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007, Italian Style |
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| 18/11/2008 |
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There was not just 007 and there was not just Sean Connery. At one point, European screens in general and Italian screens in particular were full of secret agents with the most absurd code names: 077, 008, 009, 070, Z7, 77, 777, 3S3 and so forth. An infinite list of spies sent on impossible missions to Beirut, Hong Kong, Berlin, Istanbul, Cairo... From 1964-69, the magical world of Italian-style spies featured almost 150 titles, including parodies (such as Lando Buzzanca’s James Tont, Franco and Ciccio’s 002’s and Raimondo Vianello’s Flit).
The films followed a relatively precise formula. The title played off of a real Bond film. The main characters had to be handsome, macho and agile, like the real 007, with names like Ken Clark, Richard Harrison or Giorgio Ardisson. There were a string of beautiful and dangerous women, from Ingrid Schoeller to Dominique Boschero, whom the hero would ultimately dominate. Bad guys more or less tied to the co-productions with Spain and Germany. Well-known directors such as Sergio Sollima, Alberto De Martino, Umberto Lenzi, Sergio Grieco. At least two exterior shots in some exotic locale so that viewers could dream about trips they could not afford. Homemade Bond-like gadgets with special effects courtesy of Rome studios Elio and De Paolis. Subjects such as the Cold War or the sexual revolution. All this amidst pop images of the 1960s, great soundtracks by the likes of Piero Umiliani, Armando Trovajoli, Riz Ortolani and Piero Piccioni who experimented with their erotic-exotic themes, incredible posters, small budgets even smaller crews.
The dream was interrupted only by the international success of Sergio Leone’s spaghetti western, but which gave life to films that are no longer remember today but were commercial hits in their day, such as those that will be presented in Courmayeur from December 4-10.
Marco Giusti
The films of the retrospective
Agent S3s: Passport To Hell by Sergio Sollima
with: Giorgio Ardisson (Italy/France/Spain, 1965, 96’)
Following the mysterious death of an American secret agent, the United States and the Soviet Union decide to destroy the elusive Organization, considered to be behind the murder. The Americans send Agent 3S3 to meet Yasmine, the beautiful daughter of Mister A, a former agent for the US and probably the head of the criminal Organization.
A 008: Operation Exterminate by Umberto Lenzi
with: Alberto Lupo and Ingrid Schoeller (Italy, 1965, 95’)
Agent 006 (Alberto Lupo) of the British secret service teams up with the beautiful American agent 008 (Ingrid Schoeller) to capture the scientist genius who has invented a machine that can block the most sophisticated radar machines in the West.
James Tont: Operation Goldsinger by Bruno Corbucci and Giovanni Grimaldi
with: Lando Buzzanca and Alighiero Noschese (Italy, 1965, 88’)
James Tont (Lando Buzzanca), the secret agent of Sicilian origin, is send by the Intelligence Service to thwart a diabolical plan to destroy the UN by Goldsinger, a music industry tycoon.
OK Connery by Alberto De Martino
with: Neil Connery, Adolfo Celi and Daniela Bianchi (Italy, 1966, 105’)
The famous agent with a license to kill is already on a mission so his brother, plastic surgeon Neil Connery, an expert in hypnosis and karate – is called to work with the British secret service to defeat the Thanatos organization, which has stolen top-secret documents upon which world security depends.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang by Duccio Tessari
with: Giuliano Gemma and Lorella De Luca (Italia, 1966, 112’)
Kirk Warren (Giuliano Gemma), a sergeant of the Secret Service, has betrayed his country and death by awaits him in a London jail. But Sir Wilcox, head of the Secret Service, still needs him for a highly dangerous counterespionage mission. Kirk will have one last chance to restore his honor.
Matchless by Alberto Lattuada
with: Patrick O'Neal, Henry Silva and Ira Fürstenberg (Italy, 1967, 105’)
An American journalist USA (Patrick O'Neal), known by the pseudonym Matchless, finds himself involved in a search for a murderous substance that a mad scientist wants to use against the entire world. He is helped by a beautiful girl (Fürstenberg) and a magic ring that renders him invisible for 20 minutes and allows him to flee from the insidious clutches of Soviet and Chinese agents.
Tiffany Memorandum by Sergio Grieco (Terence Hathaway)
with: Ken Clark, Luigi Vannucchi and Irina Demick (Italy, 1967, 94’)
Dick Hallam, the Paris correspondent of a large New York newspaper, accidentally witnesses the death of a South American politician. He will have to uncover the truth and expose an international conspiracy.
The Man of a Thousand Masks by Alberto De Martino (Martin Herbert)
with: Tom Felleghy and Nando Gazzolo (Italy, 1967, 104’)
A shady criminal organization is plotting against the United States. The Intelligence Service sends one of its best spies to solve the case.
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