Mission spéciale Lady Chaplin

This is the third and final film starring secret agent Dick Malloy (Ken Clark). I have not seen either of the previous films but they are spy films much like the 007 films, but made by Italians and starring this lesser-known American actor in the lead.

When the film begins, Lady Chaplin (Daniela Bianchi...of "From Russia With Love" fame) dresses up like a nun and kills some monks in a monastery. Clearly, this lady lacks scruples and she'll come into contact with Dick sooner of later. As for Dick, his boss is worried about a sunken American sub, the USS Thresher. On board are Polaris missiles...nuclear missiles and the good guys need to get to them first. Unfortunately, when Dick goes exploring, he finds the sub but the missile tubes are empty! How does Lady Chaplin play into all this and will she fall for Dick by the end of the movie?

Like a Bond film, this movie has a nice international look--with location shoots in New York, Spain, France, Italy and the UK! It also looks good...with a better than usual budget for an Italian film of the era. Like Bond, this agent has his gadgets and the plot is pretty similar to the Bond thriller "Thunderball"...which debuted the previous year. So is it up to Bond quality or worth seeing? I'd say no and maybe. No, it's not quite bond in quality (such as camera-work, acting and props) and whether or not you will enjoy it depends on if you can get past seeing a relatively bland secret agent...and Dick is a bit limp as a character. But if you simply cannot get enough 007 and don't mind that he's sort of a cheap substitute, Dick is work seeing.

"Lady Chaplin, in her touch, there is something that means much..." says the song sung by Bobby Solo early in the film, as Daniela Bianchi appears only in some turquoise panties, very sexy, and we see the yellow car rolling down the rocks, when she might as well keep it, she had no reason to push it into the sea. Ken Clark is better than in "Tiffany Memorandum", the story is better(actually, we got a story), we even have an original hanging scene at minute 15.24. So, when disguised as a nun, when as an old lady in a wheelchair, Lady Chaplin-Daniela Bianchi (the beautiful from "From Russia with Love") kills in cold blood everyone she has to. Actually, they are a team of two sexy young women killers, exactly like in Deadlier Than the Male. The gadgets are not missing: if Elke Sommer kills with a bullet-cigar, Bianchi(who looks like a twin sister of Jill Ireland) kills with a gun disguised in the wheelchair. All the fight scenes look very real and, overall, it is pleasant to watch.

This is Ken Clark's most Bondian adventure and it is a hoot. Despite the fact that the numbers `077' are prominently featured on the door of a taxi taken by Ken at one of the many airports in this movie, this is not a Coplan flick. Ken is CIA agent Dick Malloy and although he looks slightly uncomfortable in his designer duds, he's still mighty dapper. SMLC was Ken's fourth spy flick and it's one of the most enjoyable especially for those who want to come down easy from Bond. It's full of gadgetry and has a Fleming feel to the plot.

Don't miss this fun adventure. It's easily as entertaining as any Bond flick despite the absence of a charismatic villain.

Daniela Bianchi stars in the title role involving the presumed attempt by some unfriendly government or organization to resurface the sunken American atomic submarine Thresher. The American agents know that Jacques Bergerac's organization is the only one capable of raising the sub but feel that he is above suspicion because he's wealthy! Bianchi's cover as a fashion designer is blown during her first meeting with American agent Ken Clark who quickly undresses her - literally! There are some well done action sequences with the fighting scenes especially well choreographed. I enjoyed the chase scene in the bullfight arena. The movie has some beautifully shot on-location scenes in New York, Spain, London, and France. Unfortunately Ken Clark did not have much on screen charisma. And despite Helga Line's top billing she was given little to do. Bianchi and Bergerac are very good, however. The movie does have a good plot and some decent twists at the end. This is a good Euro spy thriller and, in spite of its shortcomings, it is an enjoyable viewing.

It is a run-of-the-mill , typical Euro-spy movie with usual components : pursuits , crossfire , struggles , state-of-art gadgets , strange artifacts , international conspiracy about nuclear disaster , explosive women and other trappings that used to show up in the genre. When an unfriendly government or organization attempts to resurface the sunken American atomic submarine Thresher , Agent Dick Malloy is assigned to the dangerous mission to encounter it . The American agents eventually know that organization run by Zoltan (Jacques Bergerac) is the only one capable of raising the sub with plenty of Polaris nuclear missiles . Zoltan is a suspicious and wealthy American specialized in submarine researches with sinister purports , as he is bent on taking over the world . While Lady Chaplin (Daniela Bianchi) is a gorgeous woman, she is a fashion stylist and she owns an atelier in Paris. And while dressing like a nun or like a sticken to wheelchair woman to ger her sinister and dark purports . Subsequently , our valiant , easy-going agent takes on the cunning criminal organization commanded by Lady Chaplin , as well as an astute woman (Helga Liné) who wants to buy the missiles and other nasty enemies.

Euro-spy movie with ordinary ingredients : thrills , noisy action , plot twists , several villain roles , bare fists fights , various international locations , shootouts with high body-count and being middlingly entertaining from start to finish . The story is a mess of mutual spying a and a sunk American atomic submarine with sixteen missiles still on board , following silly confrontations with a lot of fights and crossfire . Colorful and so-so rendition about European spy subgenre , a prolific genre during the sixties , not taking any situation seriously . A fashion and typical spy film at the time, meaning it stuck to a lot of what was currently popular , but here including some embarrassing and nonsense scenes . Inspired by the success of the James Bond films, as this spy sub-genre borrows heavily from the OO7 series that at the time starred Sean Connery , such as : Dr No, From Russia with love , Thunderball, and Goldfinger . The content remains the same as the title : a risked European operation , extreme villains , beautiful mini-skirt girls , along with ridiculous , uptight and silly action set pieces from a today's point of view . A Sixties-style film usually has a short sell-by date , and this flick isn't exception .The leading role was played by Ken Clark as American secret agent Dick Malloy who had three cinematic adaptations , he starred some Euro-spy movies such as Agente 077 missione Bloody Mary , Fury in the Bosphorus, Agent Secret FX 18 (1964) , among others . Ken Clark was one of many American hunk men as Steve Reeves , Gordon Scott , Reg Park, Mark Forest , Reg Lewis, Dan Vadis , Rock Stevens , Lou Ferrigno, emigrated to Italy to play a Sword and Sandals or Peplum movies , though none of them topped in popularity to Steve Reeves . Ken Clark getting a certain success in Peplum , Spaghetti Western and Euro-spy genre . Here Ken Clark is accompanied by Daniela Bianchi from ¨From Russia with Love¨ , ¨Requiem for a Secret Agent, ¨Operation Kid Brother¨ , ¨Zarabanda Bing Bing¨ and this ¨Operation Lady Chaplin¨ . Adding a functional support cast , with full of actors from co-producer countries, such as Spain : Mabel Karr , Helga Liné, Alfredo Mayo , Rafael Albaicín, Rufino Inglés , Tomás Blanco ; Italy : Eveyn Stewart or Ida Gally ; France : Jacques Bergerac, Philippe Hersent.

Displaying an evocative cinematography by Federico G. Larraya and Alejandro Ulloa , including sightseeing from Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas, Madrid , Hotel Luz Palacio , Paseo de la Castellana, 67, Madrid, Cabo de Palos, Murcia, Cartagena , Murcia, Escombreras , San Pedro del Pinatar, Murcia , Marbella , Málaga, Andalucía, Spain , Paris , France, London, England, UK, New York, USA . From the music by Bruno Nicolai who was disciple of the great Ennio Morricone to the wonderful villain to the presence of Daniela Bianchi to the whole feel of the film - it all screams James Bond .

The motion picture was professionally directed by Alberto De Martino . This craftsman Alberto Martino was a nice professional , writer , producer and director who made pictures of all kinds of genres and exploitation movies , such as Terror : Antichrist, Holocaust 2000, 7 Hyden Park, The Killer is on the phone ; Wartime : Dalle Ardenne all Inferno ; Thrillers : Roma vs Chicago, The man of the ice eyes, The Consellour, The Puma Man , Upperseven , Operation Lady Chaplin, The insatiables ; Spaghetti Westerns : Django Shoots first, Seventh Cavalry, One hundred thousand dollars for Ringo and Peplum : Seven Spartans, Invincibles, La Rivolta dei Sette, Medusa against the son of Hercules and The Invincible Gladiator. Being co-directed , uncredited , by Sergio Grieco as Terence Hathaway . He was a good Italian artesan who made a lot of adventures, action and thrillers movies as ¨Sergeant Klems¨, ¨SOS agent 017¨, ¨The mysterious swordsman¨ , ¨Lucrezia Borgia¨, ¨La regina dei Tartaro¨, ¨Il Capitano di Ferro¨, ¨Pirates of the Black Hawk¨ and several others . Rating : 6/10. A decent Euro-spy movie for ordinary aficionados. That was a lot better than I was expecting, I quite enjoyed that.