The Seven Secrets of Sumuru (1969)

Director:

Jesus Franco

Writers:

Franz Eichhorn (uncredited in German credits)
Bruno Leder (uncredited in Spanish credits)

Release Date:

14 March 1969 (West Germany)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Sumuru, the beautiful leader of the all-female kingdom of Femina, plans to use her women to take over the world. |

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Female Nudity | Sequel | Shower Scene | Number In Title

Cast

Shirley Eaton	...	Sumuru
Richard Wyler	...	Jeff Sutton
George Sanders	...	Sir Masius
Maria Rohm	...	Leslye
Herbert Fleischmann	...	Carl
Marta Reves	...	Ulla Rossini (as Martha Reves)
Elisa Montés	...	Irene (as Eliza Montes)
Walter Rilla	...	Ennio Rossini
Beni Cardoso	...	Yana Yuma (as Beny Cardoso)
Valentina Godoy	...	Amazon
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Geraldo José Torres Camargo
Maria de Lourdes
Yuma Duarte
Cornélio dos Santos Farias
Alberto Land
Paulo Leitão
Elídio Nunes
Brunildes Fernandes Queiroz
Edson Freitas Silva

Also Known As:

The Girl from Rio (UK) (USA)
Die sieben Männer der Sumuru (West Germany)
Future Woman (USA) (bootleg title)
Future Women (USA)
La ciudad sin hombres (Spain)
Mothers of America (USA) (poster title)
Rio 70 (USA)
River 70

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

West Germany | Spain | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Company:

Ada Films

Goofs:

Continuity: After the assault helicopters land, three women guards are shot dead and drop onto the pavement outside of a building, as the invaders go inside of the building. When the invaders come back out out of the building, the bodies of the women are gone.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Operation: Secret Agents, Spies & Thighs (2007) (V)

Danger: Francorella!

The clever marketeer is he is, Jess Franco naturally also cashed in on the huge temporarily success of psychedelic spy movies like Mario Bava's ultimately sensational "Danger: Diabolik!". Franco is the ideal man to shoot a similar film, as he could freely insert as much sleaze, kitschy scenery and absurdly grotesque plot twists as he wanted to. And he partially understood this very well, as "The Girl from Rio" revolves on a man-hating organization, led by a funky dressed lesbo, that plots to turn all men into obedient slaves! Unfortunately (for them, at least), the diabolical plans conflict with the daily business of a feared crime syndicate boss, played by George Sanders. All the right ingredients are well-presented, yet this is a surprisingly weak and unsatisfying adventure movie. The plot is rich on imagination, but seemingly only on paper, as the action is quite tame. The film is also very colorful...but not too bright and especially shocking was the total lack of vicious sex. There's a bit of nudity, sure, but too few according to normal Franco standards. All the characters are sick in the head, so the least I expected (or hoped for) were more perverted undertones or frenzied themes. Franco obviously had a bigger budget as usual to work with, and I must say he spends that money well on more convincing set pieces and talented cast members. Particularly the veteran actor George Sanders ("Village of the Damned", "Psychomania") is one of the best players ever to appear in a Franco production. Too bad even he can't save "The Girl from Rio" from being a huge letdown. A legendary Euro-smut filmmaker like Jess Franco could and should have done more with this concept. Shame, shame, shame...