Three scientistsdiscover a new energy source that could replace conventional sources such as oil in the near future. Of course, not everyone is as overwhelmingly happy about this discovery and soon two of the three scientists are murdered! The third is protected by the American intelligence service, more specifically by agent Bob Flemming who begins his investigations by all means possible. Who is really behind the two deaths?
There are actually two main reasons for which I was interested in this film. Firstly, I recently saw Flashman, which may not be an agent film in the strict sense, but which still has the Eurospy feel about it. I found it a very entertaining film and for the first time felt compelled to use the word “gripping” as an example of its description. The second reason is somewhat older and concerns when I wrote about the French agent parody Agent 117 on assignment in Rio.
With that work I discovered that there were originals that were not as parodic. Now this is not the same agent series per se, but it is certainly not a parody of something that has fallen into oblivion. This is the real thing! And it is certainly noticeable that this is not newly produced, for better or worse. There is clearly a twinkle in the eye that you don’t see these days. It is deliberately silly and certainly not pretentious. This is made to entertain, but with only a fraction of the budget that the Bond films had. If you dare to call the Bond films the serious films, then these are clearly the films that will please the audience. It is stereotypical, so it screams about it and it could not work any other way. Hairstyles, environments and other things fit perfectly into the film and are really completely and consistently typical of the period. The story is gripping (lo, and behold, I wrote it again)and extremely entertaining.
It is a typical feel-good film where you don’t have to think about what is happening so much and if you happen to be hungover it works just fine anyway. Maybe even better. You find yourself sitting there with a silly smile on your face and your hand in the crisps bowl. There is a relaxed feeling to it and it is hard to misunderstand anything in the film. There are no deeper subtleties and a nice matinee feeling that washes over you when you see the film.
Of course it is a rip-off of the Bond films even though at that time there had not been as many of these as there are today. But if you compare it with the early Bond films you can obviously find similarities. I think they have used these in a good way and have not gotten in over their heads by wanting too much. Here’s to more agent films from the 60s and 70s!
