Really Surprised!

Good movie but grossly overrated

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

As Good As It Gets

I like Klaus Kinski, very much, but not in this, he has a role (actually double small role) absolutely stupid. The whole film is stupid. Frankie Avalon, George Nader and Shirley Eaton can't act, they never did. Wilfrid Hyde-White is probably the most annoying person in movies ever. The whole story is a big nonsense, everything is stupid, nothing attractive or enjoyable in this movie.

An anti-male syndicate of beautiful female assassins, headquartered near Hong Kong and led by the no-nonsense, whip-wielding Sumuru, plots international domination by ridding the world of its male leaders; two wisecracking American agents use their masculine charms to save mankind. British production, distributed stateside by AIP, is a fairly tepid adventure with 'humorous' asides. There are some interesting ideas (any woman who betrays Sumuru by falling in love with a man is automatically targeted for extermination), but not enough imagination or excitement. Shirley Eaton is impressive in the title role, and her army is certainly attractive, but puerile George Nader and Frankie Avalon are dead weights on the action. Eaton played Sumuru again in 1969's "The Girl From Rio". *1/2 from ****

In many ways, this is similar to (though actually preceding) FIVE GOLDEN DRAGONS, also a 1967 film from the Harry Alan Towers exploitation stable and, despite being helmed by the director of DEVIL DOLL (1964), the end result is a long way away from that eerie cult classic. It is the first of two Towers made based on the Sax Rohmer novels revolving around the power-mad and man-hating Sumuru – concurrently to them, Towers was engaged in a series featuring Rohmer's more famous nefarious creation i.e. Fu Manchu. I said similar, not just in the locales and typical spy-stuff plot but mainly the would-be comical approach, not forgetting the ageing wise-cracking lead (in this case, George Nader, whom I recently watched in his prime in SINS OF JEZEBEL {1953}). Incidentally, one wonders why they even went to the trouble of recruiting him when his young sidekick (singing heart-throb Frankie Avalon) receives top billing...ousting even the rightful protagonist, Sumuru herself (played by ex-Bond girl Shirley Eaton)!Contrary to the afore-mentioned DRAGONS, the copy I acquired left a lot to be desired: panned-and-scanned (apart from the proliferation of seemingly 'vacant' sets, with the characters at either end of the Widescreen frame being entirely cropped off, we are also supposed to observe a tortured prisoner, but all that is left of the victim for us to glimpse are his trapped hands!), soft-looking and washed-out! Maria Rohm (her name here preceded by the epithet "introducing" despite its being her fifth film!) is also on hand as the latest member of Sumuru's subordinates (who is undressed before the others for approval!). Oddly, but entirely predictably, she is given a difficult first job which, not only does she bungle, but ends up becoming a Frankie fan (pardon the ROCKY HORROR allusion): their relationship does elicit one good line, though, when he has to wait while Rohm undresses (again!) and he wonders out loud whether that was his cue to burst into song! One unbelievable plot contrivance concerns a couple of doubles that come into play: not only is Nader engaged to serve eccentric President Klaus Kinski (both he and Rohm would also appear in FIVE GOLDEN DRAGONS) on the basis that he is a dead-ringer for his secretary but, when Rohm is sent to kill Kinski (and fails, but a Sumuru subject disguised as a soldier in his ranks steps in to carry out the task), the victim is an impostor too…with the real President emerging, alive and well (to say nothing of looking an awful lot like Mick Jagger!) from the next room and, immediately, begins to unwittingly unveil his lecherous nature before the bemused Nader.Apart from the atypically dark-haired Eaton, who at least seems to be relishing her part, the film's brightest light is supplied by the perennially unflappable Wilfrid Hyde-White (who displays a fondness for acronyms throughout, always seems to turn up at fortuitous moments and is really the one to blame for the mess in which our heroes find themselves). As is to be expected, Sumuru's minions are chosen for their looks rather than their acting ability: needless to say, despite all the anti-male diatribes, these women – Sumuru included – are unable to resist the temptation of 'connecting' with them for very long; even more ruthlessly, the climax has the fortress being attacked and the women mown down without any consideration for their sex whatsoever (or even allowing them a chance to give up)! And, keeping up Nader's neglect, his romantic interest (a good-looking girl who had made her mark intermittently throughout the film) comes to the fore when, asked to eliminate him, she just throws herself at the hero (so that the action chores at this stage are left in the dubious hands of Frankie Avalon!).

Silly as this movie may be, it does evoke a certain aspect of 1960s culture, so if you're nostalgic for beehive hair-dos, go-go boots, narrow neckties, white lipstick, etc -- sit back and enjoy. The plot and acting here are beneath notice but the pace is snappy and it does have a few oddball moment of note. See Frankie Avalon acting tough and throwing a hand grenade! See Wilfred Hyde-White slumming it! See George Nader in chains being whipped by Shirley Eaton! This whipping scene, in fact, is the movie's highlight. Not only does a bare-chested Nader look pretty good for a man in his mid-40s, but note that his belt is unbuckled. Did the wicked Su-muru plan to pull down his pants after the whipping? Inquiring minds want to know!