Madame Sin (1972)

A CIA agent is used as a pawn in an insane woman's plan to steal a Polaris submarine.

Director:

David Greene

Writers:

David Greene, Barry Oringer

Stars:

Bette Davis, Robert Wagner, Denholm Elliott

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bette Davis	...	Madame Sin
Robert Wagner	...	Anthony Lawrence
Denholm Elliott	...	Malcolm De Vere
Gordon Jackson	...	Commander Cavendish
Dudley Sutton	...	Monk
Catherine Schell	...	Barbara
Pik Sen Lim	...	Nikko (as Pik-Sen Lim)
Paul Maxwell	...	Connors
David Healy	...	Braden
Alan Dobie	...	White
Al Mancini	...	Fisherman
Roy Kinnear	...	Holidaymaker
Charles Lloyd Pack	...	Mr. Willoughby
Frank Middlemass	...	Dr. Henriques
Arnold Diamond	...	Lengetti

Storyline

Bette Davis is Madame Sin, a sinister-looking, totally evil, half-Chinese woman who indulges in endless machinations. Ensocnced in a Scottish castle that is packed with an array of spy gadgetry, she runs afoul with counter spy, American CIA agent Anthony Lawrence (Robert Wagner), who is out to counter her plots for control of a Polaris submarine.

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Plot Keywords:

submarine | castle | british navy | u boat | world domination | 

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Taglines:

Even Doctor No would say "yes" to Madame Sin!

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Genres:

Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

April 1972 (UK)

Also Known As:

A Satânica Madame Sin

Filming Locations:

Ascot, Berkshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

2X Productions, Incorporated Television Company (ITC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

75 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

Surprisingly low-key and dreary

Made for US TV but released theatrically in Europe in a slightly longer version, Madame Sin is one of those busted TV pilots that probably looked a lot better on paper than it did on screen. Bette Davis is the Fu Manchu-like supervillainess operating from a Scottish castle lair on her own private island and Robert Wagner the disillusioned CIA agent she tries to recruit in a plot to steal a Polaris submarine to sell to Cuba for a billion dollars, but it's a lot less outrageous and camp than that makes it sound. In fact, it's not much fun either, played for the most part as straight drama, and very drawn out drama at that with little vigour or action. Even Michael Gibbs' score, taking its cue from Madame Sin's obsession with sound waves and their applications, seems more suited to a low-key avant-garde British horror film than a spy spoof. It does raise the odd half-decent idea, like the notion that the forces of evil can sometimes be more benign and less ruthless that the forces of good or the hint that Sin might be prepared to kill her surrogate (or possibly even real) son to revenge herself on a lover who abandoned her, but the show never really engages with them. There's a decent supporting cast including Gordon Jackson, Catherine Schell, Alan Dobie, Dudley Sutton and Burt Kwouk but, aside from Denholm Elliott's jovial public schoolboy sadist sidekick and Roy Kinnear as a tourist roped into making a phone call for the hero after he's been temporarily rendered deaf, they don't have much to do. Still, you do get to see Wagner punch a nun and there's a surprisingly bleak ending, but it's all too easy to see why this pilot got shot down in flames.