Coplan prend des risques

This is a low-to-the-ground espionage story shot in the style before James Bond made the splash heard 'round the world in Dr. No, even though it was made two years later. The simple story, about a stolen nuclear rocket propellant called the SR 712, is told in a nuts-and-bolts manner and the low key hero will barely register on those brought up on the larger than life Bond.

Director Maurice Labro went on to make the much more entertaining Code Name Jaguar (65) with Ray Danton. Let's just say that skipping The Spy I Love will not cause you too much remorse.

Often sold as a European James Bond ripoff but even that is giving it too much credit. Cheap, low budget, black and white with a cast of unknowns. It was released in may 1964 meaning it was made before the James Bond craze so can hardly be called a response to that series. The hero is a drag. The plot, they're looking for some rocket fuel or something, is hardly worth mentioning and the bad guys not scary. Virni Lisi is nice to look at and takes a bath in one scene which is the closest you'll get to any excitement in this waste of time film. Some time after the James Bond craze and ever since films like this were released as another secret agent film. That is how this DVD was advertised to me. But don't be fooled.