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.
The first film in our ‘Year of the Spy – 1966’ Retrospective, Requiem For a Secret Agent comes from Sergio Sollima (The Big Gundown) and features Stewart Granger (in probably his best Eurospy outing), Daniela Bianchi (From Russia with Love) and Peter Van Eyck. Listen for Piero Umiliani’s score and the ways that Sollima regurgitates some of the already established Bond tropes.
I found the embedeed version on YouTube. It comes in widescreen with decent colors but features Korean subtitles. DVD-R copies from less reputable sources pop up on the web, but I’ve yet to find a copy that looks as good as this Korean rip on YouTube. I have a copy of the film on VHS from a Sinister Cinema film source that appears to have decayed beyond repair. I wanted to include it because it has a slightly different opening, but the file disagrees with that strategy. It may or may not appear below for the completists.
9pm ET – Requiem for a Secret Agent (#Bond_age_, #Spy66)
This week marks the beginning of a ‘Year of the Spy’ live tweet film festival to which I’ve been looking forward for some time. In the wake of James Bond’s global and overwhelming success everyone began churning out knockoffs to capitalize on the phenomenon. The years of 1966 and 1967 represented the creative pinnacle of the genre before falling off the table at the end of the 1960’s. From bigger “name” productions like The Quiller Memorandum, Our Man Flint, Murderer’s Row and Modesty Blaise all the way down to the international budget productions (like many of the films I’m going to share with you over the coming weeks), producers figured out what made these genre films appeal to a broader mainstream audience, even if they weren’t all the competent in execution. They weren’t always great cinema — but they were usually pretty damn entertaining.
INITIATE ‘Year of the Spy – 1966’ Retrospective!
For Week One, I’m starting us off with a movie featuring a few familiar faces. Requiem for a Secret Agent features Daniela Bianchi, Stewart Granger, and Peter Van Eyck. The Italian/Spanish/West German co-production marked Sergio Sollima’s third and final Eurospy film. Sollima’s best known for directing the Lee Van Cleef spaghetti western The Big Gundown — also released in 1966.
Requiem for a Secret agent offers us a unique passport to 1960’s Morocco. And more Daniela Bianchi (From Russia with Love). That should be reason enough to watch. Stewart Granger suggests Jimmy Stewart as a secret agent. A veteran U.S. Secret Service agent must thwart a global conspiracy, a rather conventional narrative by Eurospy standards. The film opens with a Bond-inspired (rip off?) credit sequence with a bullfight projected onto a gyrating woman while she performs a striptease, and that summarizes all you need to know about Requiem for a Secret Agent before viewing.
I’ll provide the embed for the film on Wednesday. I ripped one from a full screen Sinister Video VHS tape, but the colors (or lack thereof) proved to be a disaster. Luckily I found another version of the film on YouTube that offers a widescreen presentation with far more vibrant colors. The colors arrive at the expense of watching around Korean subs. I’ll take the Korean subtitles.
Welcome to our Night of Worship for Carey Lowell. You’ll see an array of videos below. You will play them in order. That sounds pretty easy, right? The Pre-show Entertainment clip is approximately 8 minutes. You’ll start DOWN TWISTED immediately following the Pre-show Entertainment.
INITIATE CAREY LOWELL WORSHIP
8:00pm ET – Pre-Show Buffer – Use #Bond_age_ hashtag
8:08pm ET – Down Twisted (1987) – Use #Bond_age_ hashtag
9:40ishpm ET – The Guardian (1990) – Use #Bond_age_ hashtag
Nope. There’s no birthday. No anniversary. It’s just time for a long overdue evening of CAREY LOWELL WORSHIP.
I’ve teased this evening for many fortnights. Maybe years… with all this ongoing Carey Lowell worship from the #Bond_age_ HQ it’s hard to keep track. After finding my VHS copy of DOWN TWISTED, I decided it was high time for a double feature of Carey Lowell’s finest moments of cinema. Admittedly, there are few, but that makes them no less fine. I’m sure there’s some way to spin her career into something positive.
But oh no. We’re not just showing two big screen gems from Carey Lowell. There will be a playlist of goodies to round out the evening. More Carey Lowell for your #Bond_age_ buck. And yes, #Bond_age_ fans, THE SMOLDER will be in attendance. I’ll set up a YouTube playlist followed by the two feature presentations. This will surely be a night we won’t soon forget. At the very least it’ll take a few days to get over. Okay, maybe the length of a solid hangover.
Join #Bond_age_ on Wednesday @ 8pm ET for an EVENING OF CAREY LOWELL WORSHIP. Follow #Bond_age_ hashtag. Embeds for the entirety of this evening’s entertainment will be available at thejamesbondsocialmediaproject.com.
