Condorman (1981)

Cartoonist Woody becomes the superhero he draws. Using his gadgets he helps a Soviet spy defect to the West.

Director:

Charles Jarrott

Writers:

Marc Stirdivant (screenplay), Robert Sheckley (novel)

Stars:

Michael Crawford, Oliver Reed, Barbara Carrera

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Michael Crawford	...	Woody Wilkins
Oliver Reed	...	Krokov
Barbara Carrera	...	Natalia
James Hampton	...	Harry Oslo
Jean-Pierre Kalfon	...	Morovich
Dana Elcar	...	Russ Devlin
Vernon Dobtcheff	...	Russian Agent
Robert Arden	...	CIA Chief

Storyline

Comic artist and writer Woody performs a simple courier operation for his friend Harry who works for the CIA. But when he successfully fends off hostile agents, he earns the respect of the beautiful Natalia, who requests his assistance for her defection. Woody uses this request as leverage to use the CIA's resources to bring his comic book creation, Condorman, to life to battle the evil Krokov.

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Plot Keywords:

non comic book superhero | soviet spy | spy | cartoonist | cia | 

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Taglines:

An action adventure romantic comedy spy story.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Family | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

official site

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 August 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kondormannen

Filming Locations:

Monte Carlo, Monaco

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Relaxing one night after a long day of filming, Oliver Reed was relaxing when Michael Crawford was walking by. Oliver, in his character's Russian accent, invited Michael to sit and have a drink. When Michael declined, Oliver demanded saying, "Come here into Russian Embassy and have drink, you little feathered fart!". Needless to say, from that moment on Michael was referred to as "Condorman the Feather Fart."

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Goofs

After the scene where Woody and Natalia escape from Morovich by turning the Condormobile into a hovercraft, Morovich reports to Krokov that the Condormobile turned into a hydrofoil.

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Quotes

Natalia: [Natalia, Harry and Woody are hiding in a church, admist the attendees for a wedding. Natalia sees Morovich and his henchman storm in and begin searching the crowd] I wish to speak!
Priest: [stops with the wedding ceremony] Yes?
Natalia: [points] This man is already married!
Priest: To whom?
Natalia: To me.
Groom: What?
Natalia: Come home, Piedro, please? For the sake of the children!
Groom: [looks to his bride to be] She's lying! She's nothing but a liar! She's crazy!
Natalia: I wish I was! But Piedro Junior cries for his father!
Groom: You will leave here at once!
[...]

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Crazy Credits

No ending credits. Just the "The End" phrase and the copyright notice.

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Connections

Featured in Sneak Previews: Victory/Condorman/Loulou/Under the Rainbow (1981)

User Reviews

CONDORMAN (Charles Jarrott, 1981) **1/2

Being a superhero flick made by Walt Disney Productions, one couldn’t expect the violent thrills associated with the genre – but, then, neither was it the kiddie-oriented fare I was dreading. In fact, it’s more espionage stuff (the narrative occurs in a variety of European locations) in clear imitation of the James Bond extravaganzas, complete with multi-purpose car, than outright fantasy (the hero is a mild-mannered cartoonist and the “Condorman” outfit emerges to be decidedly quaint, getting very little mileage into the bargain!).

Still, it’s engaging and pleasant-looking for what it is – though the simplistic “Condorman” theme wouldn’t rank among famed composer Henry Mancini’s most memorable pieces. The cast enters gleefully into the absurd spirit of the thing: Michael Crawford as the unlikely hero; Barbara Carrera as a luscious defecting Russian agent (she would eventually feature in the “Odd Bond Out” of that series i.e. NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN [1983]); Oliver Reed, a bit glum but at least non-hammy as the chief villain; James Hampton as Crawford’s C.I.A. agent pal; Jean-Pierre Kalfon as Reed’s top henchman, a one-eyed menace; and Dana Elcar as the C.I.A. operative who unwittingly puts “Condorman” on the map.

Typically, we get a number of disguises (at one point, both Crawford and Hampton don the garbs of Arab sheiks!), chases (on land and sea) and stunts (directed by the ubiquitous Remy Julienne) – not to mention romance (Crawford, of course, falls for Carrera and models his fictional “Laser Lady” character on her!). Incidentally, while we’re obviously not treated to an action prologue here like in the Bond films, we’re given an animated sequence instead – which is a nice way of acknowledging the film’s comic-strip aspect. Finally, I wouldn’t say that CONDORMAN is hilarious…but it does contain one good in-joke – a crack by Hampton that “not everyone in the C.I.A. is Robert Redford”, clearly a reference (and a very apt one given the title!) to that star’s own espionage venture THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR (1975).