This hilarious for the wrong reasons, C-grade effort is typical of many of the cheap productions of the mid 1960's, seeking to exploit the growing popularity of spy movies, especially those associated with James Bond. However there is little in Death Is a Woman to even indirectly link it to the far more polished and entertaining Eon Productions 007 films of the 60's. It features a no- name cast, helmed by a no-name director, with a screenplay written (I kid you not about this ... It must be close to a world record!) by the one, the only, Wallace Bosco, who at the time of the film's general release was a sprightly 86 years old! The young fella was born in 1880 for goodness sake!
Australian 60's pop singer Patsy Ann/Trisha Noble is the femme fatale of the title and I don't agree with the user reviewers who single her out for worst featured performance. She's no better, nor worse than the rest of the troupe. This was her first of 5 film roles, but she did go on to being a regular guest star in plenty of 70's American TV shows.
For the curious viewer here are some other things that struck my fancy about this film.
Shot primarily on an unnamed Malta, it does feature some occasional scenic island and coastal panoramas. I'd bet London to a brick the producers had some deal going with the Malta Tourism Board.
For a spy film it has an incredible lack of action. It would have to be one of the dullest and deadest (Yes, pun intended!) secret agent films I've ever witnessed. There is a fight in a nightclub that has to be seen (and heard) to be believed. It looks like a couple of stunt men choreographing their routine with the microphones turned right down, rather than the genuine article. For variety, the second half of the film has some fairly long underwater sequences, for what reason, I'm not really sure. The cameramen seem to want to concentrate on the fish and scenery, rather than the actors and their actions.
For the music lover there are 2 songs sung; one at the above-mentioned night club and one over the end credits. Suffice to add that neither will live in my memory, nor give Shirley Bassey much competition and that perhaps it was a little odd that Patsy the (very experienced) pop singer didn't at least do one. (Could it have been because she played a villain?) And we mustn't move on from music without commenting on the incredibly overbearing, intrusive and entirely inappropriate soundtrack by the Shakespeare husband and wife duet, John and Joan. John apparently was a record producer of some note for a fair number of British 60's pop artists. All I can add, judged on his efforts in this film, is that he should have stuck with his day job. For most of this "spy thriller", the sound track sounds like something one might associate with a 60's travel feature short. I guess we can rest easy knowing the Shakespeares succeeded in at least capturing the feel of the time period thereabouts.
The movie poster featuring our Patsy is kind of funky.
Strictly recommended for the curious and those with a penchant for 60's pap!
Australian 60's pop singer Patsy Ann/Trisha Noble is the femme fatale of the title and I don't agree with the user reviewers who single her out for worst featured performance. She's no better, nor worse than the rest of the troupe. This was her first of 5 film roles, but she did go on to being a regular guest star in plenty of 70's American TV shows.
For the curious viewer here are some other things that struck my fancy about this film.
Shot primarily on an unnamed Malta, it does feature some occasional scenic island and coastal panoramas. I'd bet London to a brick the producers had some deal going with the Malta Tourism Board.
For a spy film it has an incredible lack of action. It would have to be one of the dullest and deadest (Yes, pun intended!) secret agent films I've ever witnessed. There is a fight in a nightclub that has to be seen (and heard) to be believed. It looks like a couple of stunt men choreographing their routine with the microphones turned right down, rather than the genuine article. For variety, the second half of the film has some fairly long underwater sequences, for what reason, I'm not really sure. The cameramen seem to want to concentrate on the fish and scenery, rather than the actors and their actions.
For the music lover there are 2 songs sung; one at the above-mentioned night club and one over the end credits. Suffice to add that neither will live in my memory, nor give Shirley Bassey much competition and that perhaps it was a little odd that Patsy the (very experienced) pop singer didn't at least do one. (Could it have been because she played a villain?) And we mustn't move on from music without commenting on the incredibly overbearing, intrusive and entirely inappropriate soundtrack by the Shakespeare husband and wife duet, John and Joan. John apparently was a record producer of some note for a fair number of British 60's pop artists. All I can add, judged on his efforts in this film, is that he should have stuck with his day job. For most of this "spy thriller", the sound track sounds like something one might associate with a 60's travel feature short. I guess we can rest easy knowing the Shakespeares succeeded in at least capturing the feel of the time period thereabouts.
The movie poster featuring our Patsy is kind of funky.
Strictly recommended for the curious and those with a penchant for 60's pap!