Deadlier Than the Male

This splendidly entertaining spoof of spy thrillers, brings back detective Bulldog Drummond (debonairly portrayed by Richard Johnson) to do battle with a megalomaniac villain (elegantly laconic Nigel Green), who uses sultry female assassins (Eurobabes Elke Sommer and Sylva Koscina) to do his dirty work. Stylish doses of brutality, sly humor and witty set pieces make this obscure thriller a real winner...a widescreen DVD is due out in May of 2003.

This above-average Bond knockoff deserves to be better known. It's too imitative of the Bond pictures of the time (especially "Thunderball" - minus the underwater scenes), and the plot slows down at times, but Elke Sommer and Sylva Koscina make a terrific pair of sexy, teasing assassins (with Sommer being the sexier one and Koscina the more teasing one). Nigel Green also makes a smooth villain (although he should have hired more guards!). This picture should become more widely available, because although it's not perfect, it's much better than, say, the atrocious pseudo-spoof "Our Man Flint". (**1/2)

If you watch this 1960s spy film without thinking of it as a spoof you will enjoy it more.

Reviewers say it is low budget but it look great to me.

Fun plot,pretty girls,nice cars,good cast.

Johnston is handsome and tough.

There is a lot of humour.

Great locations,Northern Italy wish I was there now.

Compared to Modesty Blaze or Matt Helm this is a much better watch.

If you are into spy movies and have never seen this I would seek it out.

This entry into the world of the 1960s spy genre is one of the best. Due to its witty screenplay, with some great dialogue, and its great visual direction, this film stands out above any of the Matt Helm series or other European films. The two female leads, Elke Sommer and Sylva Koscina are perfect, as are Nigel Green and Richard Johnson. I highly recommend this film is you are into fun adventure, told with tongue-in-cheek style.

Perhaps the best of the escapist superspy movies spawned by the James Bond phenomenon,"Deadlier than the male" benefits by taking itself more seriously than the leering and campy approach found in,for example,the "Matt Helm" series and the 2 "Derek Flint" films.Richard Johnson-who could well have played James Bond,and would have brought more humanity to the role than any of the actors who played 007 managed,is excellent as Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond(a character featured in a series of books in the 20s and 30s and a number of "b" movies,reborn here as a secret agent for the swinging 60s).Nigel Green is also perfect,as a suave and very dangerous master criminal.The female assassins,played by 60s stunners Elke Sommer and Sylva Koscina,are allowed to be despicably evil,and without any redeeming features(they are as keen to sadistically torture people as they are to kill them),and the sight of the murderous pair in bikinis emerging from the ocean with harpoon guns,should be as iconic as the "Ursula Andress hits the beach" moment in "Dr No".

Unfortunately the sequel to this movie,"Some girls do"(1969),though not without interest,adopted the over the top camp "Deadlier than the male" avoided,and ended the franchise.