Duello nel mondo

When a fellow insurance investigator is killed, Fred Lester (Richard Harrison) is asked by his company to take over the case. Lester finds a series of unusually large claims on policies issued just prior to death. Also, in each case, a bank or other business is listed as the beneficiary - not a family member. There has to be a connection. Digging further, Lester discovers that a criminal organization is behind the deaths. Lester must find the killer and the person behind the murderous plot.

The list of things I like about Ring Around the World is brief - the groovy 60s music, Harrison's Clark Kent style glasses, Giacomo Rossi Stuart's performance, and . . . well, I guess that's pretty much the whole list. As for what I didn't like, I'll stick to my main gripe - the plot. It's just so deathly dull. Trying to get through Ring Around the World is a real chore. A perfect example is the film's final shootout between Harrison and Stuart. This should have been one of the most exciting parts of the film, but, in reality, it couldn't get much worse. The two actors play cat and mouse on the side of a small hill for what seems like an eternity. I'm not sure how they actually managed to avoid each other, but somehow they were able to accomplish this nearly impossible feat for more than 10 minutes. How exciting (sarcasm). And when the end finally does come, it's such a letdown. The dual between the two chief protagonists ends in a whimper. To ratchet up the dullness even more - everything in the movie is so utterly predictable. The big reveal in the closing scenes of the head bad guy should come as a surprise to no one. There is no mystery. What a snoozefest!

There are a number of actors in this world who, in whatever they play, are worth seeing, maybe I will make a list one day. Such an actor is Bernard Blier, I just adore him, talented to the point of his fingers. Thanks to him I decided to see this. The movie has an original scene: two men, the good guy and a bad guy, jumping out of a plane together but, only the bad guy has a parachute. The good guy, played by Richard Harrison, strangle the bad guy and then he is gently falling somewhere in Rio de Janeiro. It's the only good thing in the whole film. Richard Harrison, as eurospy actor, is doing what he can. Giacomo Rossi Stuart, who plays the villain, is more compelling but, because the script is lousy, we get about 90 minutes of wasted life. All the other characters do not have a consistency. A weak film that makes a great disservice to the genre, already full of many other failures, all due to the same reason, the lack of a good script. The scenes shot in Brasilia resemble much like the scenes shot in identical conditions in "That Man from Rio" two years before, in 1964. But they have not by far from the drama of the film with Jean-Paul Belmondo. The great French actor Bernard Blier, only by his presence, he can not save anything.

Richard Harrison returns for his third and final Eurospy, this time sporting a pair of glasses ala Harry Palmer.

To me this is a solid production with a serviceable plot, uninspired dialogue and appropriate music, which might well have reached greater heights in the hands of a better than adequate director.

Richard is an insurance investigator rather than a secret agent, but all the usual Eurospy bases are touched. Another investigator has been killed while looking into a series of suspicious deaths among policy holders, and Richard has been brought in as trouble-shooter. The audience have already witnessed his main adversary, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart (Italian father, Scottish mother, perhaps he should have auditioned for the part of James Bond?), a cool customer reminiscent of the Jackal, who assassinates people from a distance with special poison bullets that leave no trace.

Some of the intended victims have got wise to the scheme and gone on the lam, so the story mainly consists of Giacomo letting Richard do all the leg work of trying to locate them, while he follows along behind and tries to knock them off once they have been located. This quest takes them all over the World, sometimes via the magic of stock footage. Giacomo kicks off proceeding by bumping off victims in Rio and Bangkok, before we meet up with Richard in London. From there it's back to Rio and later Brasilia, before heading off to Hong Kong, then returning to London, with a final romantic denouement in New York.

All the usual action is present and correct, chasing and catching and escaping, with Richard fighting and shooting and being knocked out at appropriate intervals. There are some car pursuits, but none of the cars are particularly notable, although I recall thinking I hadn't seen many red Mercedes in my life (they are Hong Kong taxis)

There are three beautiful women. Esmeralda Barros, billed as "the girl in the chevy", who wants to be bedded, but does he make the time? (it all depends how you interpret his comment "eat and run"?). Yoyo, the nightclub escort, who comes to an unfortunate end at the hands of Giacomo, after Richard fails to apply sufficient charm to bed her, and Helene Chanel, the daughter of one of the intended victims, who joins Richard on his mission. She helps out by shooting a few henchmen and becoming his main romantic interest.

In most ways the film is fairly routine, but it does have a handful of moments worth noting.

Firstly it may contain the first instance of the hero and villain jumping out of an aeroplane with only one parachute between them. James Bond did this in Moonraker in 1979 and it apparently took 88 skydives to get all the footage required. Richard and co probably did it in one. Of course they aren't nearly as successful in creating the illusion, shaky camera work and close-ups of Richard and the henchman hanging from the ceiling in a studio being no substitute for the "real" thing.

The second is the setting for the climactic battle between the two antagonists, which was the Tiger Balm Garden, in Hong Kong, a park on a hillside filled with statues of heroes, gods and demons, depicting scenes from ancient Chinese folk tales, along with grottos, pagodas, temples etc. It makes a fine exotic location for a shootout, although the length of the battle somewhat out stays it's welcome and the final moments are rather poorly handled by the director, trying to milk too much drama.

The Tiger Balm Garden had special nostalgia for me, as I was shown photos of an equivalent place in Singapore as a child, and was fascinated by it. I later felt compelled to nostalgically visit those same Haw Par gardens as an adult, but of course, the magical feelings of childhood were long gone. The internet tells me that while the original in Hong Kong was demolished in 2004 to make way for a housing project, the Singapore one is still around along with another intended one at Yong Ding in Fujian China was never completed but still exists as a museum.

Thirdly during the twist ending there is a surprise... which I won't mention here, but suffice to say it was more unexpected than the actual twist, which is easily deduced in advance.

Meanwhile Richard's romantic banter is down to his usual standard...

(With Esmeralda)

Esmeralda - "I can wait... if you want"

Richard - "I want"

(Later back at her place)

Richard - "I know it's rude to eat and run... (leans in to give her a kiss but doesn't) "Too bad I have to go..."

Esmeralda - (in a hammock looking wistful) "Oh"

(After rescuing Helene from the villains)

Richard - "You won't object if we sleep in the same room huh?"

Helene - (sounding tired and resigned) "No" (Fondles the poison lipstick provided by the villains, to be used to kill Richard)

Richard - "What's the matter, you worried... about your makeup?"

Helene - (smiles weakly)

Richard - (Takes her in his arms) "I think that lipstick... will have to wait until tomorrow night"

Richard - (Kisses her, but gets no response) "Well I guess everything waits until tomorrow night"

Helene - "You don't agree with the old saying - better late than never?"

Richard - "Sure, when my charms fail, I play...the part of the gentleman. I'll sleep on the sofa"

Helene - (Reconsidering) "Why don't you sleep in your own bed... gentleman"

Richard - "Why not indeed" (They clinch, kiss and sink sideways onto the bed)

(In his New York apartment)

Richard - "You got a bad deal Mary, I'll make a lousy husband, I've got a wandering eye, I'm untrustworthy, unfaithful..." (They kiss)

Helene - (producing a piano wire garrotte, as used several times by Giacomo during the film, and wrapping it around Richard's neck) "The killer showed me... how to hang on" (They kiss again)

An American sleuth looks into a British case where life insurance policy holders are seemingly killed of one after another by an unknown assassin firing poisoned bullets made of ice. -You gotta love that kind of set up. The investigation takes him all around the globe in a fast paced, and wonderfully illogical Bondesque "krimi", crammed packed with exotic locations, sharp threads, seriously groovy music and jet seting thrills. With names like Ernesto Gastaldi and Sergio Martino involved Duello nel mondo adds up to a proper treat for any fan of 60's euro crime. And keep an ear out for that ferocious Piero Umiliani soundtrack!