MovieChat Forums > Se tutte le donne del mondo... (Operazione Paradiso) (1966) Discussion > Wilma Soong - Totally Cool!

Wilma Soong - Totally Cool!

posted 18 years ago by villacj
11 replies | jump to latest

I'm glad I found this forum. I want to say hello and write a few things about this movie. Kiss The Girls And Make Them Die was released before I was born, but I remember watching it on television many times in the 1970s. I didn't see it on TV after that, but I obtained a public domain copy in the mid-1990s. I like the action as well as the Ardonian and James characters, but Miss Soong captured my imagination. Soong wasn't in the movie all that much, but I thought her scenes were really impressive, especially the freezing sequence!

This movie has influenced me greatly. I have written various scenes of women in tubes for comics, and I have also written an article on how KTGAMTD handles implied nudity when Soong is frozen. I think that Seyna Seyn (acting as Soong) was intentionally filmed from behind and from the waist up, so I am surprised when I read about a full nudity European version in this forum! I would like to see that someday if it exists.

I don't have much more to contribute, but I have a copy of the press packet for KTGAMTD. It states that Seyna Seyn's real name is Sylvia Short. I also have a one minute movie clip (in Japanese) of Soong emerging from Ardonian's cyrogenic machine. Maybe if a website is created someday, I could donate it.

Thank you for your time. It's amazing people are still interested in a throwaway character from an obscure eurospy film!

[–] TX-9 18 years ago

Thanks for the info and welcome abored! So her real name is Sylvia Short! Wow, I wonder what would happen if I googled that name; if she appeared under that name in anything. I'll have to give it a try! I've been told (by a guy who had access to an essue of a Europian men's magazine from the 1960's containing an interview with Seyna Seyn) that her mother was from Burma but her father was actualy English. So it does make sense that she would have an English sounding name. Interesting that she didn't change her initials.
Oh, and a bit of a correction here, she really was nude in that scene. In the scene I saw (and this was even in the U.S. release) she was shown nude from the back all the way down to her hips. Any lower you would have seen her butt cleavage (which, as a mater of fact, I did remember seeing in the U.S. release that was aired on TV back in the 70's). So this wasn't just sugested nudity; Seyna Seyn was actualy nude on the set. My friend Steve says he's seen a Europian version which shows even more.
Anyway, your artical does sound interesting. Please keep shareing with us!

"AM I MAKING YOU RANDY?"-Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.

[–] steveb789 18 years ago

Welcome and thank you for your imput.You really hit the nail on the head ,the character of Wilma Soong has really captured the imagination.For a small role in a cheap euro spy flik ,in which she had very little screen time ,she has really stood the test of time.
The actress had her features altered for the film and does look somewhat chinese.If you see her other roles you will see she looks quite different.I have in my collection many stills for KTGAMTD and some publicity shots taken when she was on the set in character,man does she look sexy!I also have seen the euro version and I do have some stills from that.There is a scene as the henchmen drag her off she is taken to a room and they start to remove her dress .She of course is putting up strong resistence but fails .There is also a scene as she is being redied that she is shown fully nude from the back.My belief is at the time even in the US the producd=ers were pushing the envelope with nude scenes but it wasn't till a few yrs later they showed full nudity.But in europe they had shown full nudity for some time and it was not a big deal to show it at the airing of this film.

[–] villacj 18 years ago

Thanks for the replies to my original post! I'm sorry it has taken so long to get back to this thread. Real life has delayed my response, as well as preparing my material to showcase at the big comic book/sci-fi convention in San Diego this summer. Yet I have and still do enjoy the enthusiasm for Miss Soong on this board!

I myself believe that Seyna Seyn was filmed nude for Soong's freezing sequence. I think that Seyn was filmed from the waist up and from behind to hide her sensitive areas. I don't know if they had skin-colored bodysuits in the 1960s, but I doubt it. And for the record, I would like to see the European version of KTGAMTD with the overt nudity and the extra scenes.

I'm surprised at the wealth of material available for a throwaway character. Someone mentioned on this board that there is a Japanese release of a movie soundtrack for KTGAMTD. That makes sense to me, since my video clip of Soong's freezing is in Japanese. Between the numerous stills, press releases and other items, we really should pool our material for a Wilma Soong Appreciation Group! If IMDB doesn't have that capability, maybe it could be set up on Yahoo or some other website.

[–] TX-9 18 years ago

A Seyna Seyn (Wilma Soong) apreciation group sounds great! Steve (who posts on here quite a bit) actually has a truckload of stuff on her (and tons of bikini photos)! I think between the two of you you could get a Yahoo group off the ground. I have three or four photos and a Poster (from Drums of Tabu)wich I'd be happy to scan and download (should you ever get a Yahoo group off the ground) but I doubt very much that I have anything Steve doesn't. He's our very own resident Seyna Seyn Archivist! You and he are the ones who could really make it happen. And with your artistic ability (you mentioned you illustrate comics) you could come up with a lot of Seyna Seyn artwork or 'storyboards' (especialy if you had access to Steve's photos). I have an idea, why don't you start a yahoo group, have Steve scan and download some of his Seyna Seyn photos and then you could also use your artistic ability to recrete illustraions or 'story boards' for the notorious 'lost or deleted scenes'present only in the 'Italian version' of the film?!! What about it you two?!:)

"AM I MAKING YOU RANDY?"-Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.

[–] steveb789 18 years ago

Hi Guys
I'm been trying to lay low as my friend has not come forth with any of the pics he promised.I agree a Wilma Soong/Seyna Seyn yahoo group sounds great!
I have had some friends who have made Yahoo groups in the past ,They have run it some problems with them.Some troublemakers come along and have to be dealt with.Sometimes there is not that much activity and some people demand more .Some people are never satisfied with the amount of photos you add and constently want more .Overall most have had too many problems dealing with people and gave it up.While I would love to see a group devoted to her I would not be interested in being the moderator.
Another problem ,while I do have a very extensive listing of photos ,I have no idea where most of them came from,after all I have been collecting her shots for over 30 yrs .I have made promises to some of the people who gave me stuff never to release it to anyone else .If I could do so I would have sent my entire collection to TX-9 along time ago.I ahve been speaking with him for some time now and find him to be a overall damn good guy.I wouild take me some time to check and recheck to see how much I would be able to add.

I would like to ask VILLACJ what he thinks of the different theories that we have had been discussing here over the last few months? Also ,I'd like to know why are you so fascinated with the character of Wilma Soong ?I'd also like to ask if you read any of these other films where girls were suddenly stripped and humiliated ,do you see any correlation to KTGAMTD?Have youseen any of these films and if so what do you think of them.

[–] villacj 18 years ago

STEVEB, I will attempt to answer your questions.

I have enjoyed reading all the theories that have been discussed on this board. There is a lot of thoughtful analysis for a character that was only in KTGAMTD for less than 15 minutes! It proves there is a lot of enthusiam for the Wilma Soong character.

Soong is fascinating to me because of her beauty, strength and weakness. She was an assertive person, but she could not get along with people. There are times in KTGAMTD where she refuses Ardonian's advances. Soong's not working with him, she is only using him to help her 'cause'. My first thought was that Ardonian would kill her. Yet instead of killing her with the rest of the Chinese delegation, Ardonian opts to freeze her, preserving her beauty. I have always liked how the movie disposes of Soong without killing her. Soong is a tragic but memorable character! In contrast, Kelly and Susan Fleming learn to work together (and with James), saving mankind (and man's sex drive).

I have to confess that I've only seen the Little Rascals with Spanky's mom and Space 1999 with Helena Russell from a previous thread. I like the two scenes, but since I did not see the other films or shows, I do not feel I can contribute anything useful to that thread. I would like to see Destination Outer Space someday. It sounds like a fun movie. I'm glad JT74455 brought it up!

I know that the James Bond film Moonraker is similiar to KTGAMTD in plot and several techniques, but I don't know if any movie was influenced directly from Soong's freezing sequence. Women stripped and humiliated is an artistic theme thoughout history (anyone remember the Amazons or Sabine?). KTGAMTD did it in an original way, and so did a recent internet ad commercial for the video game Juiced.

Juiced is a racing game where one can modify the look and build of your racer. The commercial has two guys playing Juiced in a car. A stunning red-haired woman is waiting for a bus across the street. As the guys are changing the color of their racer, the woman's blouse changes color as well. The guys then change the engine of the racer, enhancing the woman's breasts. Soon the guys realize what their game controllers are doing to the woman and use the controllers to strip her of everything but her g-string! The woman is shocked and desperately tries to cover up as cars drive by her. The guys then use the controllers to freeze the woman and turn her around and around like a car being showcased at an automobile convention. As the woman turns around in a circle, the guys try different poses on her, choosing a pose where her legs are straight together and her hands are behind her head with the elbows out. The camera then zooms in on her g-string. The guys hit pause on the controllers and the commercial ends with the viewer seeing the woman's behind with the Juiced logo on her right butt cheek!

And TX-9, I could start up a Wilma Soong group, but it takes time and effort to start anything that is strictly a non-profit hobby. I was kinda hoping that someone else could start it and I could contribute to it. :) Maybe after the summer convention season ends I could give it a go! For the record, people enjoy my comics writing much more than my artwork, but I did storyboard a freezing sequence for an upcoming comic! I am waiting for a fellow artist to finish it.

Wow! I didn't realize how much I rambled on this post. I hope everyone can forgive my excessive wordage, and I'll try to be as concise as possible with my next post.

[–] steveb789 18 years ago

Good job Villacj

I will start going thru my stuff and see what I can contribute if and when the Wilma Soong yahoo group comes into being.

If I may ask what would you and TX-9 like to see on that type of group?
I'm sure we would have polls and message boards filled with interesting theories.And we could put in photos of her from all her movies and stuff taken of her on the set and off the set on vacation.Maybe you could show drawings of her as well.We could also put in shots from other films that show some connection with KTGAMTD.Any other ideas boys?

[–] jt74455 18 years ago

Hey Guys

I'd just like to say i'm all for this yahoo group idea,it sounds great!
Yes ,and I do agree with Steve and Villacj that something like this takes a long time to start and run correctly.I also agree that it is a major pain dealing with people some are rude ,some are vicious and others are just plain nasty.
I know of a bunch of yahoo groups dealing with "Ladies suddenly stripped" they started a number of yrs ago and have so much stuff they now have about 20 groups to hold all the info .But nothing on Miss Soong .

I think it would be great to see some of the pics i've heard about on this forum .We could include shots from all the films we have discussed if any can be made avaible to us.

one question -what's the best Miss Soong be prepared for cyberfreeze or her in the cylinder ????

My fascination with Wilma Soong is due to the fact she is a smoking hot babe.

[–] TX-9 18 years ago

Yes, villacj, Great Job indeed! I hope you can get a Wilma Soong yahoo group off the ground when you have time. I especially enjoyed your account of the 'juiced' commercial. That sounds Great! The woman being frozen and then shown in various poses reminds me of how Ardonian froze each of the girls in various unique poses in the cryo-tubes (no doubt he had programed the machine to pose the girls the way it did. Have you noticed each girl in KTGAMTD had their own unique pose? And Wilma Soong's was the sexyest pose of all!). I especialy liked the business of the 'JUICED' logo being tatooted on the ladies butt cheek!LOL! I've speculated that if Quentin Tarantino (who's also a fan of KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE and owns his own copy of the film which he shows to the public at his famous 'film festivals')ever produced and directed a remake of KTGAMTD his WILMA SOONG would be revealed to have a tatoo on her right butt cheek!LOL After all, Tatoo's are very popular in the orient and everyone has them today! I realize this little Soong-tatoo-butt-cheek fetish fantacy doesn't thrill everyone!LOL! Good point about 'the rape of Sabine women' and 'Amazon's'. It's a very old theme indeed.

Glad you liked Helena Russel (as played by a 41 year old Barbara Bain back in 1975)in the Space 1999 episode "MISSION OF THE DARIANS". A much younger and sexier Barbara Bain had a scene that was also sexy when she appeared as the character of Cinemen Carter (an IMPOSIBLE MISSIONS FORCE Operative) in the pilot episode of MISSION IMPOSSIBLE. In the MISSION IMPOSSIBLE pilot episode Martin Landau (Bain's then real life husband)playing 'master of disguise Roland Hand'is impersonating a South American general. Cinamen (Bain) and Roland are sharing a hotel room togeather as their 'base of operations'(and flurting quite a bit with each other in the process!LOL). Several armed guards show up at the door asking the General (i.e. Roland in disguise) if they may search his apartment. Well, Cinamen (Bain) is hideing in the back room. Worse, Cinemen and Roland have several abducted guards and politicians bound and gagged in the back room. Roland doesn't know what to tell the gaurds. But Cinamen saves the day by showing up at the bedroom door whearing nothing but a towel! The towel that Barbara Bain was whearing was so short that you thought you would see her er-eh 'sensitive areas' any second!LOL! Anyway, Cinamen whereing her skimpy towel comes walking out almost stark naked and says "General?" Then she pauses for a long moment, looks directly at the gaurds as if to size up the situation and then she says "Oh" and emediately steps behind the door and closes it. The gaurds exchange knowing smiles and apologise to the general and then summarily excuse them selves and leave. After the gaurds have made their exit, Cinemen steps from behind the door again, still whearing nothing but the tiny towel. Roland says "Cinamen you are a magnificent actress!". Cineman reply's "You should have had the view back stage!", and the camera pans past her to reveal behind her, in the bedroom, the bound and gagged men who had been in the bedroom with Bain/Cinamen while she was stripping completely naked and slipping on the skimpy towel!LOL! So the bound and gagged men got to see her completely naked (The thought of which was a real turn on to me as a kid when I saw this in syndication back in the 70's! Bet they thought it was almost worth being taken prisoner for!)!LOL! Classic episode. Bain's sexy scene in the MISSION IMPOSSIBLE PILOT Wasn't humiliating (which is why I didn't mention it in the last thread) but it was sexy as hell! Rather, Bain's MISSION IMPOSIBLE debute episode would fall under the catagory of a woman who strips but instead of being humiliated she, rather, demonstrates her erotic (almost hypnotic) power over men! Classic! I bring it up because nudity is as often a demonstation of female erotic power as it is of women being humiliated. It's like a double edged sword I suppose. And, I hasten to add, that Barbara Bain was probably in her late twenties or barely thirty when she did the MISSION IMPOSSIBLE pilot episode in 1965, so she still looked like a classic-pin-up girl; sexy and coquetish as hell! However, by the time she apeared as Helena Russel in the Space:1999 episode MISSION OF THE DARIANS, she was still gorgious but the sexy and skimpy costume she wore seemed a little out of place or inapropriate (as much as I loved it!)and more humiliating for a woman her age to be caught parading around in!LOL! It just seems undignified for a forty one year old woman to be dressed up like a sex object (which makes her scenes in MISSION OF THE DARIANS fit in so well with the theme of woman being stripped and humiliated. That and Bain's wimpering and beggin for mercy!LOL!).

Steve, to answer your question, I'd like to see screen captures from KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE in addition to your extensive collection of Seyna Seyn photos! The other things you mentioned such as the poles, art work, and articles, sound great! I would certainly like to contribute articles when and if this ever gets off the ground. I think a link to the IMDB webpage for KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE would be a good idea. That way, people who discover the yahoo group could also follow the link and show their support for the film on this site as well!

"AM I MAKING YOU RANDY?"-Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.

[–] jt74455 18 years ago

First i'd like to say to Villacj great job bringing up the jucied commerical,i've seen it and loved it.The girl ,redhead is a stunner ,and what the guys do to her once they realize they are controlling her is just super.

Secondly I'm going to ask Viiiacj some questions pertaining to KTGAMTD ,these are all different theories that people have put forward on this board and since your a fan i'd like to see what you think.

1. Did Ardonian plan to put Miss Soong into his collection when he first met her?

2.Would have Miss Soong gone to bed with Ardonian to complete her mission,if she had to

3. Why was Ardonian focusing in on the girls(french girls lips ,british agents bare lower back and Soong's face ,eyes and lips?

4 Did Miss Soong have a sugar daddy back home in china?

5.Was her entry into deep freeze so erotic as she was the only one actually shown getting it?

6.Were they able to get the girls out of deep freeze after the rescue?

7.Did the chinese use Soong like bait to catch a cat?

8Did you see anything to her getting the needle scene resembeling an orgasm on her part?

9.this one is interesting ,when someone suggested that they would have to freeze the lungs and the intestines they suggested that she was given an enema earlier.Someone suggested that they shhould have added this scene Miss Soong lying on her belly on a table naked about to be given an enema by omar and her pleading "oh NO NO PLEASE".Do you think this should have been added ?Most of the guys thought it would have been hilarious or sexy?

Lastly these questions are most spectulative and there are no correct answers just your opinion.

Thabnks JT

[–] villacj 18 years ago

Let me try to answer your questions in the order you gave them, JT74455:

1) I always thought so.

2) Don't know.

3) Ardonian said he always had time for "beautiful things".

4) Don't know.

5) Don't know, but the freeze sequence inspired me.

6) I don't believe Ardonian would deep freeze the women if Krueger couldn't thaw them out.

7) Don't know.

8) It looked like an orgasm to me.

9) I think the movie is too long as it is, especially as Ardonian counts down the rocket launch from 60!

Sorry to take so long in answering your questions. The summer always limits my time. I hope my next post doesn't take so long, and I hope I can work on that Wilma Soong appreciation group soon!