help me identify this spy movie (1 Viewer)

[Richard--W]

I'm not even sure it's a spy movie. It might have been Japanese. In the mid-1960s my parents dropped me off at a matinee. I remember the story takes place at a hotel near a beach. Lots of green foliage and blue water come to mind. There was a scene I thought was very clever. The spy picks up the telephone and his hand starts bleeding. He looks at the receiver and its been studded with poisonous darts that pricked his skin. Then he drops dead. That's all I remember. Does anyone know the name of this movie?

 

[Richard--W]

The film I'm trying to remember is not the Woody Allen espionage spoof What's Up Tiger Lilly? (1966) but it's from that era, or close to it.
Anyone?

 

[Richard--W]

It's not Our Man Flint or In Like Flint, either. I have those DVD's and I checked. This film was in the same time frame, though.

Suggestions, anyone?

 

[MarioJ]

I really don't know, how to help you with that one

 

[Richard--W]

Well, who can name other spy films from the mid-1960s? Aside from 007 and Flint?

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

Well, there are the three "Harry Palmer" films, starring Michael Caine:

THE IPCRESS FILE (1965)
FUNERAL IN BERLIN (1966)
BILLION DOLLAR BRAIN (1967)

The four "Matt Helm" films, starring Dean Martin:

THE SILENCERS (1966)
MURDERER'S ROW (1966)
THE AMBUSHERS (1967)
THE WRECKING CREW (1969)

The two "Bulldog Drummond" films, starring Richard Johnson:

DEADLIER THAN THE MALE (1966)
SOME GIRLS DO (1969)

--plus a one-off spy film Johnson starred in around that same time:

DANGER ROUTE (1968)

Seven European-made "Kommissar X" films, starring Tony Kendall:

KISS KISS, KILL KILL (1966)
DEATH IS NIMBLE, DEATH IS QUICK (1966)
SO DARLING, SO DEADLY (1966)
DEATH TRIP (1967, aka SOFT KILL)
GANGSTERS FOR A MASSACRE (1968, approximation of the Italian title)
THREE GOLDEN SERPENTS (1969, aka ISLAND OF LOST GIRLS)
HUNTING FOR THE RED TIGERS (1971, approximation of the German title)

Four French-made OSS 117 films:

OSS 117: MISSION FOR A KILLER (1965)
OSS 117: MISSION TO TOKYO (1966)
OSS 117: DOUBLE AGENT (1968)
OSS 117 TAKES A VACATION (1970)

Five Japanese "International Secret Police" films (footage from two of them were used for WHAT'S UP, TIGER LILY?):

INTERNATIONAL SECRET POLICE: INTERPOL CODE 8 (1963)
INTERNATIONAL SECRET POLICE: FANGS OF THE TIGER (1964)
INTERNATIONAL SECRET POLICE: A KEG OF GUNPOWDER (1964)
INTERNATIONAL SECRET POLICE: KEY OF KEYS (1965)
INTERNATIONAL SECRET POLICE: ABSOLUTE ANNIHILATION (1967)

Then there were the numerous attempts to jump on the Bond bandwagon, or spoof it, resulting in just one film per character/actor; a sample listing of these would include:

HOT ENOUGH FOR JUNE (1964, aka AGENT 8 3/4)
THAT MAN FROM RIO (1964)
THE LIQUIDATOR (1965)
WHERE THE SPIES ARE (1965)
LICENCE TO KILL (1965, aka THE SECOND BEST SECRET AGENT IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD)
A SPY IN YOUR EYE (1965)
MASQUERADE (1965)
CODE NAME ALPHA (1965)
ESPIONAGE IN TANGIER (1965)
AGENT 077: MISSION BLOODY MARY (1965)
DR. GOLDFOOT & THE BIKINI MACHINE (1965)
THE QUILLER MEMORANDUM (1966)
ARABESQUE (1966)
MODESTY BLAISE (1966)
THE DEADLY AFFAIR (1966)
SECRET AGENT SUPER DRAGON (1966)
REQUIEM FOR A SECRET AGENT (1966)
SPECIAL MISSION LADY CHAPLIN (1966)
TARGET FOR KILLING (1966)
AGENT FOR H.A.R.M. (1966)
LIGHTNING BOLT (1966)
KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE (1966)
THE DOUBLE MAN (1967)
THE NAKED RUNNER (1967)
FATHOM (1967)
MATCHLESS (1967)
A MAN CALLED DAGGER (1967)
OPERATION: KID BROTHER (1967)
DANGER!! DEATH RAY (1967)
A DANDY IN ASPIC (1968)
HAMMERHEAD (1968)
CROSSPLOT (1969)
THE CHAIRMAN (1969)
etc.

Couldn't say what film the thread starter is asking about, though; I don't remember a scene like that.

 

[TonyD]

peter,

 

[Richard--W]

I hope the question wasn't too terrible for you, TonyD.

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

Hey, what can I say? My spydey sense was tingling!

 

[Richard--W]

It was a long time ago, and I appreciate your attention to detail.

I know the scene in question is not from any of these because I have them:

The Ipcress File
Funeral In Berlin
Spy Who Came In From the Cold
Where the Spies Are
Dr. Goldfoot
Arabesque
The Quiller Memorandum
The Looking Glass War
The Deadly Affair
In Like Flint
Our Man Flint
The Double Man
The Naked Runner
Danger Route
Billion Dollar Brain
A Dandy In Aspic
The Chairman
Crossplot

But you've provided me with some obscure titles to look for it in. I know I saw some of them. Thank you for that excellent list.

If it was on a DVD I think I would have found it by now. So many spy films have been lost and forgotten.

 

[TonyD]

no not at all.
it was just funny that the post after that with that long list.

it was just the timing of it for me.

 

[Richard--W]

The film I was trying to remember is called

Come Spy With Me

I'm watching it now. The best I can say about this film is that it's in color and it's a talkie and the scuba diving footage is in focus. Your basic Troy Donahue beach fest and a prolonged commercial for bikinis with some incidental spying on the side. Any film with this many beautiful girls swimming, dancing, and spying in bikinis can be forgiven everything.

You can stop wondering now, Peter Fitzgerald.

 

[Richard--W]

Anyone remember this film?

 

[Flashgear]

I have fragmentary memories of seeing this movie in '67...even as an 11 year old I could see it was ridiculous...but remember it having a lot of gorgeous girls in it...and parts of it nicely shot in Jamaica....it did however have a catchy and appealing theme song at the end of the movie...who sang it?...writers and composers?...I might do a search on IMDB or some other site, but don't know if I really care enought to do so...my two cents.

 

[David Norman]

From the IMDB trivia subsection:

"The main title theme, "Come Spy With Me", is performed by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, and it actually was a bigger hit than the movie it came from."

 

[Flashgear]

Wow!
Thank you David for searching that out...I now suddenly care and realize why I remember likeing that song...I would never have thought it could be Smokey Robinson and the Miracles...I'm a big fan of His...and the Motown, Stax and Philadelphia sound American songbook in general...and to the OP I probably owe another viewing of this movie before I judge it....it's been over 40 years and I do have an appreciation for camp...I might enjoy it, even beyond Angela Dromm and the other lovelies...

 

[Richard--W]

Oh, the song. I take back what I said before. The best thing in this film is the title song. Prime Grade-A Miracles. I looked it up on amazon and found it on Smokey's 35th Anniversay Collection. The price is reasonable and I think I'll buy it:

Amazon.com: The 35th Anniversary Collection: Smokey Robinson & the Miracles: Music

It's also included in The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 7: 1967:

Amazon.com: The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 7: 1967: Various Artists: Music

Hugo Montenegro also covered the song and it's on several of his CD's, but I would stick with the original.