I know, I know...after I finish writing this, I will watch The Ipcress File and report on it. As a Spy Culture Kid, I’m actively looking forward to it.
Anyway, your choices are:
THE REPTILE
I love Hammer Films, but I haven’t seen all of them, particularly the stranger ones that didn’t show up as often on TV. Sure, I am well versed in the Dracula and Frankenstein films, but I don’t think I ever saw this movie about Jacqueline Pearce transforming into....well, a reptile that eats people’s faces. And since I had a thing for Pearce when she was playing Servalan in Blake’s 7 (Imagine Star Trek, only the United Federation of Planets is the bad guy), I’m intrigued to see this earlier effort of hers.
ASSAULT ON A QUEEN
I can’t believe there is no trailer available for this Frank Sinatra vehicle about a crew looking to rob the Queen Mary ocean liner utilizing a WWII U-boat. It was adapted by Ron Serling from a novel by Jack Finney. The name caught my eye, and the poster looked kinda neat. That’s about it, really.
BANG BANG YOU’RE DEAD
To me, Tony Randall will always be Felix Ungar, the character he played for three seasons on Gary Marshall’s sitcom adaptation of The Odd Couple. I think he’s Felix pretty much to everybody of my generation...and yet, before he stepped into the role of his lifetime, Tony Randall had a freakin’ weird career. When he wasn’t playing mystical Asians or Hercule Poirot, he was playing the straight man in this spy spoof that was originally called Our Man In Marrakesh. I’m fascinated by this phase of Randall’s career, and its connection to Spy Culture makes me want to see it Badly.
HOW TO STEAL A MILLION
Here’s an example of a genre I think has kind of disappeared from the cultural zeitgeist: the romantic intrigue movie. The template for this may very well be Hitchcock’s To Catch A Thief, but I may be wrong: you take two attractive leads, one or both of which may be a little...on the edge morally, get them involved in some crazy espionage-or-heist scenario that requires them to get into various, slightly risque hijinx, and let the chips fall where they may. The romantic intrigue genre survived into the 70‘s, but it was a good ‘date night’ compliment to the spy mania that was running rampant through the mid 60‘s. This one features Peter O’Toole, an actor I’ve always liked, the iconic Audrey Hepburn and Eli Wallach. I’ve not seen many of these films, and this seemed like an okay one to pick up on the genre with.
You have until Friday afternoon to head over to my Twitter Page and make your choice; I’m sorry this one was a little late. I will report in on the winner sometime over the next week.
...and I promise I will cover The Ipcress File before this week is out.
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