Slalom

After watching all my life a bunch of bad or very bad Eurospy films, finally a successful one, being an adventure with spies and comedy at the same time. Thanks to the intelligent director Luciano Salce and the talented Vittorio Gassman. There are many funny scenes, absolutely worth seeing. Adolfo Celi, the great Italian actor, has a small role. Beba Loncar and Daniela Bianchi, the beautiful blondes of the film, appear quite consistent. Bianchi has a cool scene with a machine gun, repeated the following year, 1966, in "Special Mission Lady Chaplin.", another decent Eurospy. And Loncar, surprise surprise, she's - only in the movie - Romanian, like me.

This is a flick that is about essentially the guy who is regular drawn into the world of spies. Frequently the camerawork is very clearly done as close-ups are there intermixed with further distance filming (yet no zooming which they could easily do w all those closeups yet this is a creative decision of someone wanting a calm like balance with the filming.) Rec. by Eurospy Guide by Matt Blake/David Deal.

This film begins with a married man named "Lucio Ridolfi" (Vittorio Gassman) and his wife "Hilde Ridolfi" (Emma Danieli) accompanying another married couple "Riccardo" (Adolfi Cell) and "Simonetta" (Isabella Biagini) on a vacation in the Italian Alps. Along the way, Lucio happens to notice a beautiful blonde named "Helen" (Beba Loncar) and, being quite promiscuous, decides to flirt with her with the hope of possibly having an affair with her in the near future. To his surprise, she reacts favorably to the idea and even arranges a time and place not long afterward. What she doesn't tell him, however, is that she has an ulterior motive for wanting to see him and soon his entire world is turned upside down as he becomes involved in an international scheme to undermine the American economy. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this film includes several twists and turns throughout the course of the movie, and it became a bit difficult for me to fully understand what was going on at times. But then, that's what makes this film somewhat enjoyable--and everything is explained in the end. Admittedly, it's not a great comedy by any means, but it has its share of good moments here and there and I have rated it accordingly. Average.