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| Brad Harris and Tony Kendall escape from a trap |
Jo Louis Walker (Tony Kendall) and Captain Tom Rowland (Brad Harris) re-team to investigate the case of twin brothers (Franco Fantasia) who are in the stolen gem business. As usual, there's an amusing love/hate relationship between the two men as they dodge bullets, romance gals, and get involved in a terrific and protracted karate fight where they manage to defeat all of their opponents in record time. There's a flying jet pack like something out of James Bond, but generally this "Kommissar X" adventure is not a typical eurospy film, and the 007-isms are kept to a minimum. The best sequence has Walker trapped when his leg is caught in some mud and he appears to be flattened by a bulldozer, distressing Rowland, who is gratified to find him alive. This high-spirited flick is one of the better Kommissar X adventures.
Verdict: Playful and fun. ***.
I've always liked these "Kommissar X" films. I went through a spate of searching for European spy films a few years ago and ran across these.
ReplyDeleteThe dubbing can be sketchy, there are places in about all of them with long stretches of Italian or German dialogue but it really doesn't take anything away from the films.
I definitely would have loved to have been able to visit Istanbul in the 1960s, going by the Kommissar movies it was a swinging cool place.
There's another film with the two principals of the K-X films and another Italian actor called "The Three Fantastic Supermen" that's worth a watch too. Not your ordinary heist/police chase film!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oH37EsH4Hc4
Thanks, Neil! I think I downloaded the film off youtube quite a while ago and now just have to find in which hard drive I put it -- or I'll just download or watch it again, thanks to your link.
ReplyDeleteI've seen all of the K-X films I think and they are never less than entertaining, and at least one -- Drei gelbe Katzen -- is quite well-done for a eurospy flick and at times even thrilling. (I just did a piece on eurospy films for Bare Bones magazine that will be out in a few weeks).
You're right about the dubbing. It's so odd to have everyone speaking in the original language for several minutes right in the middle of the movie.
Thanks for your comments, Neil. I'm glad I'm not the only one to watch/know about these Kommissar X movies!