COBRA (1967)-UNCUT AND LETTERBOXED PRINT.
Spaghetti Western star Peter Martell (Pietro Martellanza) stars in THE COBRA (IL COBRA), a Eurospy action thriller in which he plays disgraced treasury agent Mike Rand, who teams with his boss (Dana Andrews) to halt a Red Chinese plot to destroy the free world by flooding the market opium and turning everyone into addicts. Along the way he manages to bed junkie Anita Ekberg, get into various fights and destroy the refinery that is sending out the drugs. A very luscious looking Anita Ekberg co-stars. THE COBRA is one of the final films of Italian screenwriter and director Mario Sequi (uncredited co-director of THE TRAMPERS with Joseph Cotton and Gordon Scott), who dabbled in various genres beginning in 1946.
A FISTFUL OF DIAMONDS (1967)FINALLY A LETTERBOXED PRINT OF THIS RARE EUROSPY ENTRY! Director: Jaime Jesús Balcázar, Stars: Germán Cobos, Erika Blanc, Franco Ressel. Erika Blanc needs protection, and German Cobos is around to supply it in this obscure Spanish intriguer. Blanc plays Linda Moore, the widow of a man involved in the diamond trade who gets rubbed out by the competition. Cobos is Joe Callahan, a private investigator who takes an interest in her case and is willing to shield her from baddie Garbo (Blade of the Ripper's Luis de Tejada).
THE LONG CHALLENGE (1967)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Obscure, exciting Eurospy film! Directors: Mohamed Tazi, Nino Zanchin (as Robert Andrews), Stars: George Ardisson, Sieghardt Rupp, Luigi Pistilli. In Beirut, a drug dealer kidnaps the son of an honest engineer, forcing him to carry a big load of drugs. Before that happens, the police intervene and the criminals take to the sea. They also saves the child. Poised between the adventurous Giorgio Ardisson, and the police, the action highlights Beirut, when Lebanon was still called the Switzerland of the Middle East.
TOM DOLLAR (1967)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. WITHOUT QUESTION, ONE OF THE RAREST EUROSPY FILMS LEFT TO FIND!! Director: Marcello Ciorciolini (as Frank Red), Stars: Maurice Poli, Giorgia Moll, Erika Blanc. Iranian nobleman is killed in Tehran just before signing an important agreement for the operation of uranium deposits. In the same attack, Samia, his young daughter and sole heir, was wounded. Samia wants respect father's will and sign the Agreement with the United States but she must wait few days to be major so the C.I.A is responsible for protecting her against any new murder attempt. The Americans decide to do it secretly replacing her by a lookalike. Tom Dollar, best C.I.A. officer, is responsible for monitoring the situation in collaboration with Lady Barbara Crane, an "observer" English. The new Samia is installed in the house of the latter by Tom and Lady Barbara Crane. Traps multiply, attacks become so disturbing that C.I.A. order Tom to leave false Samia in the hands of "Sighs" dangerous cult....
TARGET FOR KILLING (1966)-UNCUT WITH NUDITY INTACT!
Director: Manfred R. Köhler, Stars: Stewart Granger, Karin Dor, Rupert Davies. "Target For Killing" undoubtedly has one of the best casts of all 1960's Eurospy movies: Stewart Granger (who was making a habit out of playing veteran secret agents around that period), Klaus Kinski (as a bad guy, of course, but a bad guy with a conscience this time), and no fewer than 4 (!) James Bond connections: Karin Dor ("You Only Live Twice"), Curt Jurgens ("The Spy Who Loved Me"), Adolfo Celi ("Thunderball"), and Molly Peters (also "Thunderball" - remember the nurse at the clinic?). Granger is again an FBI agent and indeed, is even supposedly the same man who thwarted the smuggling racket in "Red Dragon" but he has a different name; James Vine. Luckily, this time the results for viewers are much improved as the groovy credit sequence will attest. Hip graphics and a cool rock song kick things off nicely. Here Granger isn't quite the smarmy character he was in "Red Dragon" but he is still the unlikely beneficiary of a relationship with a pretty young thing, even pledging to marry her in the end! That said, it does have a sense of humor, and some interesting touches, like the criminal organization's headquarters being located in a monastery! The most memorable character is not played by any of the names mentioned above - it is Scilla Gabel's playful, stylish and sadomasochistic Tiger; unfortunately, her exit is an inglorious one.
THE BLACK BOX AFFAIR (1966)
Director: Marcello Ciorciolini (as James Harris), Stars: Craig Hill, Teresa Gimpera, Luis Marín. BLACK BOX AFFAIR, a mid-60s European spy film starring American actor Craig Hill (who has continued to work successfully in Europe for over 30 years), should satisfy any fan of low-budget Eurospy genre films. It starts off with a wild montage that could be out of GLEN OR GLENDA or ROCKET ATTACK USA, moves on to a credit sequence featuring a catchy europop-lounge title song, and then before the plot begins to kick in, Craig Hill is attacked by TWO different sets of bad-guys! The whole film does not proceed at this breakneck pace, but there is some beautiful location shooting, a good amount of action, a pretty female lead in Teresa Gimpera, and as a hero the versatile Craig Hill more than holds his own. The Black Box of the title is only partially explained, and little effort is put into giving the characters much individuality, but if you ask those kind of questions, you wouldn't like this type of by-the-numbers spy film anyway.
HELLO GLEN WARD, HOUSE DICK (1968)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS. One of the rarest Eurospy films finally appears! Directors: Julio Salvador, Mel Welles, Stars: Ray Danton, Pamela Tudor, Luis Dávila. Ray Danton plays a guy named Glen Ward who works as a hotel detective in Florida. He receives a phone call from his friend Pinky to come visit him in Jamaica and help him on something. When Ward gets there, Pinky is already dead, so he sets to find out who is responsible for his friend's death and why.
YOU ONLY DIE ONCE (1967)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT.
RAREST EUROSPY FILM IN ENGLISH FOR THE FIRST TIME!! Director: Giancarlo Romitelli (as Don Reynolds), Stars: Ray Danton, Pamela Tudor, Rossella Bergamonti. Mike Gold is trying to nail a terrorist spy ring who he believes killed his partner. His investigation takes him to Beirut where he is ensnared by a faux-damsel in distress called Jane. Fun Italian James Bond-ripoff that doesn't outstay its welcome. Like Ray Danton, it sort of charms itself along despite obviously lacking in budget. The car chase is one of the greatest things I've seen in a while.
TARGET FRANKIE (1967)-IN GERMAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS AND NOW PROPERLY LETTERBOXED, PLUS 6 MINUTES OF EXTRA FOOTAGE CULLED FROM A SPANISH AND GERMAN VERSION! ONE OF THE ONLY FILMS STARRING BOTH ROASALBA NERI AND ERIKA BLANC!! Director: José Antonio de la Loma, Stars: Joachim Fuchsberger, Erika Blanc, Rosalba Neri. Rik Battaglia. Professor Peers is killed and his assistant Dr Werner Bargher (Fuchsberger) is wounded by an international organisation “Rainbow”. CIA agents Maud Taylor (Erica Blanc) and Kaiser (Eddi Arent) are sent to find his playboy brother to impersonate him. By employing him they can draw out the enemy whilst protecting his brother. Fuchsberger has to fend off assassination attempts not to mention sultry Elena (Rosalba Neri) and her red sports car. There is plenty of action - double crossing, helicopter pursuits, kidnapping, gas, machine guns and visionary science. “Feuer frei auf Frankie” is a worthwhile and overlooked Eurospy entry that has an upbeat feel and plenty to enjoy.
077 OPERATION HONG KONG (1964)-FINALLY, A BEAUTIFUL UNCUT WIDESCREEN COPY OF THIS RARE EUROSPY FILM! Directors: Helmuth Ashley (as Helmut Ashley), Giorgio Stegani, Stars: Maria Perschy, Horst Frank, Dietmar Schönherr, Brad Harris. A suave gangster tries to get away from his boss with a suitcase full of heroin. Two pilots and lots of beautiful women get involved in the affair. Soon blood begins to flow.
TO SKIN A SPY (1966)-IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBS.
Director: Jacques Deray, Stars: Lino Ventura, Jean Bouise, Marilù Tolo. Terrific French Eurospy film. A French secret agent gets a license to kill when he is sent to Vienna to plug a security leak in this routine spy saga. He is caught in the crossfire of international enemy agents trying to eliminate the French. A good french spy thriller, shot in a natural settings in the city of Vienna and its 60s Cold War atmosphere,with a nice and captivating music. This is the first collaboration between Jacques Deray and Lino Ventura and the result is quite good. The sript by the excellent José Giovanni is a bit classic for a spy film, but effective and well-constructed. Lino Ventura is perfect as a cold and determined secret agent and Jean Bouise is excellent as a disillusioned network leader ready to give up. Without revolutionizing the genre, it's a nice atmospheric dive into the city of Vienna and the Cold War together with two very talented French actors!
AGENT 505 DEATH TRAP IN BEIRUT (1966)-RARE ENGLISH DUBBED VERSION, LETTERBOXED PRINT. EARLY EUROSPY SCORE BY ENNIO MORRICONE! Director: Manfred R. Köhler, Stars: Frederick Stafford, Geneviève Cluny, Chris Howland. A dastardly villain known as The Sheikh threatens to wipe out the city of Beirut (and all 650,000 of its citizens) in this reasonably entertaining West German thriller from director Manfred Kohler, perhaps best known today for co-writing Harry Kumel's erotic vampire epic Daughters of Darkness. Frederick Stafford plays suave secret agent Richard Blake, on the trail of The Sheikh with the assistance of gorgeous reporter Denise DuPree (Genevieve Cluny). A philanthropist named Omar Abdullah (Willy Birgel), whose cause is rehabilitating criminals, attracts the attention of Blake, and we're off to the races. Babes, bullets, and gadgets--they're all here and shot on location in mod, mod Beirut, at the time an 'international city' and a popular spot for European co-productions. Music lovers should note that Ennio Morricone's score echoes his spaghetti western work but fits nicely into the proceedings, whilst anticipating Theodorakis' percussive Z score by a full year. The English language print misspells his name 'Morricono', though.
AGENT X-17 OPERATION OCEAN (191965)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED PRINT. WOW!! A MAJOR UPGRADE IN QUALITY FOR THIS NOW NEAR PERFECT QUALITY PRINT!! Director: Tanio Boccia (as Amerigo Anton), Stars: Lang Jeffries, Aurora de Alba, Rafael Bardem. Professor Calvert has invented a revolutionary formula which make it possible to manipulate the oceans. An international criminal organisation intends to use his research to blackmail whole nations. After they've abducted him special agent George Collins must extract Calvert from a fortress.
