Deadlier Than the Male (1967)

Entertaining, 9 July 2005

Richard Johnson (of The Haunting fame) is Bulldog Drummond, a insurance investigator trying to uncover what happened to one of the planes his company had written a policy on. It's not long before anyone with information for him turns up dead. And most of the deaths "appear" to be accidents. Before you can say "Shaken, Not Stirred", Drummond is up to his neck in hired killers and a mad genius.

Deadlier Than the Male has a lot to enjoy. The 60s feel, Johnson's Drummond, Nigel Green, terrific locations, and the implausible yet wonderful gadgets and traps are all a delight. But my absolute favorite moments are those between the two hired henchmen (or should that be henchwomen or maybe even henchpersons) played by Elke Sommer and Sylva Koscina. There constant spats and barbed remarks are a riot.

There are a lot of bad Bond wannabes out there, this is one of the good ones.

8/10