Modesty Blaise (1966)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Joseph Losey

Writers:

Stanley Dubens (story)
Jim Holdaway (comic strip)

Release Date:

4 July 1966 (Norway)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Nothing can faze Modesty Blaise, the world's deadliest and most dazzlingly female agent!

Plot:

Modesty Blaise, a secret agent whose hair color, hair style, and mod clothing change at a snap of her...

Plot Keywords:

Diamond | Island | Spy | Sheik | Playing Footsie

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Monica Vitti	...	Modesty Blaise
Terence Stamp	...	Willie Garvin
Dirk Bogarde	...	Gabriel
Harry Andrews	...	Tarrant
Michael Craig	...	Paul
Clive Revill	...	McWhirter / Sheik Abu Tahir
Alexander Knox	...	Minister
Rossella Falk	...	Mrs. Fothergill (as Rosella Falk)
Scilla Gabel	...	Melina
Michael Chow	...	Weng
Joe Melia	...	Crevier
Saro Urzì	...	Basilio
Tina Aumont	...	Nicole (as Tina Marquand)
Oliver MacGreevy	...	Tattooed Man
Jon Bluming	...	Hans

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | French | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Company:

Modesty Blaise Ltd.

Trivia:

When the shorter red haired assassin puts out a cigarette in an ashtray, the "Dutch" logo on the ashtray spells: Fokking.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Modesty's body double in the knife fight scene between her, Willy and the two villains is obviously much bulkier and taller than she is.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Pulp Fiction (1994)

Soundtrack:

Modesty

Modesty May Not Become Her

MASTER PLAN: Diamond theft - supposedly. Modesty is the female James Bond, for all intents and purposes, especially as portrayed in her original incarnation, in the comic strip and novels by Peter O'Donnell, though her background is much more shady - a former master of thieves - and she now lives in wealthy retirement until called upon by British Intelligence for special jobs. Her right-hand man is Willie Garvin; their relationship is platonic, if quite friendly. The preoccupation with Bond and his films in the sixties spawned other imitators during this period, notably the 'Flint' and 'Matt Helm' films, so Modesty was a natural selection for adaptation. Unfortunately, this is a good example of a great concept & property which was poorly made. I've read that the original writer's screenplay was completely re-written and am not surprised at the results. The filmmakers here followed the pattern of the "Casino Royale" spoof of the following year('67), in that most of the plot is nonsensical, with style over substance prevailing. If you're into this carefree, blasé approach, with many scenes wrapped in silliness, then you're in luck if you get the DVD. My problem with such an approach is that every action in such a story becomes meaningless: there's no sense of threat, no tension, no real danger - just that vague aura of fun, which does not appeal to fans of spy adventure thrillers. Frivolous was mentioned elsewhere, a good one-word description. This approach is well suited to a musical and the two main characters even break into song in one scene around the mid-point and there's some singing at the conclusion. It all bodes ill in the introductory scene of Modesty (usually blonde, unlike the real Modesty) awakening in her futuristic domicile (similar to the later "Barbarella"); her computer console spits some papers at her and she laughs for no reason - as if she's over-medicated.

One good example of where the filmmakers stand occurs near the beginning, just after Modesty is recruited by the Brits for this latest mission. They project a film for her to impart some information and she sits with her back to the screen for most of it, looking rather bemused or smug. There's the message to us right there: this Modesty doesn't need the facts; she already knows them for some reason and will get through whatever peril is thrown her way without effort. Indeed, when we later see her and Garvin going through the motions - whether involved in a car chase or escaping a cell - they're literally giggling through the scenes, two buddies on a cheerful vacation. It's a more exaggerated version of the smirking that Roger Moore indulged in in his later, less-appreciated Bond films. But, even if one can abide such parody, a more serious fault is the deadly slow pace in the first two-thirds of the film. Many of the scenes focus on the laid back villain Gabriel (Bogarde) as he settles back at his Mediterranean island retreat with his psycho wife and annoying accountant (Revill). These are meant to be darkly amusing, with the accountant lecturing the villain on fiscal responsibility even in dastardly crime and the wife behaving like a, well, Amazonian psychotic. But, they just drag on too long. Besides the nice cinematography, capturing some choice European locations, there's not much to recommend in this one. I'm really not sure what director Losey and his partners in crime were aiming at, besides the obvious attraction to psychedelic wallpaper, although there is some suggestion of the decadence so prevalent in that decade (a sheik throws his knife at a pigeon; Modesty flings her ice cream from a moving car). In one shot, Modesty's hair magically changes (a jump-cut effect), so maybe the whole thing is a dream. The actress Vitti has a smoldering sexuality, but she only comes across like the real Modesty in one scene, dressed in the familiar black outfit. Stamp, as Garvin, plays second fiddle, Bogarde embraces the camp, and Craig & Andrews as Brit agents ham it up a bit. Revill hams it up a lot, as usual. They would not return. A TV Pilot popped up in the eighties and a low budget attempt in the nineties. Heroine:5 Villains:5 Male Fatales:5 Henchmen:4 Fights:3 Stunts/Chases:4 Gadgets:4 Auto:5 Locations:8 Pace:4 overall:4+