Missione speciale Lady Chaplin

This is Ken Clark's most Bondian adventure and it is a hoot. Despite the fact that the numbers `077' are prominently featured on the door of a taxi taken by Ken at one of the many airports in this movie, this is not a Coplan flick. Ken is CIA agent Dick Malloy and although he looks slightly uncomfortable in his designer duds, he's still mighty dapper. SMLC was Ken's fourth spy flick and it's one of the most enjoyable especially for those who want to come down easy from Bond. It's full of gadgetry and has a Fleming feel to the plot.

Don't miss this fun adventure. It's easily as entertaining as any Bond flick despite the absence of a charismatic villain.

This is the third and final film starring secret agent Dick Malloy (Ken Clark). I have not seen either of the previous films but they are spy films much like the 007 films, but made by Italians and starring this lesser-known American actor in the lead.

When the film begins, Lady Chaplin (Daniela Bianchi...of "From Russia With Love" fame) dresses up like a nun and kills some monks in a monastery. Clearly, this lady lacks scruples and she'll come into contact with Dick sooner of later. As for Dick, his boss is worried about a sunken American sub, the USS Thresher. On board are Polaris missiles...nuclear missiles and the good guys need to get to them first. Unfortunately, when Dick goes exploring, he finds the sub but the missile tubes are empty! How does Lady Chaplin play into all this and will she fall for Dick by the end of the movie?

Like a Bond film, this movie has a nice international look--with location shoots in New York, Spain, France, Italy and the UK! It also looks good...with a better than usual budget for an Italian film of the era. Like Bond, this agent has his gadgets and the plot is pretty similar to the Bond thriller "Thunderball"...which debuted the previous year. So is it up to Bond quality or worth seeing? I'd say no and maybe. No, it's not quite bond in quality (such as camera-work, acting and props) and whether or not you will enjoy it depends on if you can get past seeing a relatively bland secret agent...and Dick is a bit limp as a character. But if you simply cannot get enough 007 and don't mind that he's sort of a cheap substitute, Dick is work seeing.

Daniela Bianchi is perfect for her role as fashion designer, and assassin on the side, (Lady Chaplin) while old Pal (Dick Malloy), reprized by dependable Ken Clark, shares the top billing with Ms.Chaplin. This is a terrific Eurospy which gets off to a fast start and doesn't slow down for an hour. By the time the plot setting scenes take place you will be ready for a break from the wild and well done action sequences. Even the fighting scenes are excellent by Euro standards anyway. Director Al De Martino did a great job with some beautiful and talented lady's. Including, Evelyn Stewart (Constance Day) who plays Lady Chaplin's assistant in both the designing and killing realms. The two beauties have a lot of chemistry and make us believe they have been friends for years. Another bad girl (Hilde) played by Helga Liné is great as a euro version of a gun mole. Mabel Karr as good girl agent (Jacqueline) is in my humble opinion the scene stealer in the film. The plucky and sexy Jacqueline's part is well written and Mabel lights up the screen. The male cast. other then handsome Ken, were not quite up to snuff with the lady's. Alfredo Mayo as the very English (Sir Hillary) is the exception. Jacques Bergerac plays the mean and crazy head bad guy (Kobre Zoltan). The problem with this is Zoltan is supposed to be an America, but The Latin Lover Jauques exudes Europe and I never believed for a second he was an America. Too bad they didn't write his part as a French Bad Guy then it would have been fine. The only other minor complaint is that a beautiful old Citroen Panel Van was sacrificed over a cliff. At least it died in a fine Eurospy.

This film essentially begins with an American nuclear submarine experiencing a catastrophic accident resulting in the death of the entire crew and subsequently sinking to the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean. Although everyone in the American government assumes that the submarine is too deep to be recovered, officials quickly become alarmed when it is learned that a dog tag from one of the dead submariners is being auctioned off in Spain--highlighting the possibility that those 16 Polaris missiles have also been recovered as well. So, to get some answers to this question, the CIA sends an agent named "Dick Malloy" (Ken Clark) to retrieve the dog tag in order to determine its authenticity. However, immediately after buying the item, the man who sold it to him is wounded in an assassination attempt, thus temporarily preventing him from divulging any information concerning how he came acquired that particular item in the first place. Still needing answers, Agent Malloy then goes to the hospital to question him further. Unfortunately, once he gets there, he discovers that somebody has murdered him--and an attractive woman named "Lady Arabella Chaplin" (Daniela Bianchi) soon becomes his prime suspect. But even more important, he still needs to find the key person behind the organization that hired her, as failure to do that could result in a hostile nation acquiring 16 nuclear missiles. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this turned out to be an okay international spy film due in large part to the performance of Daniela Bianchi who, in my opinion, dominated every scene she was in. Even so, unlike any of the more popular James Bond films, the lead character (Ken Clark) wasn't nearly as polished and lacked the on-scream charisma of any of the actors who have played Agent 007. Likewise, the film quality in this film wasn't nearly as good either. In short, while this film was clearly not a first-rate production, those looking for a cheap James Bond clone might find some entertainment value with it, and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

I would highly recommend this . Very fun and extraordinary . Rec. from Eurospy Guide by Matt Blake/David Deal.