Licensed to Kill

I viewed this film when it opened in the US in 1965 (right in the middle of the James Bond craze), and I never forgot it. The American title was " The Second Best Secret Agent In The Whole Wide World". And the tag line for it was, " He's only number two, but he's just as good as the higher priced agent".

The lead British actor, Tom Adams, plays the main character as though he was born to the role. In an easy laid back fashion that exudes a sincere confidence, his 'tongue in cheek' performance is just right for this film. He's believable, satirical and funny where it counts. In essence, he was perfectly cast for this well done, if not the best, of the James Bond Spoof's.

The plot is, at times, a bit confusing. But what the film lacked in story-line is made up for by the well paced action sequences. Just when you think you might become bored, something happens and you're caught up in the whole affair once again. And the black and white photography well captures the mood of the time.

For many who are devotees of the 1950's - 1960's espionage drama era, this film is a must see. If for no other reason, simply the pure fun of it.

If you've ever seen Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and wondered, where on earth that song the cast starts singing at the party comes from, the answer is this. Despite the US edit of this movie boasting a brilliant title song by Sammy Davis Jr, something the UK version desperately lacks, it doesn't stop Licensed to Kill from being a rather lacklustre 007 homage from unconventional Canadian genius Linsday Shonteff. Even with the dubious connections to Bond, he's name dropped many times throughout with clear references made to past adventures, it's extremely by the numbers in terms of its plot and characters despite the best efforts of Tom Adams as leading man Charles Vine and the rest of the cast. The film just gets lost in its own plot, about some device that can reverse the effects of gravity all the while it tries to add Cold War politics, counter-espionage and many many kidnappings into the mix. Licensed to Kill is on the lower tier of Shonteff productions but is still worth a watch to see how low-budget UK cinema can still deliver a fun time.

Dauntless British agent Charles Vine (Tom Adams) is called upon to escort to London the famed Swedish scientist Henrik Jacobs to negotiate the sale of a secret formula. However, sinister forces gambling for enormous stakes are already at work.

With the aid of his gun, Vine manages to extricate his charges from the most diabolical traps until the final battle in a mile-a-second showdown fought along the Thames dockside and culminating to a wild and unexpected climax.

I cast my mind back to 1987 when I was at school and I saw Licensed to Kill (2nd best Secret Service Agent in the whole wide world!) in the Radio Times film guide. A Bond Style spy thriller! Yippee! It was going to be on LWT ( UK TV) I called in sick from school just to see the film and I was sort of disappointed by the lack of excitement and grandeur ... however, I did like the shootout at the dockyards, the camera framing the alleyways - quite a tense shootout ...

Fast forward to now, I still think that it's the most exciting scene in what is a spy spoof film, which can be at times meandering, talky, confusing, absurd (a woman turning out to be a man), however it's redeemed by an adequate plot, some witty dialogue and Tom Adams, who has a cool air about him, even if he's a little stiff in his acting.

Unexpectedly decent spy flick. I think it would have been a whole lot better if it had just been played straight. It is listed as a comedy - parody might have been a better description - but it holds up much better on its own merits. The Russians are the bad guys and the dialog among them gets a bit silly but the rest of the plot and the action is exciting. The storyline involves a scientist that has invented a device that produces anti-gravity when aimed at certain objects. He needs protection from the Russians while visiting the Brits to sell them the invention. Tom Adams is good as the unflappable 2nd Best Agent assigned to protect him. The rest of the cast is fairly nondescript. The ending has some unique twists. A decent watch.

This movie essentially begins with an agent for the British Secret Service named "Charles Vine" (Tom Adams) being assigned to guard a Swedish nuclear physicist by the name of "Professor Henrik Jacobsen" (Karel Stepanek) who has developed a new technology that has the potential to disable incoming nuclear missiles. That being the case, although he plans to sell this technology to the British government, the Soviet Union has other plans and are willing to do everything at their disposal to either capture or kill the professor first. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film had the potential of being a really good spy movie except that the decision was made to turn it into a spoof of the "James Bond" franchise rather than a more serious and solid picture in its own right. In that respect it resembled the "Matt Helm" (starring Dean Martin) or the "Flint" (James Coburn) films than the actual James Bond movies. And like the other two spoofs this particular film wasn't too bad. But again, with a little bit of thought or effort it could have been much better. In any case, I have rated it accordingly. Average.