S.H.E: Security Hazards Expert (1980)

"Brains and beauty.. Never trust a woman with both!", 24 April 2017

S H E: Security Hazards Expert (I'm just going to call it SHE for the rest of this) is the story of secret agent Lavinia Kean (Cornelia Sharpe). She's sent to investigate wine merchant Baron Cesare Magnasco (Omar Sharif) and his buddy, Owen Hooper (Robert Lansing) who may be up to no good. Lavinia finds the pair have created something called APM – a microbe that devours oil and makes it useless. Unless they are paid $3 billion per year, they intend to turn their discovery lose on the world's oil supply.

I understand that SHE was a television pilot that originally aired on CBS. I'm surprised I didn't see it. The plot summary and the James Bond-esque trappings would have been right up my alley. I caught it last night and, overall, I can say it's not half bad (I suppose that also means it's not half good either). While Sharpe will never be confused with one of the world's great actresses, she does fine in the lead role. She has an infectious quality about her that works. The supporting cast is especially strong and a cut above what you normally found on television in the late 70s. Omar Sharif and Robert Lansing are quite good. Sharif, in particular, plays the love sick puppy to perfection. The cast also includes one of my personal genre favorites, Fabio Testi. I was shocked and delighted to see him in SHE.

As for the rest of SHE, the plot is hit or miss. It takes a while to get things going, but once it does, the pace picks up nicely. The comedy is also hit or miss. Some works while some misses its mark completely. I loved the fight scene between Magnasco and Hooper. The action sequences are okay – not great, but decent enough. SHE is filled with enough gadgets to make Bond envious – everything from knock-out sprays, an instant fingerprint kit, small explosive devices, and a gold remote controlled bug that injects poison into its target. The locations are a bonus for something like SHE. The outdoor shots set in Italy are really nice. On the bad side, the female Russian bodyguard is ridiculous, the disco soundtrack is nauseating, and, as I've already indicated, it takes a while to get things going. Sill, like I said, it's not half bad (or half good) and I'll rate SHE a 5/10.

5/10