Some Girls Do (1971)

Campier, less successful sequel to DEADLIER THAN THE MALE (1967) – basically the only department where this surpasses the original is in the title track! Incidentally, it makes no attempt to be a direct continuation of the earlier film – with, for instance, the figures of the boss and his secretary nowhere to be seen: in fact, here Bulldog Drummond (a returning but not-as-effective Richard Johnson) seems to have gone up in the world as he now has a female assistant of his own and, when we first see him, he is sun-bathing (and ditching a host of Hungarian girls!?) in the company of a debuting Sydne Rome.The latter's amiably klutzy character recalls those played by Stella Stevens and Sharon Tate in the first and fourth entries in the comparable and contemporaneous "Matt Helm" series with Dean Martin. Indeed, the whole film seems to be closer to the spoofy spirit of that franchise (attributable perhaps to the fact that Hammer's Jimmy Sangster did not collaborate to the script this time around) – which, unlike the Drummond duo, had copied the gadget-craze that were a fixture of the prototypical James Bond extravaganzas.More illogically, not only does the supposedly-dead arch-criminal Carl Peterson turn up again here (albeit played by a different, younger actor i.e. James Villiers) but the two do not even recognize one another immediately (besides, Peterson had merely dual identities in the first film whereas he has three here and is a master of disguise besides!). That said, it does attempt to duplicate elements that had worked first time out, namely Peterson's two principal hench-girls working as a team, except that Daliah Lavi (who had appeared in the first and best Matt Helm adventure THE SILENCERS {1966}) and Beba Loncar are not nearly as intriguing as Elke Sommer and Sylva Koscina and, what is more, there is little chemistry between them! Perhaps realizing this, the script singled out not one but two other girls to share the spotlight with them (by the way, most of Peterson's girls are actually robots – which raises uncomfortable parallels to Mario Bava's dispiriting DR. GOLDFOOT AND THE GIRL BOMB {1966]): one is Yutte Stensgard (soon to take the leading role in Hammer's maligned – and Sangster-directed – LUST FOR A VAMPIRE {1971}) and Vanessa Howard (who more or less duplicates the Suzanna Leigh role from the first film, in that she improbably hitches up with the hero at the finale)…with Rome (who proves no nitwit but rather a triple agent!) going all of a sudden for Drummond's comic-relief partner (describing his car as "positively psychedelic" and eliciting a "Cool, baby!" response from Drummond at a party!). By the way, Robert Morley also puts in an irrelevant cameo as a flamboyant cooking instructing named "Miss Mary" (complete with golden earring)! The 'McGuffin' in this case is a supersonic plane, whose infra-sound is capable of killing but also accelerates the movement of, say, a speed-boat during a race – big deal! Drummond, in fact, is made to fly one but subsequently has to bail out (after an attack by another aircraft!) – only to find the rip-cord of his parachute had also been pulled beforehand! As for the climax, in spite of all the ongoing action at the villain's fortress (which again includes a couple of non-entities for male underlings), Peterson's come-uppance is down to that infallible – and completely baffling – in-built self-destructing switch in his unwieldy controlling device!

This is the twenty-fourth Bulldog Drummond film, and the last purporting to be even remotely serious, as the final Drummond film, 'Bullshot', was to be a complete spoof. But of course this one is not serious. It is cornier than an ethanol refinery, and raises inanity to the height of the ionosphere (like the SST-1 in the film perhaps), or should I say I-wanna- sphere, as in 'I wanna be sick'. Everyone's tongue is so far into his or her cheek in this film that they all have holes in their faces. Betty Box, this time without her brother Syndey Box with whom she co-produced the predecessor to this bit of fluff, 'Deadlier than the Male' (slightly less fluffy, but equally inane), here returns with her final offering of a pseudo-James Bond film using the name, and no more, of Hugh Drummond, and the name, and no more, of Drummond's villain nemesis Carl Peterson. Peterson is played here by James Villiers, trying as hard as he can to be deeply villainous but unable to convince. For those of us who knew James, who was so witty and fun-loving, the idea of his being a villain was ludicrous. Wrong choice! Daliah Lavi is the lead villainess. She was in so many films in the sixties, and had been in the Bond film 'Casino Royale', but I never understood her appeal. She must have put a spell of producers or directors somehow, but she never managed to be truly sexy, despite all the absurd hype about her and her feline movements as 'one desired'. The fact that she couldn't act is irrelevant, as she was not required to. Joanna Lumley got her first film part in this picture, but was uncredited. She has made up for that later! This film has an absurd plot, which goes so far beyond pastiche that - well, I did say how high the inanity went, didn't I? James has got all these girls in short skirts who are robots, you see, 'under my complete control' as he boasts, who kill on command, and when they are not needed, he or Daliah Lavi presses a button in the neck of the girl and she goes to sleep. They also have libidinous capacities, so we are led to believe. How Betty Box, a woman, could produce a film pandering in such extreme measure to the most ridiculous male fantasies of the pliant woman (one you can turn on or off, every hectored man's dream??) is beyond my comprehension. As for Ralph Thomas, the director, there are no words. Once again, as in the earlier film two years before, we have babes in bikinis toting machine guns, killing people while saying 'poor little man' and smirking and simpering and wiggling their busts. The sixties eye makeup, the bouffant hairdos, the wigs, the eyelashes, my God. I'm a Bulldog Drummond viewer, get me out of here!

Even though the comparisons with James Bond are inevitable, I don't think they are fair. I enjoy the Bond movies and however similar, the two Hugh Drummond films from the 60s have their own, unique style. They're played a little more for humor and lack some of the big budget special effects. But fans of the better known Bond films should find something to enjoy in either of the lesser known films Deadlier Than the Male or Some Girls Do.I can just about sum up what I like about Some Girls Do by using what I wrote for Deadlier Than the Male as a guide. However, if push comes to shove, I actually prefer Some Girls Do to the first film in the series. The 60s feel, Richard Johnson's Drummond, the villainous James Villers, scenes stealers like Ronnie Stevens and Robert Morley, terrific locations, and the implausible yet wonderful gadgets and traps, including a small army of female automatons, are all a delight. As with the first movie, my absolute favorite moments are those with the two female killers. Daliah Lavi and Beba Loncar make the movie worth checking out just to see them. Lavi, in particular, is one of those women that seem to have only existed in the 60s that I enjoy watching so much.It's too bad they only made two of these films. I would have liked to see this series continued.

Three years after 'Deadlier Than The Male', Richard Johnson was back as Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond, this time investigating mysterious sabotage incidents involving the S.S.T.-1, Britain's newest supersonic airliner. The 'Matt Helm' and 'Derek Flint' sequels disappointed, but nobody who enjoyed 'Deadlier' can fail to appreciate this. The same ingredients ( beautiful girls, gadgets, nice location filming, fast-moving action ) are here, but with a dash more humour. Its all so over the top its practically orbiting Saturn. Charles Blackwell's score catches the right mood of '60's kitsch, the opening theme song is a knockout! Tightly edited, the film moves so fast you don't have time to dwell on its absurdities. Daliah Lavi and Beba Loncar head a long line of luscious babes, including a young Joanna Lumley, and the delectable Adrienne Posta! Nigel Green isn't around to reprise baddie Carl Petersen, alas, but James Villiers is not too bad. Robert Morley is delightful as the eccentric cookery teacher 'Miss Mary'!