Also known as: Deadlier (France alternative title)
Release Date: February 12th, 1967 (UK)
Directed by: Ralph Thomas
Written by: Jimmy Sangster, David D. Osborn, Liz Charles-Williams
Based on: Bulldog Drummond by Sapper Gerard Fairlie
Music by: Malcolm Lockyer, The Walker Brothers (title song)
Cast: Richard Johnson, Elke Sommer, Sylva Koscina, Nigel Green, Milton Reid
Santor Film Productions, Rank Film Distributors, 101 Minutes
Review:
“Well I have had men fall for me before but never like this.” – Irma Eckman
Deadlier Than the Male is just one of a slew of spy parody comedies to come out during the height of James Bond‘s popularity. Still, it’s pretty enjoyable and I like these type of movies, anyway. Surprisingly, I hadn’t seen this one until now.
This has similar vibes to the Dean Martin starring Matt Helm films, as well as the original American Casino Royale with Peter Sellers.
For the most part, I liked Richard Johnson as this film’s version of the James Bond character trope. However, I felt like he played the role a bit too dry and didn’t have the charisma as some of the other actors that led similar movies. Granted, it’s hard to compete with talent like Peter Sellers and Dean Martin or the Sean Connery version of Bond, for that matter.
As should be expected and because of the movie’s title, this picture is littered with beautiful, supermodel caliber women. The main one of note is Elke Sommer, a German model and actress that had a good mind and spirit for comedy. Funny enough, she was also in one of those Dean Martin spy movies.
Additionally, Nigel Green, this film’s big villain, also played a similar role in the same Dean Martin spy flick that featured Elke Sommer. Green was always good in these sort of roles, though. While he’s probably not as recognized as he should be, especially by American film fans, he often times found himself in films with great, well-known British film legends. Plus, he always rose to the occasion in the right way and here, he’s just great as a token Bond-styled baddie.
I like the visual style of this movie but at the same time, when compared to other films like it, it’s not all that special or unique. The style fits the time and type of picture that this is. But there are still some neat things in the movie that do stand out like the giant chessboard finale.
In fact, I liked that sequence and that set so much that I felt like it was worthy of a bigger budget spy thriller on the level of the ’60s Bond movies.
For the most part, this is just a lighthearted, stylish and sexy film. Overall, it’s better than average for what it is and because many of these films tend to be pretty bad and unfunny. This one hits the checkboxes it needed to and after the Dean Martin spy comedies, this might be my favorite in the genre for its decade.
Rating: 6.75/10
Pairs well with: other spy parodies, especially those from the 1960s.
Talking Pulp 