Having first seen this as a young 'un, we didn't even get the joke in the film's title, a play on the phrase 'In like Flynn' which referred to legendary, horny swashbuckler Errol Flynn and his ability to skate past statutory rape charges. As for the movie itself.....well, if nothing else, its cartoonish, tongue-in-cheek antics inspired all three of Mike Myers 'Austin Powers' romps.....
We turned our attention back to this negligible 60's bauble for its unique set of mastermind villains confronting James Coburn's super-guy Derek Flint........a triumvirate of high-powered, middle aged women executives, titans in their fields of publishing, fashion and other media. With an army of hot-babe minions, they've set up their HQ in the Virgin Islands under the guise of the "Fabulous Face" spa. The women 'FF' clients have their hair dried and brains washed simultaneously by subliminal messaging pumped through their hair dryers. But the Gang Of Three running the show has even bigger fish to fry (or hair to dry).....replacing the President with an actor-imposter and dominating the world by nuclear arming a female-staffed space station orbiting the earth.
Luckily for the male-dominated 1960's world order, we deploy master spy and all around Renaissance man Derek Flint, once again wittily played by James Coburn with a self-effacing wolfish grin, shake of his head and dismissive wave of his hand. The film pokes along for an hour until Flint finally infiltrates Fabulous Face to confront the Power Trio and their platoons of Playmates-Of-The-Month.
Flint's astounded at the audacity of their plot ("An actor...in the White House?" he exclaims, not realizing how much funnier and prescient this line would become decades later) He counsels the women to simply sit back and wait for the world to inevitably fall into their hands.....but the Fabulous Facers are having none it. They're no longer content as the real powers behind the men......they demand full visibility as masters of the universe, nameplates and everything. And they correctly perceive that hanging a nuclear sword over our heads will seal the deal....
Derek Flint takes a long incredulous pause here, trying to take it all in.......before impatiently blurting, "Ladies.....forget it!" Before the women barely have time to sputter their outrage, their entire operation is hijacked by their principal male co-conspirator, U.S. Army General Carter (Steve Ihnat), a dead-eyed martinet who brings along his own male army to overpower the ladies.
Fear not, America. In true 1960's spy spoof fashion, the Fabulous Face-ettes launch "Operation Smooch", which consists of kissing General Carter's troops into a semi-sexual coma, then karate-chopping their misogynistic asses.......and that pretty much encapsulates sexual politics in mid-60's Hollwood moves....
More lunatic goodness follows when the real U.S. President, liberated by Flint from his Fabulous Face holding cell, scolds the three Arch-Villainesses for daring to seize control of the world. ("Ladies....I hope you've learned your lesson..." he gently chides. Evidently this forgiving chief executive considers threatening the world with nuclear annihilation no worse than accumulating too many speeding tickets...)
At that little moment, "In Like Flint" might have been ahead of its time. After having their wrists slapped by the Prez, the formidable Fabulous Face trio merely break into knowing Mona Lisa smiles......one way or another, they're still going to rule the world.
And somehow we doubt if Derek Flint will even care if they succeed, since he finishes the movie marooned in outer space with two nubile, female Russian cosmonauts.....continuing the battle of the sexes on both earth and the heavens above. For that reason alone, the BQ will graciously add an extra star to a routine dopey pseudo-Bond caper, bumping it up to 2 stars (**)
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