Serenade für zwei Spione

This 1965 German/Italian James Bond spoof would be a great discovery with the recent Austin Powers' craze. The English version of this film is lost! The only hope of finding it would be to track down a former I.T.C. salesman or employee who distributed the film to American television between 1965 and 1975. The film was dubbed in English specifically by I.T.C. for broadcast TV but was never released in America on the big screen. The 16MM copies, that were sent to stations all over the USA, were made from a beautiful 35 MM print. The 16MM prints have slowly disappeared. I'm hopeful that one day someone will find an original 35 MM English version of this film in a safe at the old I.T.C. offices in New York. The Euro-spy film stars Hellmut Lange as Agent 006 and a half, and Tony Kendall from the Kommissar X films. Lange's mission is to retrieve a laser device from the bad guys and claim it for his own country. Barbara Lass, the unforgettable star of Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory, is the woman in the case. While Bond had Goldfinger, this film featured Goldfeather, a bikini clad secret agent played by Heidelinde Weis. The film has it's share of gadgets and even includes a dynamite breakfast roll. Lange plays Agent John Krim who is pursued across the US before being caught in the Nevada desert. The chase sequences are fun to watch, and the one-line quips in the English dubbed version are hilarious. Actor Hellmut Lange often speaks in 3rd person during much of this satire which provides plenty of laughs. Hellmut Lange: "Buckle down John Krim and get busy. Flirting's forbidden in America. Get the latest Playboy and take it easy" Here's an exchange between Lange and Barbara Lass. Lange: "The one thing that I do remember is that we kissed." Barbara Lass: "But what if we did? It doesn't mean a thing. A kiss is just a kiss.' Lange: "Not when it's John Krim who does the kissing." This may be the Holy Grail of the '60's Spaghetti Spy films. Hopefully Serenade For Two Spies will be re-discovered by a new generation of movie fans.

This film is definitely tongue in cheek but it's mot what one might call a laugh riot. It is more of a highly humorous film than a gag ridden film. The plot is entirely throwaway. What makes this film so watchable is the stars of the film, the action and pace of the film and of course the very sexy ladies who inhabit this movie. I saw the English language version of this film a long time ago on the LATE LATE SHOW and sometime later the English language version also showed up on Cable. It's a damn shame that this movie is not on DVD. I'd be first in line to buy it (the English language version). I understand there may be a foreign language version of this film in existence but I also understand it does not have subtitles which is a shame. In my opinion the best and probably the funniest scene in the picture takes place in the desert around Las Vegas where the hero is buried up to his neck in sand and cannot move. The way he gets extricated is, well, you'll just have to see the movie to find out.

A truly oddball spy spoof from West Germany. Scattershot in approach and almost surreal at times. I caught a HD print on Amazon so it looks very nice but some inventive camera angles are the only good things here. I always wondered why the Bond films were so routinely spoofed when they themselves were spoofs to begin with. This is just all over the place.

I watched this on You Tube in Italian as I wanted to see Tony Kendal in a new role. Well He was hardly in the movie. I had just watched Tony in DEATH IS NIMBLE DEATH IS QUICK for the 5 th. time where he was fabulous alongside Brad Harris and Dan Vadis. In SERENEADE he just stands around. But...the movie was shot mostly in Las Vegas NV. and I did enjoy seeing all the 1965 model cars. A lot of the movie was shot in the desert around Vegas where they chase around and pull off crazy stunts. There is a cowboy on a horse that keeps shooting at the lead. Actually the acting of the horse steals the show. In one scene they are in a Drive-in Theater where a BRAD HARRIS western is showing. Dick Palmer shows up as a free agent to take part in the car chases. The overall affect of the movie is entertaining but I like serious (as serious as they know how), Euro-Spy movies more.

I too saw this film on late night tv. I remember the Pepino gang chasing our hero up and down the hilly streets of San Francisco. The film aired only once in New York back when the networks would show movies all night long, many of them were European or Japanese films, spy,comedy, romance or horror. But I would like to see "Seranade For Two Spies" again...a rare treat like the original OSS-117 Film.