Ep #65 - Bootleg Bond in the 60s - Agent 077

Cinema60

We’re back in the world of Bootleg Bond, navigating the vast number of rip-offs and spoofs that tried to cash in on the 007 craze.

In this episode, Cinema60 goes to Italy to scout out Agent 077 – the ever forgettable Eurospy with the ever changing name and face. Marvel as he shoots men, slaps women, skis mountains, flies helicopters, saves the world from nuclear meltdown and remains wholly unengaging throughout.

These six utterly disposable entertainments aren’t really the point here, though. The real meat of episode is Bart & Jenna’s philosophical inquiry into the true nature of knockoff cinema and what these films mean to their largely accidental audience. Moreover, they scrutinize the Italian film industry of the ‘60s that thrived on producing hundreds upon hundreds of cheap genre pictures and lousy imitations of hit films for international distribution, and ask the same men responsible for giving us the cinematic masterpieces of Fellini and Antonioni the crucial question: Cosa diavolo…?

The following films are discussed:
• Mission Bloody Mary (1965)
Agente 077 missione Bloody Mary
Directed by Sergio Grieco
Starring Ken Clark, Helga Liné, Mitsouko

• From the Orient with Fury (1965)
Agente 077 dall'oriente con furore
Directed by Sergio Grieco
Starring Ken Clark, Margaret Lee, Fabienne Dali

• 077 - Special Mission Lady Chaplin (1966)
Missione speciale Lady Chaplin
Directed by Alberto De Martino & Sergio Grieco
Starring Ken Clark, Daniela Bianchi, Helga Liné

• Secret Agent Fireball (1965)
Le spie uccidono a Beirut
Directed by Luciano Martino
Starring Richard Harrison, Dominique Boschero, Wandisa Guida

• Killers Are Challenged (1966)
A 077, sfida ai killers
Directed by Antonio Margheriti
Starring Richard Harrison, Mitsouko, Wandisa Guida

• Fury in Marrakesh (1966)
077 - Furia a Marrakech
Directed by Mino Loy & Luciano Martino
Starring Stephen Forsyth, Dominique Boschero, Mitsouko