Modesty Blaise (1966)

Director:

Joseph Losey

Writers:

Evan Jones (screenplay)
Peter O'Donnell (comic strip) ...
(more)

Release Date:

4 July 1966 (Norway)

Genre:

Comedy

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 | Sheik | Island | Spy | Based On Comic Strip

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Monica Vitti	...	Modesty Blaise
Terence Stamp	...	Willie Garvin
Dirk Bogarde	...	Gabriel
Harry Andrews	...	Sir Gerald Tarrant
Michael Craig	...	Paul Hagan
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
Lex Schoorel	...	Walter
Max Turilli	...	Strauss (as Marcello Turilli)
Giuseppe Paganelli	...	Friar
Wolfgang Hillinger	...	Handsome
Roberto Bisacco	...	Enrico
John Karlsen	...	Oleg
Aldo Silvan	...	Pacco (as Silvan)
John Stacy	...	Tyboria Captain
Robin Hunter	...	Pilot
Denys Graham	...	Co-Pilot
Patrick Ludlow	...	Under Secretary
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Maureen Pryor	...	(scenes deleted)
Tonny Eyk	...	Pacco's pianist (uncredited)
George Fisher	...	(uncredited)
Robin Fox	...	Man Who Pushes the Doorbell (uncredited)
Jack Lambert	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Joseph Losey

Writing credits
Evan Jones		(screenplay)
Peter O'Donnell		(comic strip) and
Jim Holdaway		(comic strip)
Stanley Dubens		story (uncredited)
Peter O'Donnell		screenplay (uncredited)
Harold Pinter		screenplay (uncredited)

Produced by
Michael Birkett	....	associate producer
Stanley Dubens	....	associate producer
Joseph Janni	....	producer
Norman Priggen	....	associate producer

Original Music by
John Dankworth

Cinematography by
Jack Hildyard

Film Editing by
Reginald Beck

Casting by
Miriam Brickman		(uncredited)

Production Design by
Richard Macdonald

Art Direction by
Jack Shampan

Costume Design by
Beatrice Dawson		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Marissa Martelli	....	makeup artist: Monica Vitti
Neville Smallwood	....	makeup artist
Pearl Tipaldi	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Mara Blasetti	....	production manager
Ed Harper	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gavrik Losey	....	first assistant director
Claude Watson	....	first assistant director
Stuart Black	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Roger Cain	....	draughtsman (uncredited)
Norman Dorme	....	assistant art director (uncredited)
Gilbert Wood	....	scenic artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
Buster Ambler	....	sound recordist
John Cox	....	sound recordist
Gordon Daniel	....	sound editor
John Aldred	....	sound editor (uncredited)
Peter Dukelow	....	boom operator (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Les Bowie	....	special effects (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Davis Boulton	....	photographer: Amsterdam (as Dave Boulton)
Gerry Fisher	....	camera operator
Wally Fairweather	....	focus puller (uncredited)
Norman Hargood	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Evelyn Gibbs	....	wardrobe mistress
Douglas Hayward	....	costumes: Terence Stamp
Marissa Martelli	....	additional costumes: Monica Vitti

Editorial Department
Alan Bell	....	assistant editor (uncredited)
Jim Roddan	....	second assistant editor (uncredited)
Mike Round	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Roger Cook	....	musician: "Modesty" (as David and Jonathan)
John Dankworth	....	conductor
Roger Greenaway	....	musician: "Modesty" (as David and Jonathan)
David Lindup	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Carlo Lastricati	....	personal assistant to director
Ann Skinner	....	continuity
John Goldstone	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Catherine O'Brien	....	unit publicist (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Modesty Blaise Ltd.
• Twentieth Century-Fox Productions

Distributors

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1966) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1972) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Centfox Film (1966) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Centfox (1966) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Twentieth Century Fox Film Company (1966) (UK) (theatrical)
• CBS/Fox Video (1988) (UK) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | French | Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (cut) | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1988) | West Germany:18 (nf) | UK:12 (video rating) (2010) (cut) | Norway:16

Filming Locations:

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Company:

Modesty Blaise Ltd.

Trivia:

This movie was made and released about three years after the comic strip created by Peter O'Donnell (writer) and Jim Holdaway (artist) was first published in 1963.

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.

Quotes:

Sir Gerald Tarrant:I don't know how much you know about Arab etiquette, but the thing that must be avoided above all is familiarity. These chaps are as proud as Lucifer, and a woman among Muslims must be particularly careful.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Witches (1967)

Soundtrack:

Ice Is Nice

Mod mod mod mod mod mod mod Modesty!

A delicious phantasmagoria of feathers, frolics, fashion, false eyelashes, frivolity, fol-de-rol, foppish frothiness and all that was mod and mad in that giddy year, nineteen-sixty-six. Monica Vitti is nothing like the comic book character created by Peter O'Donnell and Jim Holdaway--the original stories have been reprinted and are worth checking out. In his memoirs Terence Stamp recalled that Vitti was so clumsy it was hard for her to get through even simple stunts. The film is in reality a paean to style and to the triumph of presentation over substance which was a lot of what Sixties fashions were about. Vitti's wigs pretty much steal the show--Dirk Bogarde, in blond toupee as evil mastermind Gabriel, and Rosella Falk as Mrs Fothergill (a sort of sadistic Emma Peel) clean up on what's left. The music is a lot of fun--indeed fun is the operative word here. Serious squares can keep their dull movie critic vibes out!