"Repeat After Me: I Am Not a Pleasure Unit..."

Our final super-spy for the week is the unmatchable James Coburn as Derek Flint. It was a review of Our Man Flint that I recently wrote for my other blog that inspired this series in the first place (you can read it HERE). Derek Fint was to be the American answer to Bond: hence the explanatory "Our Man" in the title. An early scene has Flint eschewing the Walther PPK and the myriad of other weapons associated with the movie spygame as barbaric. Flint is every bit as sophisticated and intelligent as Bond if not more so, and the publicity for the film has him tackling armies of girls at a time. To some, Coburn's performance might initially seem smug or arrogant, but it'd be hard fo the man who really could do it all to be all that humble, and Coburn's charisma eventually wins the day.

"M. Appeal"

Turning to television for a moment, one of the most popular shows among the super-spy set was certainly the BBC series The Avengers, which still enjoys a healthy cult following.  One of the reasons for its success could certainly be attributed to the feminine wiles and allure of Emma Peel, played wonderfully by Diana Rigg.  Not only would Emma be considered an early feminist heroine who was allowed to rescue her partner, John Steed, as often as he rescued her, she also became a sort of mod fashion icon. Oddly enough, two casting tie-ins The Avengers shared with Bond: Emma Peel was a replacement for Cathy Gale, played by Honor Blackman, who would leave the series to play Pussy Galore in Goldfinger, while Diana Rigg would leave the series to join the cast of the ill-fated George Lazenby Bond vehicle, On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

The Silencers

Having written a review of Our Man Flint on my review blog (click here to read!), I decided to revisit the 60's world of super-spy adventure! James Bond has been a hot property since first appearing on the printed page in 1953, and the movies have been a pop culture staple since Dr. No (1962).  And as has been the case since the dawn of Hollywood, success breeds imitation.  And while many of the Bond knock-offs have long been forgotten (no one I know who loved Austin Powers knew where half the references were coming from), the craze was pretty widespread.

One series seeking to cash in were the Matt Helm movies, starring Dean Martin, and produced by Irving Allen, former partner of Albert "Cubby" Broccoli, producer of the Bond films.  Based on the long-running series of novels by Donald Hamilton, the movies took on a swinging sixties tone compared to the dark and violent atmosphere of the books.  Martin is good fun, the gadgets wacky and vehicles bizarre (Helm's first vehicle is a trick-filled station wagon!), the movies are completely watchable and hilariously awful.  Think of them, if you will, as James Bond as created by the makers of the 60's Batman Tv series.