called H.A.D.E.S. who happen to need an experienced skydiver. They're seeking a nuclear trigger codenamed "The Fire Dragon" and need her help. With the safety of the free world at stake, the patriotic parachutist agrees, and soon finds herself deeply embroiled in a duplicitous caper of full of double crosses and double identities.

I call it a caper, because that's what it is – a good-natured play on the Hitchcockian spy formula (innocent abroad caught up in international intrigue) with plenty of Bondian touches. At one point, Fathom is provided with explosive earrings, and heavy Sergi Serapkin (Clive Revill) resembles an Ian Fleming villain with his unusually low body temperature and craving for warmth. It's never boring, the plot – even with all its twists – is easy to follow (not a claim most Eurospy flicks of the era can make), and the Spanish scenery is attractive.

I'd read a lot of reviews of the movie slamming Welch's performance, but really, she's not that bad. I like that while she's a bit of an innocent, she's not naive or a pushover. She may be a little gullible, but that's part and parcel of her character's good and trusting nature. It's actually an appealing trait, especially when contrasted against all the cynical, mercenary characters surrounding her.

And, of course, the 27 year-old Welch is utterly stunning to behold, a truly glorious vision in the brief, neon-green bikini that she sports during most of the second act. Sheer feminine physical perfection.

The overall tone of the film is light, with pretty much everyone working hard – and in Revill's case, maybe a bit too hard – to keep it that way. It's fluff, but it's fun.

Fox's DVD is currently out of print. It contains a nice, if slightly faded 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and Dolby stereo sound. The only extras on the disc are the theatrical trailer and the trailers for the other three spy-fi films that were released on disc at the same time.

• Fathom has a lot of ties with other spy-fi flicks. The screenplay is by Lorenzo Semple Jr., who also scripted 1983's Never Say Never Again. Cinematographer Douglas Slocombe shot the same film. The opening titles (see previous post) were designed by Maurice Binder, who performed the same duties for all of the 007 films from Thunderball to Licence to Kill. Handsome supporting player Tom Adams had previously starred as secret agent Charles Vine in several spy-fi spoofs (Where The Bullets Fly, Licensed to Kill) and appeared on The Avengers and other British spy shows. Clive Revill played in several spy-fi productions, including the aforementioned Modesty Blaise, and A Man Called Sloane/Death Ray 2000.

Video: FATHOM

2009-07-15T23:26:00.008-04:00

These are the opening titles – designed by Maurice Binder – from the 1967 spy caper Fathom, starring Raquel Welch and Tony Franciosa.

Actually, I've never seen this movie, and when Fox released it on DVD some years ago alongside the two Flint flix and Modesty Blaise, I passed on it for some forgotten reason. It's now out of print, so, of course, I recently decided I wanted to add it to my DVD library. Last week, I ordered a used copy from an online dealer, and had hoped to have received it by now so I could review it here on the Spy-Fi Channel... but it hasn't shown up yet.

Maybe tomorrow.

UPDATE JULY 16: It did show up today. Review forthcoming!

Spy-Fi Poll 004: Results

2009-07-13T21:56:00.005-04:00

No surprise here. This week's Spy-Fi Poll question was, "Which of John Steed's female partners was your favorite?" With a resounding 90% of the vote, the clear winner was Dame Diana Rigg's Emma Peel.

Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman), Emma's predecessor, and Tara King (Linda Thorson), Emma's successor, each garnered a single vote, tying them to a distant second place. Purdey (Joanna Lumley) of The New Avengers, didn't manage a single vote (although, personally, she's my second favorite "Steed girl.").

I voted for the lovely Mrs. Peel, myself. There's no question that when most spy-fi fans think of The Avengers, it's Steed & Mrs. Peel that first come to mind, no matter how capable and attractive the other distaff Avengers may have been. It was Emma Peel, with her fighting leathers and mod outfits, her wry charm and insouciant wit, that set the mold and style for female spies of the era and beyond. Even today, a black leather catsuit is the default uniform for any pop culture spy gal, from comics like Danger Girl to Mimi Rogers and Elizabeth Hurley in the first Austin Powers parody.

Thanks to everyone that voted, and check out the new poll in the sidebar.

Review: BURN NOTICE - The End Game

2009-07-13T00:02:00.002-04:00

I've been laid up for the last four days with the gout, of all things. Aside from the embarrassingly medieval nature of the ailment, I have an unusually high tolerance to pain medications, so while they don't do much to alleviate the agony, they do mess up my head and make it difficult to concentrate.

Which is one reason why it took me so long to finish Tod Goldberg's second Burn Notice tie-in novel, The End Game.

Overall, it's pretty much as good as the first of his BN books, set somewhere during the first half of the second season of the show. As with the first, very little attention is given to Westen's ongoing investigation into his burn. However, the story, in which Westen, Sam and Fi become involved in big-bucks yacht racing and the Mafia, is twisty, exciting and involving. It's good stuff and a good read.

I only have one minor quibble with the writing – though, truth be told, I don't quite know how Goldberg could have handled it any other way. It bugged me a bit in the first novel, too. As the books are written from Michael Westen's POV in first-person, whenever Sam or Fi go off to handle their parts of the operation on their own, we are to assume that they filled Michael in on all the details afterward. Problem is, there are a lot of details, and it just seems unrealistic that Michael would be able to relate their experiences – and reactions and emotions – with such thoroughness.

As I said, I don't really know how else the author could handle such scenes, and probably wouldn't even be noticeable to most readers, but it did nag at me a bit.

The End Game is a thoroughly entertaining crime novel, and very faithful to its television source. Fans of the show should be reading these books.

Weekly Debriefing 005

2009-07-10T00:03:00.007-04:00

Begin transmission:

• Been watching Season 6 of Mission: Impossible from 1971-72. This was the season where the show officially stopped being spy-fi, as the Impossible Missions Force turned its attentions exclusively toward domestic criminals beyond the reach of "conventional law enforcement agencies." This mostly means the mob - or "Syndicate," as it's referred to here.

The stories also seem a lot less tightly plotted, and some of them – like "Encore," where an elderly gangster played by William Shatner is 'de-aged' and made to believe he's back in the 30's, or "The Visitors," where Phelps and Casey pretend to be extraterrestrials to con a crooked newspaper magnate – are just plain silly.

Still, there are some compensations. The show actually looks better now that it's not trying to pass off the Paramount administration buildings and sound stages as Eastern Bloc airports and warehouses. Now it can shoot openly on the streets and in the skyscrapers of L.A. without trying to pretend they're somewhere else. Also, Barney (Greg Morris) and Willy (Peter Lupus) no longer have to skulk around inside walls and hiding in utility vans all the time; the pared down IMF team frequently needs both of them to actually play face roles in their elaborate cons. Finally, Linda Day George joins the team as mistress of disguise Casey, and she's not only a beautiful woman, but handles her multitude of roles very well.

She's especially good in "Nerves," where the villain is played by her real-life husband, the late Christopher George (who probably would have made a great TV secret agent himself, now that I think about it).

• My only spy-fi purchase this week was the Blu-Ray edition of 1989's Licence To Kill with Timothy Dalton. I've been slowly upgrading my Bond collection to Blu-Ray, and LTK is one of my favorite Bond films. It has its problems, but I very much like Dalton's performance and the whole "007 going rogue" storyline. And it looks incredible on BR!

How was your week?

End transmission.

Review: A MAN CALLED SLOANE - "Sweethearts of Disaster"

2009-07-09T23:21:00.008-04:00

The ninth episode of A Man Called Sloane opens with Sloane and Torque in France, covertly observing a test of a laser cannon in an isolated valley that in no way resembles L.A.'s Bronson Canyon. (Sure!) They're not the only ones, as Sloane observes an attractive woman (Andrea Howard) also watching. As these bystanders stand by, a team of six women attack the scientists testing the laser, beat them up, and steal the weapon.

Sloane repels down a cliff to intercept their fleeing truck, only to have his ass handed to him by the "Sweethearts," and then be tossed unceremoniously off the moving vehicle.

It's not a total embarrassment for UNIT's "only Top Priority Agent," though – somehow, in the melee, he managed to steal the ruby needed to make the laser cannon function. Anyway, UNIT decides to try and lure the thieves into the open by having Torque pose as an African king who is auctioning off one of the only two other rubies capable powering the device. KARTEL baddie Bannister (Ted Hamilton) and his all-female terrorist squad - The Sweethearts – as well as the beautiful KGB agent that Sloane saw in France, all converge in Vancouver to fight over the gem. The usual hi jinks ensue.

As a poster on the IMDb points out, this is a smaller-scale, faster-paced remake of the Death Ray 2000 pilot film, which hadn't been seen on TV yet, with the gratuitous addition of the sexy "Sweethearts" – a virtual necessity on Fred Silverman's NBC at the time. The episode is briskly directed by veteran B-movie and TV auteur Jack Starret (Cleopatra Jones, Race With The Devil), who, in keeping with the tradition of nepotism on the Sloane set, cast his daughter as one of the Sweethearts! Not the series' best episode, but far from its worst.

• Andrea Howard, who portrays KBG operative Anna, also co-starred with Don Adams the following year in the first Get Smart feature, The Nude Bomb, where she inexplicably took the place of Barbara Feldon's 99. She was pretty and likable, but a poor substitute for Feldon.

• With so much of today's TV being shot in Canada, I find it interesting and amusing that in this 1979 production, Los Angeles is standing in for Vancouver, rather than the other way around!

Spy-Fi Giveaway Winner

2009-07-09T21:56:00.004-04:00

Happy birthday to me... and congratulations to Craig Zablo, whose name was randomly picked by my better half, and who will be receiving a set of the two-issue Bloodthirst: The Nightfall Conspiracy vampire spy comic that I wrote way back in '94.

After my little whine about not getting any entries, my e-mailbox filled up fast (gee, emotional blackmail does work!), and I appreciate everyone's participation. Look for more giveaways here at the Spy-Fi Channel in the future!

Countdown...

2009-07-08T00:06:00.001-04:00

Here's a reminder that the deadline to enter the first Spy-Fi Birthday Giveway drawing is coming up in just 24 hours. So far, the response has been extremely underwhelming; so much so that my feelings are actually a little hurt. :(

I may have undersold the book in my previous post, but it's really not a bad little comic. The manga-inspired art by Delfin Barral and Chuck Bordell is quite nice.

Anyway, if you want a shot at a free copy of the two-issue Bloodthirst: The Nightfall Conspiracy miniseries, with all its vampiric espionage action, send in your e-mail right away!

Spy-Fi Poll 003: Results

2009-07-07T00:10:00.002-04:00

Well, it looks like youth and attitude has once again won out over class and experience, with the results of the latest Spy-Fi Poll. This week's question was: "If your life was in danger, which of these ex-spies would you call for help? Robert McCall (The Equalizer) or Michael Westen (Burn Notice.)"

Early voting showed the two former secret agents-turned Samaritans neck and neck, but in the last couple of days, Miami's "burned" operative, Michael Westen (played by Jeffrey Donovan) pulled ahead to a pretty definitive victory over Robert McCall, (played by Edward Woodward), the self-styled "Equalizer."

Fifteen votes were cast. Westen received nine, while McCall garnered six.

Me, I voted for McCall. He's got more experience, more resources, and his plans usually result in far less property damage than Westen's. Like Westen, he's shown an aptitude for MacGyver-like improvisation in turning common household items into lethal weapons, but he's also got more than two operatives he can call on for back-up. In the first season alone (the only one on DVD so far), he's got at least a half-dozen other moonlighting pros he can bring in to help him in his operations.

I can see the appeal in Westen, though. He's young, handsome, presumably has faster reflexes, and while his "assets" may be limited, both Sam and Fiona are extremely competent – and likable – in their own rights. Unlike McCall, though, his operations tend to result in explosions and, because he can't actually put any bad guys behind bars, the people he's helped often have to leave town and assume new identities away from Miami.

So, while I'd certainly rather hang out with Sam Axe in a Miami safehouse with a case of beer than hole up in a loft in Manhattan with one of McCall's brooding spook pals, I think that The Equalizer would probably be more likely to protect my life while still leaving me a little life left to enjoy.

Feel free to share your reasons for why you voted the way you did in the comments, and check out the new poll in the sidebar.

Review: THE GREEK SUMMIT

2009-07-06T00:33:00.001-04:00

The Greek Summit, a 1983 Nick Carter novel by Robert J. Randisi, relates an unusually low-key assignment for the superspy known as Killmaster.

Dr. Lucas Johns is an American weapons scientist who is supposed to attend a secret summit in Athens with British, Russian, German and French experts. Unfortunately, Johns is a completely unlikable, arrogant ass, who doesn't want to attend at all, and is being forced to do so by the United States government. When he finds he can't get out of it, he makes more trouble by refusing to be accompanied by a government bodyguard. Eventually, a compromise is reached: he will hire his own bodyguard – a private detective – to protect him at the summit.

Of course, it's been sneakily arranged that the P.I. he hires is none other than Nick Carter himself, who joins the scientist and his beautiful (and neglected) young wife on their trip to Greece.

There's very little violence in this book and no globe trotting at all, aside for the one-way flight to Greece (virtually the entire story takes place within a hotel)! In fact, Summit contains the least amount of action of any Carter book I've read. There's one brief fight scene between Carter and some street thugs, a couple of gunshots, and that's all I recall. Instead, this one plays out more as a private eye mystery story, with N3 relying on deductive brainwork instead of fists or firearms to bring his assignment to a satisfactory conclusion.

There's plenty of the other kind of action, however, as Carter carries on a torrid affair with the scientist's wife, and even manages to squeeze in a tryst with the British representative to the scientific conference.

Randisi is an old hand at P.I. fiction, so it probably shouldn't be a surprise that The Greek Summit reads the way it does. Heck, Carter is even posing as a P.I. (named "Nick Diamond!") for most of the novel. Even without a lot of physical action, though, the story moves at a brisk pace thanks to Randisi's clean, spare first-person prose and deft characterizations. And it's well-plotted; I figured out one mystery/twist fairly early on, but the big one at the end caught me by surprise.

It's very much a change of pace from the more familiar, explosive novels in the series, however, and I'm curious about Randisi's other contributions to the Carter canon. I'm going to have to try and hunt them down....

Spy-Fi Birthday Giveaway

2009-07-05T13:29:00.005-04:00

My birthday is this coming Thursday, so I thought I'd celebrate by giving a present to some lucky reader of the Spy-Fi Channel.

Back in the early 90s, I wrote my first published comic books. These starred a female vampire who operated as a secret agent. The backstory was that she had been a French partisan during WWII, and while assisting the Allies in dismantling a secret Nazi laboratory, she was attacked and infected by a vampire prisoner that the Germans had been experimenting on.

She didn't die – so she was not truly undead – but she did contract the vampire's insatiable thirst for blood and many, but not all, of the traditional vampire powers.

After the War, an O.S.S. agent arranged for her to come to the United States, and recruited her into one of the U.S.A.'s new intelligence agencies, the Top Secret Division, whereupon she assumed the name "Christine Bishop." 50 years later, she went to work for a different, international organization called A.C.T.I.O.N. (Allied Counter Terrorism International Operations Network) under a man named Cromwell.

I was actually pretty proud of that acronym at the time!

Anyway, the books came out with very little fanfare and underwhelming sales. Unfortunately, the title anticipated the 'bad girl' phenomenon of violent femmes in the mid-90's by a couple of years. Also, the books were drawn by my pal Delfin Barral in a somewhat manga-inspired style – which also hadn't really caught on yet with American readers, so I think we were just plain ahead of our time.

The company published a one-shot called "The Terminus Option," (my very first comics script) then a two part miniseries titled "The Nightfall Conspiracy." I also wrote a third adventure, "Dangerous Prey," but it was never drawn.

I still have a few copies of the second Bloodthirst comic that I wrote (and I was still learning the basics back then), "The Nightfall Conspiracy." While I think I've improved considerably as a writer since 1994, I also think that these two issues aren't too embarrassing. In fact, I'm still kinda proud of the villain's plot....

It's not pure spy stuff, obviously. But I did try to write it as an espionage adventure first and vampire fantasy second, taking advantage of the comics medium to give the story some scope and filling it with set pieces and "special effects" that would have been prohibitive to do in a film or TV show. Some of it's a little clunky, and some of the then-fresh ideas seem pretty old hat now, but, overall, I think it holds up okay.

So – I'm giving away one set of the two-issue miniseries, with the recipient selected at random. If you'd like to be included in the drawing, send an e-mail to atomicpulp@gmail.com with the subject line: "Bloodthirst Giveaway," and include in the body of the message your name and mailing address. The deadline is Midnight, July 8th, 2009. The winner will be announced on the 9th.

One entry per person, please. Double entries will be disqualified. One winner will be drawn at random and announced on Thursday, July 9, 2009. The winner’s name will be posted here and will be notified via email. All entries will be deleted immediately after the contest’s close, and no personal information will be retained or transmitted to any third parties. The contest is open to anyone, in any country. Unfortunately, I cannot assume responsibility for items lost or damaged in transit.

Spy-Fi Flashback: 007 Souvenir Magazines

2009-07-04T01:58:00.003-04:00

When you're a James Bond fan of limited means, the really high-priced collectibles are hard to come by. Still, over the years, in my humble way, I've managed to accumulate a nice – if small – collection of 007 memorabilia. I've multiple copies of most of the Ian Fleming novels, several 007 film encyclopedias, a half-dozen one-sheets (which I actually hung on my walls with tacks when I was a teenager, so they're rather ragged these days), a 007 lunchbox from the 60s, a Corgi Aston Martin, and three of the 12" Sideshow Bond action figures.

I also have a bunch of movie magazines with James Bond cover stories – Starlogs, Cinefantastiques, Cinescapes, Empires... and, best of all, many of the "Official Movie Magazines" that were published to tie-in with the various films' releases in the 80s and 90s.

The first of these that I bought as a burgeoning Bond fan were the Moonraker magazine published by Warren Publishing (Famous Monsters, Eerie, Vampirella) and the Moonraker fold-out poster book from the Starlog folks. In the pre-home video 70s, these magazines were a way of revisiting and re-experiencing the film while waiting for it to show up on ABC. In the years that followed, I also bought the "Official" souvenir mags for Octopussy, A View To A Kill, The Living Daylights, Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies and The World is Not Enough. (Was there ever a Licence To Kill mag? I don't know.)

Basically, they all followed the same model: first, a detailed synopsis of the film's plot. Then, profiles of the cast and the characters they played. A long, more-or-less in-depth article on the making of the movie. Finally, a pictorial feature on the gadgets, girls or villains of 007 – and maybe all three. Sometimes, there would be poster pull-outs.

Aside from the Moonraker and Goldeneye mags, most of these were published by the Starlog group, which always confused me a bit, since the 007 films – while fantasies, of a sort – weren't really science fiction films. But maybe the gadgets and various killer satellites were enough to slip in on a technicality – or maybe there was just money to be made.

I don't know if tie-in magazines were published to coincide with Die Another Day, Casino Royale or Quantum of Solace. Maybe in today's DVD and Internet digital world, such things as souvenir mags are archaic and passe. If so, it's too bad.

When I was a teenager, I really loved these things. I was always fascinated by how movies were made, and back then we didn't have DVD commentaries and behind-the-scenes documentaries at our fingertips. Interviews with the directors and screenwriters gave me some insight into the creative and technical process of filmmaking, and helped make me the film buff I am today.

Besides, those color photos of the Bond girls were really nice, too.

Weekly Debriefing 004

2009-07-03T01:01:00.011-04:00

Begin Transmission:

• Well, I wrote some spy fiction this week. It was an 8,000 word short story called "Countdown to Midnight" for an upcoming prose anthology I'm editing for Moonstone Books featuring the old radio, serial and comic book hero Captain Midnight. In our version of the character, Cap is very much a black ops-type guy, a "flying spy" operating in an alternate history where WW II never happened. In my story, he has to destroy a secret fortress in the Andes, the launch site for the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile. The book's supposed to be out in January or February of 2010, and also has stories by Stephen Mertz, Win Scott Eckert, and John J. Nance, among others.

• I'm currently reading the 1983 Nick Carter novel The Greek Summit, which a frequent visitor to this blog, Robert J. Randisi, informs me is one of the half-dozen that he contributed to the series. Expect a review in a day or two. I'm also reading Tod Goldberg's second Burn Notice novel, The End Game. Will post my thoughts on this one soon, as well.

• This week's spy-fi purchases: I picked up four more early Nick Carter, Killmaster paperbacks from a used bookstore that recently opened nearby. The titles were: The Kremlin File, The Cobra Kill, The Vulcan Disaster, and The Sign of the Prayer Shawl. One of these days, I'll get around to reading them.

Wednesday night, I picked up the DVD of the 2003 spy-fi spoof, Johnny English, at our local Big Lots for a couple of bucks. Not one of my favorites, despite a screenplay by Bond scribes Neal Purvis and Robert Wade and a really excellent musical score by Edward Shearmur. Fact is, I'm just not much of a Rowan Atkinson fan. I despise his Mr. Bean character, and even Blackadder, which I recognize as being good, just isn't to my tastes. Even his small role in Never Say Never Again always irritates the hell out of me.

So why did I pick it up? Well, it was dirt cheap, for one, and it was a spy spoof, for another – and I collect spy spoofs. And even the weakest spy spoofs – like The Nude Bomb or Dr. Goldfoot – have a few bright spots and gags that prompt a chuckle or two.

And did I mention that I liked the music? I really have to track down the soundtrack CD.

• Well, that about covers the last seven days. How was your week?

End Transmission.