Super 7 appelle le sphinx

Roger Browne is competent enough here in this pretty shameless hybrid of all things "007" with a bit of "Man from U. N. C. L. E." thrown in for good measure. The suave agent "Super 7" is tasked with tracking down a newly discovered metal that is being smuggled inside of a pocket camera that cannot be allowed to fall into the wrong hands! His investigations take him to the magical city of Cairo where he encounters dangers a-plenty and has no idea who he can trust. It's all pretty procedural, this, with a few gadgets and gizmos to liven it up as it moves along, quickly, to a conclusion that has it's tongue firmly in it's cheek. There's not much jeopardy and a bit too much script/score but it's still just about watchable if you accept it's production values and budget do not compare with it's more illustrious contemporaries in the genre.

Although the film was directed by the Italian veteran director Umberto LENZI, it is only a very weak representative of the EuroSPY wave of the 1960s, which began after the great success of the first James Bond films DR. NO, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, GOLDFINGER and THUNDERBALL.

A highly radioactive material is stolen and hidden in a camera lens. Agent SuperSEVEN (Roger BROWNE) chases the whole thing from London to Cairo, Locarno and Rome. Fabienne DALI and Massimo SERATO complete the all too colorless cast.

Only 281,000 tickets were purchased in West German cinemas (source: InsideKino). Not surprising!

Roger Browne as in the other movies with him, the same gestures, same looks, same movements, boring, boring, boring. And, that's what I say, a big fan and consumer of the Eurospy genre, I grew up with Eurospy movies, they influenced my whole existence and now, at the age of wisdom (I hope...), I realize how stupid I was, or still am, watching them. They all seem to be shot at xerox, the same template, airport, pursuit, hotel, microfilm hidden in an object, pursuit again, a few fights, a few shots, a torture scene, one or two beautiful girls, the good one remains with the hero at the end, the evil girl must die.

Another of the numerous Bond like spy films of the sixties, Italian made I think so it's dubbed in English. I know a lot of people don't like this but in this case it's done pretty well.

Roger Browne plays Martin Stevens, aka Superseven is sent to Cairo to recover sensitive equipment before the Soviets get their hands on it. There's not many people he can trust, especially the many beautiful ladies that frequently turn up. Whilst the storyline and characters are pretty formulaic the location work is not. It's fantastic to see Paris, Rome and Cairo in the mid sixties before mass tourism arrived, for that alone this is worth a watch.

A first installment in the "Superseven " (sic) adventures .And not the best of the two.The action takes place in London ,Superseven (stronger than 007!)is irresistible and all the girls fall for him even if they are evil.

Roger Browne was essentially known for his sword and sandals flicks but he also starred in spy thrillers and -you have to live!- photo novels for the Italian "Edital" group .He was one of the rare actors working in Italy who had an American name AND was actually American .

The screenplay is a nonentity: a radioactive new metal which all the spies covet ,and ,as the title reads ,action takes place in Egypt,but the director does not take advantage of the landscapes:even the pyramids are badly filmed .One of the villains worked in a Nazi concentration camp and it shows.

Lenzi would do a little better next time.