32 replies to this topic

[TheLazenby]

I posted a list like this ages ago, but it had nowhere near this amount of films.

So, without further ado, I present the much-more complete list of "Bond films you didn't know about!" (Well, okay, some are a little more known than others. :-))

[EDIT - There's twenty-six now!]

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1965 - THE AMAZING DOCTOR G - Italy. Also known as "Two Mafioso Against Goldginger." Essentially a slapstick comedy in which the villain is a Goldfinger wannabe, featuring a 007 appearance (though he apparently isn't a main character).

1966 - VALLAVAN ORUVAN - India. Translation unknown. No James Bond in this one (a Bond-a-like appears instead), but the film openly plagiarizes "Dr. No" and "From Russia With Love."

1966 - KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE - Italy. One of Tarantino's favorite films. No James Bond in this one either, but it certainly earns a place in this list, due to the now fairly well-known fact that EON clearly based entire chunks of "Moonraker" on this film. "Never Say Never Again" would 'borrow' from this movie as well, lifting the scene where a baddie gives his lover a necklace while threatening her life if she should leave him.

1966 - JAMES BATMAN - Philippines. Sadly, not a crazy composite of the two into one character... Bond and Batman become partners in crime!

1966 - GOLDEN BOY - Turkey. Oh, get ready. There's plenty of Turkish Bonds. :-)

1966 - LAW OF THE GUNS - Turkey. Here's another... no connection to "Golden Boy" either.

1966 - 07 CON EL 2 DELANTE (AGENTE: JAIME BONET) - Spain. You know, for a year with no official Bond film, 1966 really made out in the bootleg 007 department. As you might expect, 'Jaime Bonet' is just a clumsy Spanish translation of 'James Bond'. The first bit apparently translates to '07 With The 2 In Front'.... no idea what the hell that means. I seem to remember there being a sequel to this, but I can't find anything about that.

1966 - KALEIDOSCOPE - England. And finally for 1966, we come to this Warren Beatty film. Essentially, this is a Bond-less adaptation (uncredited, of course) of the "Casino Royale" novel - released not long before the genuine article hit theaters!

1967 - OPERATION KID BROTHER - Italy. The film that not only made a great MST3K episode (under the title "Operation Double 007"), but pissed Sean Connery off quite a bit. This Italian film cast Sean's lookalike brother, Neil, as the brother of 007, who is unavailable for reasons never discussed. Never mind that Neil wasn't an actor; the film centers around the fact that he just happens to LOOK like the guy who plays James Bond. Sean felt that his brother was exploited, and also wasn't happy that a number of his Bond co-stars (Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell, Adolfo Celi, and Daniela Bianchi) agreed to appear. Just a truly, truly awful movie all around.

1967 - GOLDEN BOY IN BEIRUT - Turkey. The sequel.

1967 - ORTASARK YANIYOR - Turkey. Not sure what the title means, but this is apparently the third "Golden Boy" film.

1968 - BONDITIS - Switzerland. Not QUITE Bond - this one centers around a crazy man who thinks he's James Bond!

1970 - THE SPY WITH THE GOLDEN GUN - Turkey. There's something off about that title...

1970 - CEHENNEMDE SENLIK VAR - Turkey. The last one, I promise. This one translated James Bond as a cowboy-type figure with a Burt Reynolds moustache.

1971 - JAMES BOND 777 - India. Bond has a pompadour and a moustache... and he sings! See if you can find this one (I bought it on Video CD years ago).... no subs, but the theme song ("SEVEN-SEVEN-SEVEN!") will burrow deep into your head.

1975 - FROM HONG KONG WITH LOVE - France. Bond is killed during the gunbarrel when his gun turns up empty, and M and Moneypenny (actually Bernard Lee and Lois Maxwell, like in the Neil Connery film) have to find a replacement. Clifton "Sheriff Pepper" James also makes a return appearance, and bizarrely, Mickey Rooney has a role as well.

1977 - AGENT VINOD - India. Usually, I wouldn't count one of these "generic James Bond-type agent" movies, but others tend to add some originality. There's nothing new here; this is blatantly a Bond film, with the character's name changed to protect the filmmakers' . (An upcoming film called "Agent Vinod" has no relation to this one, incidentally.)

1978 - THE DRAGON LIVES AGAIN - Hong Kong. This one's too good to be true. The recently deceased Bruce Lee goes to Hell, and meets a crew of stolen pop culture characters including Popeye (who is now Asian), James Bond (who isn't), the Exorcist, and pørn character Emmanuelle. And yes, Amazon sells this thing. :-P

1981 - SHUT UP WHEN YOU SPEAK! - France/Italy. In the vein of "Bonditis", this isn't quite about James Bond, but rather, a man named Giacomo (James in Italian) who dreams he is 007.

1984 - ACES GO PLACES III: OUR MAN FROM BOND STREET - Hong Kong. Also known as "Mad Mission 3" in America. This entertaining spy series saw its characters squaring off against a number of familiar faces. This particular installment saw an interesting array of villains: James Bond (a Connery lookalike), Oddjob, and Richard Kiel in a non-Jaws role. Peter Graves from "Mission Impossible" also appears.

1984 - JAMES BOND 999 - India. This film allegedly exists... I have never found concrete proof (not even a VCD for sale). Only a couple brief mentions online.

1986 - BOND 303 - India. You know, changing his number doesn't hide the character's identity, really...

1987 - THE MAHJONG INCIDENT - China. This film, which features James Bond in a small role, actually gained American attention. An American businessman named Ron Cohen was on vacation, when he was asked by a film crew to play Bond for a scene in this Chinese drama. Incidentally, for years, Bond fans were hunting down a supposed Chinese 007 flick called "The Green Jade Mahjongg" - this is actually the film they were looking for.

1992 - MR. BOND - India. This one's available on DVD, and it's worth a watch. An opening sequence that plagiarizes "Never Say Never Again", and an over the top Asian villain (with fake white hair that's just hilarious to see) who leaves dead babies here and there. And yes, it's a musical!

1994 - FROM BEIJING WITH LOVE - Hong Kong. Stars Stephen Chow (of "Kung Fu Hustle") as Bond!

2001 - STEALING DAGMAR - Czech Republic. Bond is a very short, funny-looking man who dresses in drag often. Google the DVD cover (under it's original name, "Jak Ukrast Dagmaru")... if EON Productions saw the background, which consists of hundreds of "007" logos, they would literally a lawsuit.

There's also a movie from 1966 called "Seven Golden Women Against 2 007's" - I'm going to investigate further before it goes on this list, because some folks have insisted that the "2 007's" part of the title was a mistranslation, and unrelated to the film.

Edited by TheLazenby, 18 August 2010 - 06:47 AM.

[Turn]

This is a fun list, thanks for sharing and please add to it if you find more.

I knew there were a lot of Bond wannabes back in the mid '60s, but surprised there were so many blatant rip-offs, and surprised Eon didn't have a field day suing them. I guess Kevin McClory was a more important target at the time.

I'm also surprised Bernard Lee and Lois Maxwell went off again after the Operation Kid Brother thing and did the same thing years later. Cubby didn't seem like the kind of guy who appreciated that sort of thing. But at the same time they needed to work.

[zencat]

Good stuff, TheLazenby. Thanks.

I'd also add to this list Kaleidoscope (1966). It pretty much IS Casino Royale with a gambling cheat instead of a spy. Excellent movie, btw.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060581/

[marktmurphy]

What a terrific list: thanks for posting this!

[TheLazenby]

Holy cow. I just read IMDB's description of "Kaleidoscope"... it's the Evelyn Tremble story to a T!

Still, I don't know - I suppose if it came after Casino Royale it may have merited inclusion, but it seems more like a coincidence (a really big coincidence) than anything.

[Bryce (003)]

Seen all but two of these. In my high school years, a local movie house did a whole run of "Non-Bond Bond films". Doing some research for a history of film course in college - well before the internet (which did exist, but it was essentially texting as we know it today - I concluded that in between 1964 and 1968 there were over 47 films produced in various countries all trying to emulate the Bond formula and all desperately seeking to lauch a series. In the USA only the Dean Martin Matt Helm films (4 in total) and the James Coburn Derek Flint films (2 in total) got past their intial one. In the UK there were the three Harry Palmer films including a cable film "Bullet to Bejing" (in which Jason Connery starred along side Michael Caine reprising his role)

Oddly, in recent years, both Flint and Helm have resurfaced as potential projects. Even Spielberg has been attached to Helm's development but truer to the Hamilton books rather than the Dino films and even Maxwell Smart has turned up on the radar again. I'm also sure that we can expect another Mission Impossible in the future.

Now we have Burn Notice, Covert Affairs and Chuck keeping the spy craft alive on TV as well as MI5 in Britain. Spies have become cool again and 24 was quite cool for it's 8 seasons.

Great listing Lazenby. Some of those I hadn't thought of in years.

[Syndicate]

Seen all but two of these. In my high school years, a local movie house did a whole run of "Non-Bond Bond films". Doing some research for a history of film course in college - well before the internet (which did exist, but it was essentially texting as we know it today - I concluded that in between 1964 and 1968 there were over 47 films produced in various countries all trying to emulate the Bond formula and all desperately seeking to lauch a series. In the USA only the Dean Martin Matt Helm films (4 in total) and the James Coburn Derek Flint films (2 in total) got past their intial one. In the UK there were the three Harry Palmer films including a cable film "Bullet to Bejing" (in which Jason Connery starred along side Michael Caine reprising his role)

Oddly, in recent years, both Flint and Helm have resurfaced as potential projects. Even Spielberg has been attached to Helm's development but truer to the Hamilton books rather than the Dino films and even Maxwell Smart has turned up on the radar again. I'm also sure that we can expect another Mission Impossible in the future.

Now we have Burn Notice, Covert Affairs and Chuck keeping the spy craft alive on TV as well as MI5 in Britain. Spies have become cool again and 24 was quite cool for it's 8 seasons.

Great listing Lazenby. Some of those I hadn't thought of in years.

Just not enough of those close to the real world kinds being made that like Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy, Russia House, Clear And Present Danger, Fail Safe, The Grid and The Siege. There are just too many of those that are cross between super spy and close to the real world type, like Salt and The Broune movies(don't know about the novels are they that way). This fall on NBC there is going have Undercovers, which is once again cross between super spy and close to the real world type. It about a husband and wife team, if I wanted a husband team I go with Tom Clancy's Edward Foley and Mary Pat Foley from The Cardinal of the Kremlin and The Red Rabbit. From the preview I have seen in theaters and TV it ok. Some of the stuff they talk about sound more super spy. They sure don't need to talk about if the Operation Officer was Special Activities Division's in National Clandestine Service or done both regular and Special Activities like Clancy's John Clark. They can just say need this type of gun to use for this mission. In the real world regular Operation Officers don't use guns, only Operation Officers that are Special Activities uses them. They are the ones that sometime work with Army Special Forces. Other stuff they don't need to talk about or use terms like Control Officer, Burn Bag, Presidential Daily Brefing, Senate Intelligence, Station Chief, Black Ops, Mole and so on.

I might check it out and that about it but not keep up with it. I would like it when they make spy movies or TV shows go one way or the other not both. So if it close to the real world type 100% be that, same thing with super spy. Don't mix them, shows that was good but sad to see them go so early were E Ring, The Unit and The Agency.

Edited by Syndicate, 15 August 2010 - 08:40 AM.

[TheLazenby]

I'm curious, Bryce - which were the two that you didn't see? And were all of them subtitled/translated in some way?

I'm trying to collect them all, but I'm having a *hell* of a time finding a lot of them (primarily the Turkish and Indian entries) with subtitles or dubbing. The chance of finding oddities like James Bond 777 with some sort of English aspect is likely impossible.

[Colossus]

thats an wesome list! HUAHAHAHA!

[Syndicate]

Note FROM BEIJING WITH LOVE is not a mainland China movie. It is Hong Kong just like ACES GO PLACES III: OUR MAN FROM BOND STREET.

[Marcato]

that Roger Moore Bond small comedy feature (you can see it on the special features of LIVE AND LET DIE) isn't that also suppose to be on the list - it's not a film but still - and i was not produced by Cubby either

[TheLazenby]

Nah, the Roger Moore thing was just a sketch from a TV show.

(One must ask, if I included "Bonditis" and "Shut Up When You Speak", shouldn't "Cannonball Run" be on here? Roger Moore plays a guy who thinks he's James Bond. On the other hand... he's not the main focus of the movie, though.)

[Bryce (003)]

There's also a great spoof called "Number One with the Secret Service". Bond 777 is one of the one's I have yet to see. Also, in my recap, I left out the four Ryan films. Although Sum of All Fears was a bit of a dud trying re-boot the series in a Jack Ryan origin story. I did like some parts of it though and I'd love to see Executive Orders make it someday. Patriot Games was pretty top notch IMO.

Again, a great list Lazenby and slowly but surely now, a lot of these will start cropping up. "Operation Bloody Mary" with Mike Connors pre-Mannix was pretty good and set in Rio and let us not forget "The Nude Bomb" (aka) the "Return of Maxwell Smart" with late, great Don Adams reprising his role. Also, "Modesty Blaise" - with Monica Vitti and Terence Stamp. Of course, for obvious reasons, 38-26-38 don't forget Raquel Welch in Fathom...ME-OW!

[marktmurphy]

In the UK there were the three Harry Palmer films including a cable film "Bullet to Bejing" (in which Jason Connery starred along side Michael Caine reprising his role)

If you include Bullet to Beijing and Midnight in St. Petersburg (and most don't! ) there are five Harry Palmer films.
Plus there was another in the 70's which was based on a book in the series featuring the same nameless character that Palmer was, although that didn't actually call him Palmer.

[Bryce (003)]

That's right! I'd forgotten about the St. Petersburg bit. Caught part of it on TV sometime when I was traveling ages ago. Can't remember much of it and tuned it in at least halfway through.

[Bryce (003)]

Just not enough of those close to the real world kinds being made that like Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy, Russia House, Clear And Present Danger, Fail Safe, The Grid and The Siege. There are just too many of those that are cross between super spy and close to the real world type, like Salt and The Broune movies(don't know about the novels are they that way). This fall on NBC there is going have Undercovers, which is once again cross between super spy and close to the real world type. It about a husband and wife team, if I wanted a husband team I go with Tom Clancy's Edward Foley and Mary Pat Foley from The Cardinal of the Kremlin and The Red Rabbit. From the preview I have seen in theaters and TV it ok. Some of the stuff they talk about sound more super spy. They sure don't need to talk about if the Operation Officer was Special Activities Division's in National Clandestine Service or done both regular and Special Activities like Clancy's John Clark. They can just say need this type of gun to use for this mission. In the real world regular Operation Officers don't use guns, only Operation Officers that are Special Activities uses them. They are the ones that sometime work with Army Special Forces. Other stuff they don't need to talk about or use terms like Control Officer, Burn Bag, Presidential Daily Brefing, Senate Intelligence, Station Chief, Black Ops, Mole and so on.

I might check it out and that about it but not keep up with it. I would like it when they make spy movies or TV shows go one way or the other not both. So if it close to the real world type 100% be that, same thing with super spy. Don't mix them, shows that was good but sad to see them go so early were E Ring, The Unit and The Agency.

Agreed. I think it's rare in the spy genre to have both mix well. It's either got to be pure escapism/fantasy or hard core real world HUMINT.

Of the TV in the 60's they're were some gems, but it was of the era too. The Saint, I Spy, Wild Wild West, The Prisoner, Man (and Girl) from UNCLE and Mission Impossible got the feel just right for what they were. UNCLE took a darker tone once in a while and a few of the I Spy's were downright bleak. One episode "Tania" sticks in my mind. Kelly falls for a photographer and it puts Scotty and him at odds. Ultimately, he realises he's been duped and sets her up knowing she'll be killed by her handlers. Not one of the more fun episodes. Still though, damn good stuff and Culp and Cos made it work.

[Matt_13]

I rather like the Matt Helm and Flint movies. Good fun.

[TheLazenby]

I must say, though, my intention of this list was not to catalog all of the Bond-a-likes (like "Get Smart", etcetera) that cropped up - in case anyone was confused.

Though this list has quite a wide array of movies (from serious spy flicks to ridiculous comedies), all of them have a distinct Bond connection. The character himself appears, or at least, is the center of attention even if he doesn't appear in person. Except the case of "Kiss The Girls...", which I threw on here, because it just happened to be remade (yes, 'tis true) as a Bond film, even though the original film had no Bond character.

[scissorpuppy007]

In the UK there were the three Harry Palmer films including a cable film "Bullet to Bejing" (in which Jason Connery starred along side Michael Caine reprising his role)

If you include Bullet to Beijing and Midnight in St. Petersburg (and most don't! ) there are five Harry Palmer films.
Plus there was another in the 70's which was based on a book in the series featuring the same nameless character that Palmer was, although that didn't actually call him Palmer.

Don't forget "blue ice" which was supposed to be a Harry Palmer film (but was changed due to rights issues). The name harry is still used though.
What is the 70's film your talking about? Is Michael Caine in it?

[TheLazenby]

I did take the suggestion of adding "Kaleidoscope" to the list.

I've done a bit of Internet research on that film, and it does seem to be the wide opinion that it ripped off the Casino Royale novel. That's fair enough for inclusion. I'm actually quite curious to see this movie now...

[RivenWinner]

Man, what a fun list. Thank you for posting and sharing. I've obviously heard of some of these films, but there are many that I haven't heard of before. I also must say that I've never seen any of the films on this list. I suppose I'll have to change that, as some of these seem very amusing.

[TheLazenby]

Sheesh.... it's amazing someone didn't tip EON off about "Kaleidoscope" - the titles were designed by Maurice Binder!

(I'm watching it at the moment, I was curious...)

[TheLazenby]

Apparently, the 1964 Dirk Bogarde film "Hot Enough For June" is another one of those 'James Bond is killed, and the main character of this film is his replacement' deals. Dirk plays Bond's replacement, Agent 8 3/4, though it seems that US promotion revised this to Agent 008 3/4.

[Shaun Forever]

What about this gem?

[TheLazenby]

Oh, Jesus... I actually owned that movie on DVD at one point. I could never sit through it.

I don't count it - I mean, he's not supposed to be James Bond, or even replacing James Bond. It's just another in the line of "here's another secret agent character" knock offs.

[Turn]

That thing is hilarious. Especially that every baddie has his shirt unbuttoned down to his navel.

If they really wanted to do strange sequel they could have had him take on Herve Villechaize.

[TheLazenby]

The Weng Weng Rap:

[George White]

 

 

In the UK there were the three Harry Palmer films including a cable film "Bullet to Bejing" (in which Jason Connery starred along side Michael Caine reprising his role)

If you include Bullet to Beijing and Midnight in St. Petersburg (and most don't! ) there are five Harry Palmer films.
Plus there was another in the 70's which was based on a book in the series featuring the same nameless character that Palmer was, although that didn't actually call him Palmer.

 

Don't forget "blue ice" which was supposed to be a Harry Palmer film (but was changed due to rights issues). The name harry is still used though.
What is the 70's film your talking about? Is Michael Caine in it?

 

Spystory by Lindsay Shonteff, starring Michael petrovitch as the Palmer-character, but with guest appearances by Nicholas Parsons.

[ggl]

Interesting thread, but endless...!

 

In Spain in the 60´s we had dozens of spoofs. Estambul 65 is quite good and is a coproduction with Horst Buchholz and Sylvia Koscina. It has very Bondian moments...

 

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=ZM98GAjl9-Y

 

http://www.imdb.com/...ref_=fn_al_tt_1

 

Two more to add. Italian productions.

 

James Tont: Operazione UNO  (he has a second operation!). A spoof with Lando Buzzanca and with a submarine car, years before the Lotus...!

 

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=bUG0X0UWuk4

 

http://www.imdb.com/...ref_=fn_al_tt_2

 

This is only interesting as an historic piece with two forgotten Italian comedians, but with Fernando Rey as Goldginger! His henchman threw a mortal... shoe!

 

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=Z7SZSukE7bQ

 

http://www.imdb.com/...ef_=fn_al_ch_1a

[Guy Haines]

Mind if I add to this thread? I've never seen it, but there was an Italian film made in 1968 called "Dick Smart,  Agent 2-007". I only know of it because it's mentioned in a book I bought, second hand, at an "aeroboot" at Newark Air Museum last year. The book's title is "The Lives Of Ken Wallis"  - the late RAF Wing Commander well known to all of us because of "Little Nellie". Apparently, Wing Cmdr. Wallis was involved in the flying scenes for this film. Indeed, according to this book, he got into YOLT because of a BBC radio interview, just before he was due to fly to Brazil to take part in another one of these Bond imitation movies. It came to the attention of the Bond producers and Ken Adam - himself an ex-RAF WWII pilot - and the rest, as they say, is history!

 

As for "Dick Smart, Agent 2-007" - was someone trying to combine two 1960s characters in one film?