DEADLIER THAN THE MALE (1967) **

Bulldog Drummond has been a Hollywood staple since the early days of cinema.  From 1922 to 1951, he appeared in over twenty movies.  If you’re unfamiliar with the character, he was sort of a precursor to James Bond, with a pinch of Sherlock Holmes thrown in for good measure.  After the Bond films became a worldwide phenomenon in the early ‘60s, the character was dusted off yet again for two adventures starring Richard Johnson as the intrepid Bulldog Drummond.

A pair of beautiful but deadly women (Elke Sommer and Sylva Koscina) go around murdering men connected with a multimillion-dollar business deal.  Since one of the men was a close friend of Bulldog, he naturally investigates.  He eventually uncovers a scheme by a madman who wants to throw the global economy into chaos.

The Bond influence is all over this thing, but the results are shaky at best.  Some of the gadgets are just plain cheesy (like the exploding cigars) and the stunts are underwhelming, especially when compared to the Bond movies of the era.  The Oddjob-inspired henchman is OK, but he’s woefully underutilized.  I like a good Bond knockoff as much as the next person.  It’s just that frankly, I prefer the old creaky black and white Drummond adventures. 

The film works best when it’s doing its own thing.  I’m thinking specifically of the scene involving the giant chess board complete with oversized mechanical chess pieces.  Sadly, Deadlier Than the Male has very few of these moments of inspiration.  

The only Bond-like department the movie scores in is providing eye candy.  Sommer and Koscina leave a memorable impression as the two deadly assassins.  The scene where they rise seductively out of the water is clearly supposed to evoke Ursula Andress.  You can almost hear director Ralph Thomas offscreen saying, “Isn’t this GREAT!  This’ll be twice as hot as Dr. No because we have not one but TWO women in skimpy bikinis!”

The big problem is that Johnson is just a bore as Bulldog.  He isn’t given much to work with admittedly as most of his quips are lame and/or just embarrassing.  It’s Sommer who steals the movie fairly early on, although she really doesn’t know what to do with it once she’s stolen it.

Johnson and Thomas returned two years later with the sequel, Some Girls Do.

AKA:  Deadlier.