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Paulo Gozlino stars in this Eurospy, one of only two times in his career that he got to be the star in a movie, which surprises me, as I think he has a strong screen presence, radiating confidence, with charm or a hard edge as appropriate.
Reading his Italian Wikipedia page, he was primarily a dancer and choreographer, a profession in which he worked alongside his wife Elena Sedlak. This accounts for his superior level of smooth physical movement, which helps a lot in this role. He looks very comfortable in the actions scenes, whether running, leaping or climbing. I was immediately aware that here was someone who had legitimate athletic ability, an aspect of espionage where other actors don’t always manage to look convincing.
Being already involved in the entertainment industry would have made for a relatively straight forward transition into acting, and Paulo became a familiar face in Spaghetti Westerns, rising as high as co-star, but only on one other occasion did he get top billing, in “Flashman”, about a masked Superhero character, another role where his athletic dancing skills would have come in handy. Possessing swarthy good looks which remind me of Fernando Lamas, he could play hero, villain or frenemy equally effectively.
As far as his Eurospy career goes, he had earlier appeared in “The Fuller Report” in a supporting role alongside Ken Clark.
This film could serve as an object lesson to others on how to make a competent Eurospy, with straight forward direction, a sound script and action that does not try to stray beyond the limits of its budget. In fact I’m tempted to rate it one of the best I’ve seen because of that. It’s probably good enough to rank alongside the better episodes of “Dangerman”, “The Saint” or “The Man From Uncle”, which is about the highest praise I can bestow on any Eurospy.
Apart from being more coherent than most Eurospys, the plot has an added dimension which make it a bit more interesting than is usual, the scenario being a three sided struggle between Paulo, old war buddy Ruben Rojo and the “Gamma / Mafia”.
Ruben plays an American agent who has decided to “take the money and run” by stealing some MacGuffin documents that he has arranged to sell to the “Gamma / Mafia”, who in turn have made a deal with the Chinese. He fakes his own death in Hong Kong before escaping to Milan, where Gamma have bumped off his twin brother so he can take his place. But he doesn’t trust them and takes some precautions which make his part of the story just as interesting as Paulo’s. He surreptitiously plants a bug under the Gamma contacts desk during a meeting, so he (or his love interest Neves Navarro) can listen in and stay one step ahead, and arms himself with a sleeve gun, which he gets to deploy several times over the course of the film, which is one of the highlights for me.
The female roles in this one are better than usual as well, Betsy Bell gets plenty to do helping out Paulo, including saving his skin with some gun play, while Neves Navarro brings some gravitas to her partnership with Ruben and Fajda Nicol is all business as the Gamma henchwoman. Even Marysol Ayuso, as Paulo’s obligatory additional conquest, is no bimbo, coming across as a woman of the World with no illusions about her situation.
On that subject, while we can assume that Paulo may have previously bedded Elisabetta Wu, the woman he is going on vacation with at the start of the film, he is interrupted by the mission call from his boss, so she doesn’t count. He accepts Marysol’s invitation and switches off the room light, which makes one, and then when he is with Betsy and we cut to Paulo buttoning up his shirt in front of the mirror while Betsy reclines on the bed covered by a sheet, that makes two. So sexual prowess credentials are validated. In the end Paulo and Betsy fly off into the sunset together.
Surprisingly George Hilton turns up in a supporting role as another agent. Hilton was a frequent star of Spaghetti Westerns, so it’s almost as if the casting director got mixed up and swapped Paulo and George’s parts by mistake.
Good use is made of Hong Kong as an exotic location and the choreography of the Hong Kong fight sequence is noticeably superior to any of the European based ones. The only slip up is when Paulo’s plane lands in Hong Kong on a runway that appears diametrically opposed to that city’s then infamous location (a flat plain more likely to have been Milan airport, which is then re-used, as itself, later).
Back in Italy, Milan, Lake Garda and Genoa are also well utilised for their scenic possibilities. The European fight scenes are unsophisticated, but enthusiastic, in the style of Roger Browne.
There are no shortage of interesting vehicles on display, Paulo drives a Lancia Flamina, which he tells us is bulletproof and which can spray oil from its rear bumper onto the road to get rid of a chasing car, that being the villains Alpha Romeo Julietta 1, which then skids over a cliff and crashes into Lake Garda. Ruben drives a Chevrolet Corvair, Betsy drives a Porche and there is also a helicopter.
The producers do a good job of creating the right of ambiance of sophisticated electronics and gadgetry. Gamma have a man-in-the-chair who appears periodically, sitting in front of a microphone at a three piece silver control panel with an array switches, buttons, plugs and dials, and four blank white monitor screens mounted above, from where he conducts surveillance and relays information and instructions. Mario Donen, as lead henchman, communicates with Gamma’s big boss, Jose Marco, via a wall mounted panel of dials, lights, gauges and speakers and observes activity in his nightclub via another panel of dials with a sliding automated peep hole located behind his desk. The finale takes place at a factory which is part electricity substation, part theatrical sound stage and part machine shop. Numerous characters make use of hand held micro radio transmitters to communicate with each other. Finally there is the crushing room, with its metallic walls, floor and ceiling, the deployment of which gives the film its title.
There’s even a half decent torch song in the nightclub sequence, although they don’t really make the most of it, not featuring either in the opening or closing credits.
“How cruel his eyes, and kind of mad,
Oh I Love Him Still,
Oh man of mine, who loves to kill..”
With a bit more work I think that could have been something?
Bondian banter
Marysol – “They won’t find you here, don’t worry”
Paulo – “If they find out you’ve helped me, you could get into serious trouble”
Marysol– “Women in my line of work always help men on the run. Do you like rum?”
Paulo – (sculls drink) “Thanks, what’s your name?”
Marysol – “Sonya, yours?”
Paulo – “Bill”
Marysol – “Bill what?”
Paulo – “Is that at all important?”
Marysol – “No, not really”
Paulo – (looks out the window and checks that the coast is clear) “They’re gone, its best I left”
Marysol – (giving him the look) “It’s that uncomfortable with me?”
Paolo – (smirks and moves in) “What do you think?”
They clinch and Paulo turns off the light
I've been watching Eurospy's these last few weeks too – the first of the Charles Vine films, Licensed to Kill and Coplan FX 18 casse tout (The Exterminators).
My thoughts on Licensed to Kill are more or less the same as what you wrote in your own review. It has major flaws with the plot, and, what I found most annoying, the lifeless direction. It's so dull! Luckily the film is entertaining enough, and worth the watch. I'm a bit surprised that this one got sequels though. I have a download of Where the Bullets Fly, so I will watch that one soon. I've yet to find Somebody's Stolen Our Russian Spy/O.K. Yevtushenko. If you can point me to where I can find it, I appreciate it!
Coplan FX 18 casse tout (The Exterminators) is much better in the direction department. This time, Francis Coplan is played by a Brit, Richard Wyler. To summarise the plot, Coplan is here sent to save an atomic scientist, in the meanwhile uncovering a plot by terrorists and a secret atomic site in Turkey. The film drags a bit in the middle, but offers a lot of what you'd expect in a decent Eurospy: Decent action and stunts, some womanizing and nice location shots. An elaborate mountain base makes for a Bondian finale – much like they did in the follow-up, Coplan sauve se peau (Coplan Saves His Skin).
Coplan ranking
Coplan FX 18 casse tout (The Exterminators)
Coplan prend des risques (Coplan Takes Risks)
Coplan sauve se peau (Coplan Saves His Skin)
Action immédiate (To Catch a Spy)
If I can find the two other titles of the Coplan series, Coplan Agent Secret FX 18 (FX 18 Secret Agent), starring Ken Clark, and Coplan ouvre le feu à Mexico (Mexican Slayride), starring Lang Jeffries, I'll do a complete ranking.
https://archive.org/details/somebodys-stolen-our-russian-spy-1968
With the Coplan films, are you aware if they are available with subtiles at all?
I've managed to locate a copy of "Coplan Prend Des Risques" but it doesn't have any subtles...
Thank's @seve! I did a quick search for the movie on archive.org, but didn't find it. Maybe I didn't type in the title right or something.
I will send you a DM where you can track down the Coplan films (those I have been able to find, that is).
In this film, George Martin (real name Francisco Martínez Celeiro) stars as a jewel thief that gets mixed up in a plot involving a criminal organisation that has created a serum that causes hypnotic effects of mind controlling. The Americans and Soviets join forces to stop them. An antidote has been created, however the professor who created it is killed at a jewelry showing in Hamburg. It's here we first meet Gary the jewel thief, as he helps the professor's beautiful lab assistant, Monica (Vivi Bach) escape being killed herself, with the antidote formula safely hidden in a briefcase.
The opportunistic Gary quickly sees an opportunity to make some money, and decides to
double cross Monica, replacing it with a copy. He soon finds himself kidnapped by the organisation, and makes a deal to hand over the briefcase in exchange for $500,000 from a predetermined spot, where he escapes getting killed. From here we follow Gary and Monica in a multi-national scheme, trying to save the world.
Martin is very likeable as a James Bond-like jewel thief, portraying the character with charm and cockiness. I also like that we get a character who's motives we cannot trust, at least from the start, and it makes a nice change from the usual spy character. The film balances humour and action well, and we get some nice stunts, foot chases, car chases and all the elements that makes a great Eurospy film. The interlude between the two agents of the US and Soviet secret services also makes for a fun element, although not perfect.
The plot is silly in the way you'd expect from an Eurospy, but it doesn't hurt the film, which is really entertaining. Recommended!