Eurospy film

Eurospy film, or spaghetti spy film (when referring to Italian-produced films in the genre), is a genre of spy films produced in Europe, especially in Italy, France, and Spain, that either sincerely imitated or else parodied the British James Bond spy series feature films. The genre was an offshoot of the wider 1960s spy craze that had begun with James Bond films in 1962 and had taken root across the Western world, lasting into the early-to-mid '70s in countries such as the UK. Britain participated in the Eurospy movement it had inspired, albeit spreading its output across lower-budget Eurospy-style copycat media and more serious productions with higher budgets than were typical of the genre.

The first wave of Eurospy films was released in 1964, two years after the first James Bond film, Dr. No, and in the same year as the premiere of what many consider to be the apotheosis of the Bond series, Goldfinger. For the most part, the Eurospy craze lasted until around 1967 or 1968. In Italy, where most of these films were produced, this trend replaced the declining sword-and-sandal genre. In turn, Eurospy fell out of vogue as the giallo film rose to prominence and the largest spaghetti westerns were released. In the Anglophone world, especially the UK, the wider spy media craze continued for several more years, often with higher production values and a more experimental bent than the more exploitative subgenre of Eurospy, exemplified by seminal TV series The Prisoner and the psychedelic-themed Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

David Deal and Matt Blake, co-authors of the Eurospy Guide cite 150 examples but Sir Christopher Frayling, estimated the number of Eurospy films at 50, and felt that they passed on such traits to the Spaghetti Western as an emphasis on the technology of death, such as special weapons, the anonymity of the protagonist, the "money = power" equation of the villains and humorous asides that released the audience's laughter after a violent sequence.

For additional verisimilitude, these films often featured American and British stars in the lead roles. The heroes of the films were secret agents who were often given a name similar to "James Bond" (including "Charles Bind", "Charles Vine" and "James Tont", where "Tont" is a pun on tonto which is Italian for "dumb", "stupid"), and/or a code name matching, or similar to, James Bond's "007". Unlike the Italian Eurospy films, most French, British and West German spy films made use of existing literary fictional spies, including Bulldog Drummond, Harry Palmer, Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, AKA OSS 117 (who was not based on James Bond but rather had helped to inspire James Bond), Francis Coplan and Rolf Torring.

Some European stars and their films were renamed and retitled to cash in on the superspy craze. For example, Jesus Franco's or "Jess Frank"'s 1962 La Muerte silba un Blues was later retitled 077 Operation Jamaica or 077 Operation Sexy with star Conrado San Martín rechristened "Sean Martin" to evoke images of Sean Connery and Dean Martin (who played Matt Helm). West Germany's fictional hero Rolf Torring's film Der Fluch des Schwarzen Rubin was retitled Agente S3S Operazione Uranio.

So many French and Italian films used "007" that United Artists told the Italian film industry that only James Bond could be 007, and threatened legal action. Working around this restriction, many films were given similar, but legally acceptable, three-digit numbers in their titles such as the Italian-Spanish A 001, operazione Giamaica a.k.a. Our Man in Jamaica (1965) and the Secret Agent 077 trilogy starring Ken Clark (Agent 077 – Mission Bloody Mary, Agent 077 From the Orient with Fury, and Special Mission Lady Chaplin). 008: Operation Exterminate (1965) from director Umberto Lenzi features the first female Bond-type hero. Lenzi also made three films starring Roger Browne, Superseven chiama Cairo (1965), Last Man to Kill (1966), and The Spy Who Loved Flowers (1966). Browne was also in Password: Kill Agent Gordon (1966).

Director Bruno Corbucci's James Tont series starring Lando Buzzanca is the earliest Italian comedy series based on 007. James Tont operazione U.N.O. (1965) features a female character named "Goldsinger" and underwater sequences that echo Thunderball. This was quickly followed by the sequel James Tont operazione D.U.E. a.k.a. The Wacky World of James Tont (1965). Corbucci also wrote the screenplays for Kiss Kiss...Bang Bang (1966) and the Derek Flint parody Il vostro super agente Flit (1966). Another Bond spoof, Two Mafiosi Against Goldfinger, also known as The Amazing Dr. G (1965), features Fernando Rey as a criminal mastermind named Goldginger.

CIA agent Bob Fleming is featured in a trio of Italian films, Secret Agent Fireball also titled Da 077: le spie uccidono a Beirut (1965), Killers are Challenged a.k.a. A 077, sfida ai killers (1966), directed by Antonio Margheriti, and Fury in Marrakesh, a.k.a. Furia a Marrakech (1966). Margheriti made one other spy film, Lightning Bolt, a.k.a. Operazione Goldman (1966).