I’ve been slacking on my duties. I’ve neglected to pull the digests from the first two ‘Year of the Spy – 1966’ Live Tweets. I’ll take my lashings now. I’ll see if I can pull them from the archives. In the meantime, here’s The Beckett Affair Live Tweet Digest for your reading pleasure. If you were there, relive the thrills. If you weren’t, enjoy.
My Week 3 selection for ‘Year of the Spy – 1966’ represents perhaps the best of the “serious” Eurospy flicks from 1966. Lang Jeffries won’t wow anyone with his sunny personality — but he will make up for it in “smug” and “dour.” Potential “Beckett Affair” drinking game: #Shot! anyone Jeffries goes “super smug.”
Also note the very-Bond ways that The Beckett Affair shifts from Northern European locales to Nicaragua. Though there isn’t any skiing, there is a dusting of snow! It’s like bizarro-Die Another Day in form and function. I’ve also included the teaser reel trailer from the Something Weird DVD. Enjoy.
“The Beckett Affair plot seems a bit complex as it unravels, but as Coopers says, “Politics are full of mysteries,” and director Osvaldo Civirani keeps us guessing right along with the good guys. No Gadgets or raving madmen, but this one’s a winner.”
-David Deal, The Eurospy Guide
‘Year of the Spy – 1966’ – Week 3:
THE BECKETT AFFAIR
The Beckett Affair appeared on my radar only after checking out David Deal’s Top 10 Eurospy list tucked into the back pages of The Eurospy Guide. This one’s straight-faced and earnest espionage picture. Though the budget may be modest and the stars less than notable, The Beckett Affair provides competent thrills with a solid script. Unfortunately, the only copy of the film I could find looks like it’s been stored in a Miami Beach tanning salon.
You won’t recognize leading man Lang Jeffries unless you’re a dedicated Euro watcher. The veteran of the Korean War appeared in many spaghetti westerns, swords and sandals epics, and Eurospy movies during the 1960’s, none of them especially available. You will, however, have the pleasure of seeing Lang again in Week 4 of our 1966 Retrospective. He’s a solid screen presence, if not an especially memorable personality. Austrian Krista Nell, likewise, had a similar, if all too brief, Euro-circuit career. The stunning actress made her big screen debut in Godard’s Pierrot le Fou. The Eurostarlet died from leukemia at the age of 29.
Keep your earholes peeled for the gaggle of strong one-liners and a quintessential espionage score from Nora Orlandi. Orlandi has composed music for Boccaccio ’70, The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh and Kill Bill: Volume 2.
If none of that convinces you that this weeks’ offering is worth a viewing, let me sell you with the following bit of Lang Jeffries smug:
Join us Wednesday, October 12th @ 9pm ET for the #Bond_age_ live tweet of THE BECKETT AFFAIR! Follow the #Bond_age_ hashtag.
Week 2 of the ‘Year of the Spy – 1966’ Retrospective presents the comic Eurospy film Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die from directors Henry Levin and Arduino Maiuri. The film stars Mike Connors (Mannix), Dorothy Provine (It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World) and Terry-Thomas (Danger: Diabolik for one relevant reference). You also won’t be able to miss Margaret Lee (who starred in more than her share of Eurospy films) and Beverly Adams (who recently appeared in the #Bond_age_ live tweet of The Silencers). It’s a significant roll call of familiar faces that’ll surely send you to investigate a few IMDb profiles.
Of particular interest to Bond fans is the ways in which Moonraker seems to have borrowed specific elements from KTGAMTD. I wish I could have found a better presentation of the film. Photographed by Aldo Tonti (Nights of Cabiria), KTGAMTD should be treated with a little more respect than, well… none at all. Sure it’s a comedy, but it looks pretty good for a silly little B-picture on an A- budget.
9pm ET – Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die (#Bond_age_)
“It’s amazing what a decent budget will do for a film. Most of the Eurospy flicks made in the sixties were shot on miscule budgets, so it’s a pleasant experience to watch one with a modicum of financial class. KTGAMTD is a tongue-in-cheek Bondian adventure that rivals the official product in all departments.”
-Troy Howart, The Eurospy Guide
‘Year of the Spy – 1966’ – Week 2:
KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE
I don’t know if its an indictment or high praise that I’ve had the 1966 Eurospy comedy Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die on the #Bond_age_ schedule on at least three different occasions before changing plans at the last minute. On one hand I’ve always postponed it in favor of something else… on the other, I’ve refused to give the dream of one day live-tweeting it.
When I decided to embark on this ‘Year of the Spy’ Live Tweet Retrospective, I knew I finally had that ironclad reason to carry on with the KTGAMTD live tweet. Not only is it the only Eurospy film to challenge TMWTGG for the most unwieldy Twitter acronym, but it’s also one of the few to rival that film’s appreciation of the absurd.
This Dino De Laurentiis production boasts a top notch cast and photography courtesy of the acclaimed Aldo Tonti (Nights of Cabiria). Unfortunately, the film’s availability (or lack thereof) means that we’re not exactly gifted a brilliant source for our viewing. I’ve done my best.
Mike Connors stars as Kelly, CIA agent 409. He strikes a solid pose in a tuxedo and has above average comic timing. 409 teams up with a Susan Fleming (Dorothy Provine) and her “chauffer” James (Terry-Thomas!).
It’s a familiar refrain you’ll hear over the course of this retrospective, but nobody cares about the narrative logic. Nor should you. Raf Villone’s dastardly villain aims to sterilize the entire population of the United States (and eventually the world!). Armed with wit, a collection of gadgets and a killer Rolls Royce, our heroes attempt to prevent the world from shooting blanks.
Join us Wednesday, October 5th @ 9pm ET for the #Bond_age_ live tweet of KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE! Follow the #Bond_age_ hashtag.
