Victim Five

Made in 1964. In some countries, this is victim 5, in some countries, its "code 7 victim 5". Lex barker is american private eye steve martin. I know, i can't stop picturing the american standup slash film star! Steve has a meeting with rich mining bigshot wexler (riller). Wexler's servant has been knocked off, and wexler wants to get to the bottom of it. It runs kind of like a james bond film, but at a cheaper budget and slower pace. When they have killed a wild lion, we even hear james bondish sounding music. Beautiful scenery of the cliffs, bays, mountains, and parks as they go traipsing around south africa following clues. There's a quirky inspector lean ( fraser), who nevers seems to be at his office. He's too busy having drinks with the steady stream of girls in bikinis who are always walking past. Directed by robert lynn, british director, who made "mozambique" just after this. Murder and mayhem in exotic places. Story by harry towers, who was a prolific writer and producer. Barker died at 54, of a bad heart. The film is okay.

CODE 7, VICTIM 5 is now available in a cheap DVD, and for a few dollars (mine cost $3 US), it's passable entertainment, mostly for the presence of Lex Barker as private eye "Steve Martin" (same name as Raymond Burr's character in GODZILLA). This is a typical Harry Alan Towers production--find an out-of-the-way country where the pound/dollar goes a long way and without powerful unions, hire a lot of locals in small roles, use a lot of free locations to give the film "color," have Towers himself pen a by-the-numbers script over dinner or during a flight. South Africa photographs well (the film was shot by Nicholas Roeg, so it's no surprise), and is so unfamiliar to this American that the background almost becomes a character. The plot is the standard "someone is killing off one by one the members of a group from a previous time" and ex-Nazis are even dragged in. Ronald Fraser (best known in the USA for FATHOM, with Raquel Welch and the late great Tony Franciosa) does a good job as the local police inspector who finds jet-setting detective Barker to be a bit of a pest, but eventually realizes Barker's honesty and professionalism--Fraser and Barker are the perfect foils for each other. Nothing special here--probably of interest mostly to the Barker fan (or those who want a quick three-dollar travelogue of South Africa).

With a title that sounds more like the final score of a computer corporation's soccer match than a spy movie, CODE 7, VICTIM 5 takes the then-Sean Connery/James Bond blueprint into b-movie territory under flowing direction from Robert Lynn but more importantly with creatively maneuvered and vibrantly colored cinematography by future legendary auteur Nicolas Roeg, providing former Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller's replacement) actor Lex Barker on a case to discover who murdered a millionaire's servant at a bizarre South African parade...

But Barker's character Steve Martin (also Raymond Burr's name in GODZILLA before THE JERK comic became famous) is more busy with two lovely dames, equally alluring in their own right while following neo-noir cinema tropes...

As in, there's a good girl and bad (ie naughty/flirtatious)... with the millionaire boss's professionally-pretty assistant Ann Smyrner, who our handsome hero instantly takes-to like they've been in a five-year relationship, and scene-stealing cherub-faced Véronique Vendell, who previously appeared with Peter O'Toole in BECKETT...

The latter is the big man's extremely progressive niece... and while it's predictable that Barker (partnered with quirky woman-loving British cop Ronald Fraser) was hired by a not-so-honest client, what's truly entertaining are the creative ways he gets in and out of trouble in the African and British locations... from almost driving off a cliff to dodging bullets in an ancient cavern to dangerously snorkeling in a blue-green reef to avoiding an ostrich stampede... proving that the action/espionage genre's neglected vehicles can sometimes equal (or exceed) the blockbusters they're emulating.

Woeful title aside, CODE 7, VICTIM 5 is a would-be, South African-set detective story from prolific B-movie producer Harry Alan Towers, who also wrote the thing under his 'Peter Welbeck' pseudonym. It stars man-of-the-moment Lex Barker as a private eye who's commissioned to investigate a mysterious murder among the upper crust in South Africa.

The best - and only good thing - about the movie is the location photography, captured in stunning detail by famed cinematographer Nicholas Roeg. This is a sunny, great-looking movie which allows you to see plenty of areas of the country usually missing in films; those drives around Table Mountain are particularly fine. A shame then, that the rest of the film is so sloppy.

The worst thing is undoubtedly Towers' script, which is mundane to say the least. Despite a few shoehorned-in fight scenes, this is dull, by-the-numbers stuff in which little happens to lift the story out of its lethargic gloom. Barker tours the country for a while, indulges in some light romance with a string of Euro-crumpet in scenes reminiscent of a Connery Bond flick, and finally tackles the villain whose identity is revealed at the climax.

The cast put in strictly ordinary performances and Barker fails to show even an ounce of charisma, so you end up wondering why was such a star of his day. He looks a little like a young Stephen Baldwin to me. Some of the action sequences are okay, like an impressive car chase early on, but for the most part this is a chore and rightly forgotten.

Considering most 1960s movies are cinemgraphic garbage, this movie is beautiful in color and action. Capetown is a gem and the scenes grab as much scenery as possible. Although the story develops slowly, viewers wanting to see Rex Barker get what they want. Lots of hot girls, him kissing them, him in a swim suit and watching one hot hot man, in action. He had James Bond beat in my book. His early passing a true loss.