Movie: (1966) A fey spy is assigned to protect a scientist from foreign agents.
First shown: 8/2/97
Opening: M&tB are into “extreme” things
Intro: Mike is put on trial for his crimes against the universe
Host segment 1: Pearl and Bobo give their opening statements
Host segment 2: The bots give their video depositions
Host segment 3: Observer takes the stand
End: Crow and Tom hold a candlelight vigil, and the judge gives his verdict and sentence
Stinger: Spaz chop!
(229 votes, average: 4.59 out of 5)
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• This is another one of those episodes where the segments kind of overwhelm the movie and the movie riffing. I hadn’t seen this episode in a while, and my memory of it was that the movie just kind of laid there and didn’t give them a lot to work with. I liked the movie segments more on this viewing, but still I think the segments are the real standout element. Kevin and Mary Jo are both terrific.
• This episode is included in Shout’s “Mystery Science Theater 3000: Vol. XXXIII.”
• Bill’s take is here.
• As Bill notes, that’s Bill as judge, except when Paul fills in at one point.
• References.
• This was the episode in which Patrick took over as Gypsy—and with his arrival every single actor who had been an on-camera regular when the show began had been replaced with other performers. Has that ever happened on any other show?
• I believe the opening segment features the first mention of Mike’s love of rice.
• As somebody noted in the comments, Mike is really not responsible for the first two planets being destroyed. The monkeys destroyed the first one and the nanites destroyed the second one. Camping Planet is on him, however.
• The one henchman looks vaguely like Prince, and that’s enough for an avalanche of Prince references. Mike tries to put an end to it, but then HE does one a little while later!
• The preppy looking henchman also prompts a lot of funny preppy voiced riffs.
• Mike wears his prisoner hat during all the movie riffing segments. No way to know for sure if he’s wearing the full costume.
• The last time we saw Brad “Little Amish Boy” Keeley on camera was in episode 507- I ACCUSE MY PARENTS when he played Rodney the exotic cake dancer.
• Oh, and: my copy has a commercial for Sci-Fi Channel’s “extra-sensory summer” that includes a mention of the “Making of MST3K” documentary.
• My copy also has a commercial for a repeat of episode 803- THE MOLE PEOPLE.
• Daleism: As Dr. Stefanik dies, he holds his hand up: Crow: He thought he was Dale! Note: This may be the final Daleism. It’s the last one I have a notation for.
• Cast and crew roundup: Producer Joseph F. Robertson also produced “The Crawling Hand” and “Slime People.” Special effects guy Harry S. Woolman also worked on “Hangar 18,” “The Incredible Melting Man” and “Laserblast.” Makeup guy Marc Snegoff also worked in “Catalina Caper.” Production manager Lou Place also worked on “It Conquered the World,” he directed “Daddy-O” and was assistant director for “The Undead.” He also acted in “Swamp Diamonds.” Score composer Gene Kauer also worked on “The Atomic Brain” and “Beast of Yucca Flats.”
In front of the camera: Wendell Corey also appeared in “Women of the Prehistoric Planet” and Rafael Campos also appeared in “Girl in Gold Boots.”
• CreditsWatch: Produced by Kevin Murphy and directed by Mike Nelson, the first time he’s directed this season. Patrick is listed as Gypsy for the first time. Bob Seabold finishes up a two-episode stint at grip.
• Fave line: “They’re out of fumar! Now what do we do?” Honorable mention: “First rule of women everywhere: First, do no HARM.”
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The extreme opening is fun. I’ve never been one to buy into that whole extreme thing and it has only got worse since this episode aired 16 years ago. If there is something you like does it have to be extreme? No I say.
I feel for Mike in picking his defense attorney and prosecutor. Who among hasn’t been in that situation where you run your mouth off a bit and it comes back to bite you?
Kevin hit it out of the park with his defense. There are so many clichés shoehorned into this performance and each one of them are good a chuckle. My favorite like” shut up I’m defending you here.”
The video depositions are fun. Tom was right to include celebrity guest stars in his deposition. It really spiced things up. But the bleeping of Crow’s deposition is a classic. I just never get tired of that bit. It gives my imagination a chance to fill in the blanks however I choose so it is tailor made to my sense of humor. This gets called back often in Rifftrax.
Kevin hits a second home run cross-examining Observer. Many believe that Bobo started out intelligent and devolved from there. I don’t see it. Even in 801 I didn’t see him as all that intelligent. But here he really comes of as incredibly intelligent. He tears down Observer. Too bad none of it had anything to do with the case.
Favorite Riffs:
The buzzing noise at the sight of the beehive hairdo.
Professor Stefanik looking out the window with a scowl. Mike “I hate the outside. Screw you outside.”
Ava opens her robe during a shot of her lower legs. Crow “Just think Mike. Way above that camera shot she may be partially nude.
Ava “Are you coming or do I swim alone.” Crow “Yes and yes.”
Adam takes out his swim trunks. Mike “You lucky trunks.” Crow “Get ready to wrap a beautiful package.”
Adam plants something in the TV. Crow “He’s pirating free TV.”
A car is rolling into the ocean and Prince jumps in. Mike “Can you give me a ride to Hawaii? Thanks.”
After another gratuitous Ava shot Crow remarks “Then again there are times I like this movie.”
Adam is hunched over on his motorcycle. Crow “I’m freezing.”
Tom looking at the map on the wall. “When in the world, please visit a location near you.”
And even on the camping planet, Mike didn’t have the INTENT to destroy the planet. He just got carried away with the baking soda.
I must be very confused. How could a little boy (Amish or not) have played an exotic dancer years before, when he was an even littler boy? Or did this episode not feature a (to coin a phrase) “real boy” but instead an adult in that role (as with the Space Children), and I’m thinking of some other kid entirely? That’s probably it.
It seems as if there was some deleted scene in the movie to “explain” the conversation between Dr. Stefanik and surfer guy. Tom notes that “a plot point just spilled all over us,” but I’m not sure what it was.
Tom also remarks that Chance is really “a serial killer sanctioned by the government.” Well, what else did he think “license to kill” meant, anyway?
When you think about it, maybe the spore scheme wasn’t a foreign government operation after all. Maybe it was just this bunch of guys and the phony niece. That would kind of explain how underwhelming the whole thing was.
While the riffing in this episode is reasonably good, the host segments really do dominate.
IIRC Gerd Oswald also regularly directed episodes of The Twilight Zone.
@ #71: The one exception to that appears to be I Accuse My Parents. There is not a single negative comment in the discussion for that episode. The closest it ever got to that was from some people finding the art therapy host segment a trifle meh.
I love this episode. The movie is just goofy enough yet wants to be serious, and it belongs in a special themed set along with “Danger!! Death Ray,” “Secret Agent Super Dragon,” and that Connery knockoff with Sean’s much less-talented brother.
I know I’m in the minority, but I found the host segments’ trial scenes tedious and unfunny. So sue me.
Favorite riff: the buzzing noises that Mike & the ‘bots make whenever the secretary and her massive beehive hairdo are on the screen. Makes me laugh just thinking about it. ***bzzzzz bzzzz***
#103
i believe you’re right about ‘I Accuse my Parents’ and this one being hard to find negatives on. and i can not see how the art therapy bit was ‘meh.’ i know when i’m asked about my parents i will sometimes slip in “and he teaches me strong midwestern values while crushing all who block his path.’
and regarding Ava: yowza!!
reminds me to run by the leather panty store.
H.A.R.M.=
Highly Armed Radioactive Marmoset
Heavy Arial Random Mincemeat
Hungry Arrhythmic Rotund Mammoth
Humanely Augmented Ridiculous Moth
Handily Activated Recent Month
Historic Anthill Raining Murk
Has Anyone Recently Mooed
Does it actually say anywhere in the movie what H.A.R.M. actually stands for, or did they cut that?
Hilarious episode, both the riffing & the host segments.
Now, I’m off to the Jujitsu Track, then the Kung-Fu Pool.
A master spy whose idea of being ‘dressed to kill’ is a yellow cardigan and a .32 strapped to his wrist?… No problem !
An air gun that shoots pellets of deadly ‘spore’ as The MacGuffin?? …Sure !
The one thing that got me about this one was the name of the spy agency:
H.A.R.M.:’Human Aetiological Relations Machine’
Not exactly ‘S.H.I.E.L.D.’ is it?
This was an era that brought us some truly fun covert (and not-so-covert) fictional spy groups with kick-ass acronyms, such as ‘U.N.C.L.E.’, ‘Z.O.W.I.E’, ‘M.A.C.E.’ and ‘I.C.E.’…
Serving up ‘Human Aetiological Relations Machine’ just doesn`t cut it with me.
Oh, and yes – Doctor Who is the only show I can think of other than MST3k that replaces named characters with different actors. Not just The Doctor or The Master, either. K9 got a voice change for one season (which really annoyed me), Jamie McCrimmon (Troughton era companion) was played by a different actor for 2 episodes, Romana was played by 2 different actresses (actually, several, when she was modelling new bodies to regenerate into…), etc, etc…
Of no account: Soap operas sometimes replace actors playing regular characters, but I think this is the only show ever that eventually replaced EVERY on-screen performer.
I am not a big sci-fi era fan but this was probably the most entertaining of the spy movie episodes in the entire series. Loved the James Bond singing, Bobo’s Matlock impression, and agree with #44 for the favorite riff.
Eva: Are you coming or do I swim alone?
Tom (or was it Crow?): Yes, and yes.
I would call this a top 10 Sci-Fi era episode, perhaps even top 5. It’s almost frustrating to me in that this episode and Time Chasers showed the Brains could still do great host segments, it just seemed like they didn’t want to do them very often after Joel left.
#109
Great now you have me longing for a remastered ‘Avengers’ with Adam Chance as the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
‘..Have you ever been in a fire fight Councilman? do you know what it’s like to wave the flag, make sure the apple pie’s on the table and all that jazz when some Norse god of mischief is turning those apples to applesauce with his magic stick?! well have you?! now.. if you’ll EXCUSE me i have a tiny waisted east european to grope.”
In case this is the last Daleism, here’s a link to that Grape Nuts ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8bNL0YgWO4
Playing Jim Graff was Wendell Corey. He was born on March 20, 1914 in Dracut, Massachusetts and died on November 8, 1968 in Woodland Hills, California of “a liver ailment”. Like Ronald Reagan, who was then a Democrat, the Republican Corey was interested in politics. He was elected to membership on the board of directors of the Screen Actors Guild and served as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1961 to 1963. As a Republican, he was elected to the City Council in Santa Monica, California, in 1965. He made a bid for the Republican nomination to contest a seat in Congress in 1966, but was defeated in the primary. Corey was still serving on the Santa Monica City Council when he died on November 8, 1968 at the Motion Picture & Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. He was 54 years old. His career was acutely damaged by his problems with alcohol.
Favorite Lines:
The traditional running of the Clouseau’s…Inspector Gadget in Marathon Man.
Mr. Peepers, P.I.
You might want to back up, the power of this Honda 60 is pretty overwhelming.
[Ava/Barbara Bouchet] She’s got fiberoptic hair.
This spy movie is just kind of hanging around the house.
“Turning it into a human fungus.” Like Larry King.
[Stefanik/Carl Esmond] It’s Walt Disney and he’s mad.
[Malko/Martin Kosleck] It’s Pee Wee’s grandfather, Winchester Wee Herman.
[tray of sludge] Grandma’s brownie receipe just isn’t working.
[Luis/Raphael Campos] Just a typical day for Prince. Look at that arm, I guess he mouthed off to Mayte [Garcia].
[motorcycle chases Cessna] Still this is better than any given Northwest flight.
[Adam/Mark Richman] Here’s the wind up, and there’s the smarm. Level 5 Smug Alert.
Man, so many people poured their entire weekend into the making of this movie.
Final Thought: They made a lot of alcohol references to Corey. I give this one 3 out of 5 stars.
Ah, this is a good-not-great episode. I agree with Sampo, the Host Segments more or less overshadow the movie and the riffing. Love the barrage of Prince jokes and the judo range scene, but this movie suffers from a lack of good funky music and has a cast of something like 12 people, all of whom aren’t that exciting (except for the ladies…) and don’t really doing any exciting things.
As far as MST spy movies, this is maybe my least favorite of the official 4 (Operation Double 007, Secret Agent Super Dragon, and Danger! Death Ray! all have better qualities), but it is still enjoyable at times (again, the ladies…) and, like I said, the Host Segments!
This is maybe one of the better moments of the imposed storyline of Season 8. After the destruction of planets in previous episodes (all of which Mike was involved with, either directly or indirectly), it’s nice to see what ramifications that has on Mike and his future, even if it is just a commuted sentence of 800 years community service…
As for those Host Segments….
HS#1: “Panties.”
HS#2: “Hope this s#*# helps..”
HS#3: the pie speech…
Some of Bobo’s finest moments… and some fine swearing from Crow..
Also, the little Amish Boy (who, in answer to #102, is, yes, played by an adult) puts in a really good “Nein! Nein!” and there’s also Ortega who pops in for a moment. . . man, the Host Segments ARE really good in this one!
–
RIFFS:
Servo: “Carl’s got a nice shape.”
Mike: “So HARM stands for Hot And Ready, Man.”
Crow: “Was that your big-thumbed girlfriend?”
Crow: “Well I better check on my pot-stilled hooch.”
Mike: “This spy movie is just kind of hanging around the house.”
Crow: “Harry Caray’s glasses!”
Servo: “Have you seen my raspberry beret?”
Crow: “On my way home I want to pick up some CREEEEEAAAAMM!!”
Mike: “So he’s really a serial killer sanctioned by the government..”
Servo: “Killed by gluten intolerance.”
–
After some seriously good Season 8 experiments, this one sort of falters,
but is still kinda fun, like I said, good-not-great.
I give it 3 out of 5 panties.
:snicker: :snicker: :snicker:
“He’s not dead! He’s in a state of suspended animation!” “Santa came down from Heaven and made it all better!”
I love this episode so, so much; absolutely in my top 10 favorites! The second-half of season 8 (810 through 822) can do no wrong in my eyes anyway (indeed, for as much flack as the Sci-Fi era sometimes gets, that is my favorite run of the entire series, Sci-Fi or otherwise) and this episode, IMO, is near the top of that esteemed bunch. Right from the start, the riffing is firing on all cylinders (“I have abandonment issues with this movie already.” “Damn you, Shel Silverstein!” “A traitorous Frenchman, who’da thought?”), and the host segments are some of the best (THE best?) in the entire Sci-Fi era. Crow’s profanity-laced deposition is a riot, and perfectly exemplifies Bill Corbett’s new, “twisted” take on Crow. Even the movie, for as terrible as it is, has a certain charm about it. Or maybe I’m just confusing charm with Adam Chance’s out-of-control smugness. At least we know he wasn’t a virgin anymore following this movie. The Prince and preppy henchman riffs are just the icing on the cake.
“Maybe he shouldn’t have been flown in. Maybe the flight counter-acted the antidote.” “Maybe you botched the case, Adam.”
“Dear Medical Examiner, please put my friend in the best pail money can buy. Well, looks like I’m running out of room. Best regards, Adam ‘H.A.R.M’ Chance.”
I’m paraphrasing those quotes (despite having just watched the episode earlier today), but neverthless, they always make me lose it, as does much of the rest of the episode. Just terrific all around, and along with Horror Of Party Beach, this is one of my top wishes for DVD release.
Now, if you excuse me, I’m off to the Judo-Range (unless I can catch a ride to Hawaii, that is).
HARM = Hot and Ready Ma’am!
This movie seems to be suggesting that I should like Adam Chance. So, it’s not a good movie. :)
I love the “putting the squish-squash to the old windtube” line. Seriously, if there’s a funnier way to say “he’s choking me” I don’t know what it is.
This episode is one of my favorites (especially for the Prince jokes), but I could see how it wouldn’t be everyone’s slice of pie, or brown betty.
For the record, “judo range” is a real term, not just something this movie made up.
That being said, I’ll still bring my akito rifle to the kendo rink.
Last week, I talked about how the Brains really seemed to hate Riding With Death, judging by the amount of comedic vitriol that shows up in the riffing and the host segments. There’s a lot of it in this episode too – but this time, I don’t think it was deserved. This movie isn’t anywhere near as crushingly stupid as the last one; if anything, it’s that goofy, chuckle-worthy kind of stupid that these low-budget ’60s spy movies were known for.
In the same vein as Secret Agent Super Dragon and Operation Double 007, here we have a cardigan-wearing spy who doesn’t really do anything, surrounded by extremely silly set pieces (face-melting spore guns, murderous preppies, and a car that turns into a boat). Big, flashy, goofy nonsense, rife for the ribbing. And Mike and the bots whine and moan like it’s the worst movie ever made. “My gut reaction to this movie? Pure unbridled hate.” Why? Sure, it’s talky as hell, but it’s no Red Zone Cuba or Monster A-Go Go.
But despite that whining, there are a lot of great riffs sprinkled throughout. “I’ll just need an hour to figure out your metaphor”, “Get ready to gift-wrap a beautiful package!”, “Drive while I do my grizzly bear impression!”, “Hey, I touched her boob, you guys, I’m not a virgin anymore!”, “Well, we’re out of fumar, now what do we do?”, and so on.
Still, there’s that bitterness towards the movie that seems oddly out-of-place. I can guarantee that if this had been a Comedy Central episode, the guys (especially Trace) would have been giggling like school kids throughout this whole thing, like they did on Danger!! Death Ray. I dunno, maybe the Brains were in a bad mood this week or something.
Y’know what’s sad? They mention “With Bob Marley and Prince!”, and yet (as far as I can recall) they only do Prince jokes. I mean, I get the Minnesota connection, but a couple of Bob Marley jokes would’ve been fun.
While pretty weak as a spy-thriller, ‘Agent For H.A.R.M.’ does feature one really GREAT line of dialogue;
“You think that this is America…Mom`s apple pie and all that jazz? Well, my job is to keep the apple pie on the table, and nobody asks me how I do it!”
….I just love the sound of that.
Thanksgiving is coming up, so give yourself a treat…Should you actually have an apple pie on the table…Use that line!
ahh…Fun.
One of my favorite episodes! “Your dad’s alcoholic golf buddy as Agent for HARM”
I heard this was a pilot but was released as a theatrical movie. I think Universal took some of the premise and developed it into “It Takes A Thief” – just watch an episode and you’ll see the similarities.
Rafael Campos (the Prince guy) was best know as the 6th husband of singer Dinah Washington (for about 6 months in 1961).
Favorite riff: “He’s pirating free TV!” (I worked in TV behind the scenes for years and also do some radio and TV DXing)
#79: Hello, this is the future answering your question!
What happened was that the broken tequila bottle actually crawled over to the H.A.R.M.mobile’s tire and attacked it.
Recently declassified documents confirm that the Soviets (or whoever Boris Redenbachov represents) had this technology.
Sorry you had to wait so long!
Worst super spy ever. Hangs around the house not bothering to make a phone call to check out the background of the mysterious relative who came back into the life of the defector scientist working on a death spore, let alone insisting that said scientist move his potentially world destroying research project to a more secure location. Then he hangs back and lets the injured elderly scientist defeat the villain.
Well, let’s put on some Prince in the background, and get some apple pie and theater popcorn, and sit back and enjoy the movie.
As others have said this movie is all about the Prince references. I am a huge Prince fan and the first time I saw this before they said the first reference I saw the guy and said to myself, “Wow that guy looks a lot like Prince” then BOOM here comes the jokes haha.
One of my favorite riffs ever is in this movie in the scene where the spy is choking the van driver and keeps growling “drive!” and Servo says: “Drive while I do my grizzly bear impression” has me rolling on the floor every time.
“Okay, speedos. Get ready to wrap a beautiful package!” God, I love this episode.
Has there ever been a man more unjustifiably smug?
In case anyone was wondering:
aetiology:
1.The establishment of a cause, origin, or reason for something.
2.The study of causes or causation.
3.(medicine) The study or investigation of the causes of disease; a scientific explanation for the origin of a disease.
— Wiktionary
So, “Human {Establishment-of-Causes} Relations Machine,” then. That makes it even vaguer than it was before.
You know, they say that Wendell Corey owns one-half of this whole town…
Well, I have nothing to say about this episode, as I have never seen it, but this was the first episode aired after I was born.
I have to wonder: is the “are you coming or do I swim alone”, “yes and yes” riff the naughtiest one they ever got away with? I absolutely lost it the first time I heard it.
The host segments previously didn’t do much for me, but this time, I appreciated the subtleties a lot more. But basically, I’m saying the inverse of Sampo: the riffs outweigh the segments (although now I regard them about evenly).
Is there a stud here? Besides me?
This and “The Undead” are episodes I can’t remember ever seeing during the Sci-Fi years. When I finally did see it years later it was great to see a culmination of the ‘Destroyer of Worlds’ story elements. Hilarious and sort of wiped the slate clean for the next arcs through the wormhole (yes, I know it led to Roman Times, but I enjoy the movies from that stretch).
As to the movie, besides the stunningly unlikable ‘hero’ and generic ‘commie’ baddies, who really thought there was enough material here to sustain a series, even during the glut of sci-fi/spy shows in the 60s?
Fave riffs:
[Chance chops board]
Pure balsa wood, baby!
In the final days, budget cuts had reduced the Soviet Army to just one soldier.
“I’m not leaving ’til I get the answers. Do I make myself clear?”
Let me review, you’re going to leave right now because you can’t get the answers!
Every Agent for H.A.R.M. must know how to field strip – a razor.
You won’t have any trouble with me, ma’am. I’m Officer Eunuch.
Agent for H.A.R.M. fails the Bechdel Test. None of the female characters ever interact.
According to the back of the Shout slipcase (and the map in Graff’s office), it stands for Human Aetiological Relations Machine. FTW aetiology is the assigning of a cause (yeah, I had to crack open the dictionary for that one).
Having the opening credit triangles as the DVD menu cursor was a neat design choice.
Crow’s soul patch is unsettling.
Any idea what the purpose of the wall mounted cat’s cradle is?
You know, asking for a holster for the spore gun might have been advisable. Certainly a lot safer than shoving it down his waistband next to his willy.
Perhaps. But the apes weren’t forced to act on it. Bobo could just as easily have said, “Shut up, Bright Eyes. I know what I’m doing here.”
That’s actually from the fifth season episode Radar Secret Service.
Eva probably would have said the same thing if he ever got to third base.
There was a similar riff in Castle of Fu Manchu.
Favorite riffs
It was worth killing to find the perfect picnic spot.
A traitorous Frenchman. Who would have thought?
These people did not earn triangles. But they can try again next year.
Then go practice your skeet kendo and bring you aikido rifle, too.
“And you, my old simian, you have to provide me with a few more answers.”
Yeah, well I’m still in therapy over that wire mom.
“It’s surprising how close we have become since she defected.”
Actually, it’s illegal.
By this time in a James Bond movie, there’d have been ten helecopter explosions, eight ski chases…
Yeah, this spy movie is just kind of hanging around the house.
So Mr. Metal Cabinet, we meet again.
This time, I’m really going to see the Great Pumpkin.
Trust your dry cleaning to Dry Cleaners.
Pops, there’s a man giving the squish squash to the old windtube.
Why the tension hook? Oh, they have mail going out.
Hey, I touched her boob, you guys! I’m not a virgin anymore!
Shut up, or I’ll shoot you in the other pocket.
Surrender or I’ll shoot the garbage can.
What he doesn’t know is that I’m nude under this coat, and it’s my last defense.
And the agent hangs back as the injured elderly scientist does everything.
Santa came down from Heaven and made him better!
Just because he’s a pile of goo doesn’t mean he’s dead.
“The antidote is useless.”
Like you.
Dear Medical Examiner. Put my friend in the best pail money can buy.
“I found this. Her hotline to Malko.”
I didn’t tell the audience because I didn’t think they needed to know.
“Case closed?”
And bar open. Let’s go.
Well, this was from Season…………(No. Let’s not do that one.) ;)
I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed it. This is the episode, for me, where the show jumps the shark. Granted, the host segments in this episode are great, but the movie is a bad choice for the show (probably forced on the Brains). I suppose if you like near-endless Prince jokes, this one would be for you. For me, it smacks of 1. lazy writing and 2. not being able to find anything else to riff on because the movie is not a good fit for MST3K.
Starting with this episode, the quality of the program that I’ve highly enjoyed from Season 1 through Season 7 (there’s a few good early Season 8’s in there) starts to rapidly go downhill. I credit to to a combination of probably thinking they were cancelled again and stopping to care and Bill’s Crow becoming needlessly more abusive. What do I know, I’m only guessing about that. It’s just the impression I get. It is interesting that this is the episode where the last of the old cast was replaced.
Once they get to Season 9, the show starts to get it’s footing back, but the bitterness still rears it’s head from time to time.
Old spies, bold spies, no old bold spies.
Have you SEEN some of the stuff that’s taken off into chains of films over the years?
Well, it’s possible to survive a bullet wound. A spore-bullet, not so much. Besides, it’s icky, and scary, and…
Maybe he was their most expendable agent instead.
Oddly enough, the ones that I found most memorable are the ones you don’t mention:
“Marvy, old chum!”
“Good as done, old foot!”
“Say, the old topknot seems to be in flames, old trench!”
Not everyone thinks quickly and lucidly during a crisis, y’know.
…
…Are you actually nitpicking technology in a NINETEEN-SIXTIES SPY FILM?
As for the plane, as I’ve noted elsewhere: “In 1942’s “Hitler: Dead or Alive,” a guy shot down a fighter plane with a tommy gun. And there was no turning back…”
Obviously, eye-catching wardrobes are nowhere on your list of production values. It’d be hard to top the Kroffts on that. ;-)
Well, he’s harder to locate in a basement than he’d be at an actual scientific facility. And maybe the monkey deliveries only arrive at night? Maybe the monkey truck pulls into the garage/carport and carries the monkey cages into the house from there, thus preventing anyone from seeing what the truck has delivered? Maybe they’re in California where the concept of “suspicious behavior” has little if any meaning?
Actually, IMHO that would’ve been far more entertaining. “How’s Hugh?! HERE’S How Hugh is!”
Europeans.
Back then, films/TV didn’t really need to get more specific, the audiences could make the leap to “godless commie hordes” on their own.
Why, why, why do people keep insisting on technical realism from films that feature substances that DO NOT EXIST?
Sorry, but I’m not sure I comprehend this one.
Maybe he and Dr. Gavin from Party Beach are members of the same chapter of the Life Haters Club.
In the 1960s and early ’70s “string art” was a thing. An ugly thing, but a thing. Google can show you more examples than you ever thought possible.
I love this episode — the goofiness, the daring to have your hero wear a yellow cardigan, the casting of Babyface (goo goo), the Prince villain. The part where the scientist only PRETENDS to lock the door and obviously has no key in his hand makes me wonder if perhaps Ed Wood Jr. wasn’t just offscreen yelling, “Keep going!” Or was it that they “just didn’t care”?
Some interesting facts about Peter Mark Richman, via IMDb: He’s 90 years old and still ticking. Played professional football, although not in the NFL. Married to the same person since 1953. Was a registered pharmacist. Has received several humanitarian awards.
I thought he got better-looking as he got older, and remember him in the short-lived TV series “Longstreet” (nice ‘stache!).
BTW, in case anyone’s interested, there’s this (of course, I could say that about anything):
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1887664521/sr=1-1/qid=1503067504/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1503067504&sr=1-1
Arguably a bit pricey, yes, but it might be available through Interlibrary Loan. It doesn’t include this movie since it’s non-Euro, but it includes the MST3Ked spy films that DID come from Europe, along with hundreds of others.
I love this one. I love the riffs, the host segments and I just love the 60’s spy genre.
This movie I would say ranks 3rd in the spy episodes:
1. Danger Death Ray
2. Operation Double 007
3. Agent from H.A.R.M.
4. Secret Agent Super Dragon (this one is a bit of a clunker for me, not sure if it’s the crappy DVD transfer or what but I rarely revisit Super Dragon).
SO many great riffs that have already been listed but one of my favorites is:
WATCH as he maintains an appliance…BA DA BAA DAAAA!
Top Ten episode.
This is one of my favorite episodes. The host segments are hilarious, especially Bobo’s Matlock impersonation, and the fact that the star witness is a “little Amish boy” ala “Witness”.
The movie itself is dull, dull, dull. It futilely tries to imitate the suave, sophisticated, glamorous world of James Bond despite being totally lacking in all the requisites — no exotic locations, no glamour, no money, no cool gadgets, and no charisma. Thankfully it does have one thing going for it, the lovely, bikinied Eva. Most importantly, the riffing is topnotch.
Did anyone else catch how, while Dr. Steffanic’s first name was “Jan”, that as he lay dying, Chance addressed him as “John”, the Americanized version of “Jan”? What does that even MEAN? How “ugly American” can you get?
Toward the end, it seemed to me like Chance pulled the whole “antidote/suspended animation” thing right out of thin air. Did I miss earlier dialogue about that, or did it indeed come out of nowhere (with earlier references perhaps cut from the MST3Ked version)?
They made very similar riffs in Terror from the Year 5000. I’m not sure what the deal is.
I believe the riff’s intent is to imply that, “how close we have become,” means they’re having an incestuous relationship.
There are some things about this movie that are really, really stupid. For example…
1. The tape recorder disguised as an electric razor. This makes no sense at all. First off, Mr. Sauve Super Spy has to come up with some pretense to SHAVE in the middle of whatever conversation he’s having that he wants to record! Secondly, he’s not using it to record anything surreptitiously — he’s right there, having the conversation with the guy he’s taping. Is his memory so bad that he needs to record what was said??
2. The closest this movie comes to having a plot twist is that Ava is really working for the bad guys. So what do they do? They immediately give away this detail to the audience, thus eliminating any possibility for surprise or suspense.
3. Ava gives herself away to Smarmy Spy Guy by telling him about her entry in the archery competition. Since she was entered under her real name, she never should have told him this — and there was certainly no reason for her to ever mention it.
4. I know that women in the spy genre are supposed to fall all over the hero, but in this movie they had barely even met when she starts embracing and kissing him like a long-lost lover.
5. Cardigan-Wearing Super Spy wants Ava out of the apartment for a while, and his brilliant plan is to take her out to lunch, then DITCH HER!
6. The secret agency apparently makes a big deal out of having their agents wear “pulse-ometers”, yet the only thing it does is flash a little light on a map as the agent dies.
7. Malko tells Stefanik to leave the MacGuffin… I mean, the formula, in a suit, and sends his mincing goons to pick it up in a dry cleaning van. Far enough… but when they get there and find that the plans aren’t in the suit, why do they bother taking the suit anyway? Are they actually planning to clean and press it???
I believe the riff’s intent is to imply that, “how close we have become,” means they’re having an incestuous relationship.
Well, yes, as did Terror from the Year 5000. Of course, one such Terror5000 riff, “Also, Dad and I are married and the town doesn’t like that” makes it noticeably less subtext than text.
Something about middle-aged scientists and their young female relatives, I suppose. Middle-aged scientists and their young female relatives used to be de rigeur in “pulp”-level SF because it allowed for a ready-made love interest for the Thwack Punchzap style space heroes.
BTW, by now everyone’s caught that “No Fumar” is “No Smoking” in Spanish, right?