Agent Z 55 Desperate Mission (1965) Considering how much BQ loves, loves, loves cheesy 1960's 'Eurospy' Bond imitations, we're long overdue in covering one.......
We picked this one 'cause it's one of our faves in this nutball genre......it's got all the fixins' for a perfect trashy, pulpy, ridiculous co-production trying to cash on the 007 craze that swept the world in the mid 60's......plus a few extra bonuses that you didn't normally see in these films.....
So let's start right at the beginning.....
Jazzy faux-Bond music......pounding away during the credits, and punctuated with gunfire. Yay!
Our faux-Connery hero......is rough 'n tumble American agent Z 55 a.k.a. Danny O' Connor played by German Cobos.( or 'Jerry Cobb' as he's billed in the posters) Quick with his fists and gun and can take several hundred punches without slowing down.....he's the Energizer Bunny in a suit and tie.....
Femme Fatales! Two of 'em .....a non-entity generic blonde who moves around like a slightly ambulatory department store dummy.....and a special bonus: the always exquisite, delicately gorgeous Yoko Tani, who always set our hearts aflutter in whatever Euro-junk she appeared in.....(and her filmography's loaded with mostly euro-junk.....)
Villains! Two bonuses here for us lovers of Euro-Bad Guys.....the doughy, squishy Gianni Rizzo, who looks like Nero about to set Rome on fire and plied his evil-ness in every pulpy genre (sword 'n sandal Peplums, spaghetti westerns, etc, ) And best of all, that roly poly, bald-pated Eurasian man-mountain Milton Reid, who turned up as non-speaking henchmen in everything from "55 Days At Peking" to "The Spy Who Loved Me" As far as we know, 'Desperate Mission' is the only film that gave Mighty Milt a major supporting role.....with dialogue even!
The Mission! Come on now, it's a Eurospy movie......does anyone give a rat's ass? Our boy Z-55's trying to rescue a nuclear scientist from all the opposing minions working for Rizzo and Reid. Multiple shootouts and punch-ups ensue. That's all you need to know......
The Action ! Plentiful and brutal. Z 55 gets pounded on about every five minutes, especially in vicious fights with Reid, but he gives back as good as he gets.......and let's have a moment of silence for the poor guy who get tossed down a shaft and then mashed by a 20 ton rock crushing hammer that follows him down.....ouchy.
The Armadillo! Uh.....say what now? This may be the movie's strangest attempt to mimic a Bond film. Like Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Gianni Rizzo's character has a beloved pet too.....yes, an armadillo. And personally, we couldn't take our eyes off the little fellow as he happily waddled around Rizzo's desk......
All of this stuff adds up to a top-notch addition to this genre we adore.......(and we're well aware that some folks might find these films silly, worthless and not worth their time....)
To us, though, these movies made gave our adolescence and young adulthood a lot of extra fun.....and as Z 55 straps on his automatic, smooches a babe and and smacks down a bad guy, we're always right there with him.
Mission accomplished. 3 stars (***)
No comments:
Post a Comment