Kiss the Girls and Make them Die
Also credited as
Se tutte le donne del mondo (1966)
starring Michael Connors I
Directed by
Henry Levin
Arduino Maiuri
does anybody know how I can get a copy of this movie - VHS or DVD?
[email protected]
If you find out, let me know -- i want to be able to show it to my friends who don't believe me that 2/3 of "Moonraker" is an uncredited (and inferior) remake of this film...
shareYes, it does seem that KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE has enough plot similiarities with MOONRAKER to suggest that the Bond film was at least inspired by the earlier spoof, including the nod to the colorful Rio locations.
Rather than considering the Bond movie an inferior remake, however, consider that it was most likely the director's affection for KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE that enabled MOONRAKER to be carried out as well as it was, all things considered. The Bond movie is considered by some to be the low-point in the franchise (not true, incidentally...that would come with the stinking mess, A VIEW TO A KILL followed by the disappointing era which wasted the talents of Timothy Dalton on stupid scripts that attempted to "update" Bond for the 80s). While MOONRAKER isn't the best Bond by a longshot, it's also not the worst, and at least the elements lifted from KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE are given stylish presentation, if nothing else.
I absolutely loved KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE, incidentally. And always had a soft spot for MOONRAKER, too (mostly for the winking participation of Corinne Clery and the exceptionally beautiful, laid-back John Barry score).
You might also remember that in CASINO ROYALE, Woody Allen's character (the arch-nemesis of Bond) is Little Jimmie Bond alias Dr. Noah who has developed a secret formula that kills all men over 4'7" tall and makes all women beautiful (or something to that effect). The basic premise of KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE, therefore, was already ripped-off by the Bond Franchise back in the 60s, if you want to look at it that way. MOONRAKER was just an attempt to flesh-out the concepts even further.
NO NO NO!!!!!!!!! Ian Flemming (the creator of the James Bond series of books that inspired the movie series) wrote "MOONRAKER" back in the 1950's (or early 60's) years before KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE premered in 1966. The film 'CASINO ROYAL' was loosly based on one of the Flemming books (also entitled Casino Royal). I haven't read that book but I know all the titles of the Flemming Books. All the James Bond films starring Saen Connery and Roger Moore were based on all the Flemming James Bond novels (as was the Bond film "HER MAJESTYS SECRET SERVICE" with Diana Rigg [but with an actor other than Moore and Connery playing Bond. I forget the guys name]). All the other Bond films made after Moore and Connery (all the Peirce Brosnan and Timmothy Dalton films) weren't based on the origional bond books but were, instead, mere inventions by the film studios to cash in on Ian Flemming's legacy. That's probably the main reason why these latter films arn't as good as the films starring Moore and Connery. The Woody Allen character who wants to wipe out all the tall men in the world is similar to the Ardonian character (in that he's trying to over compensate for an 'inferiority complex') but, more then likely, both films (Casino Royal and KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE) ripped off Ian Flemming (much like the Austin Powers films of the late 90's ripped off all the films made in the 1960's that were ripping off Flemming). But Ian Flemming was the man who started it all with his James Bond books.
One reason Flemming's books were so good (and the movies based on them so superior to the Bond stuff made in recent years) is because Mr. Flemming actually was a former British secret agent. So he knew his stuff. It's reported that President John F. Kennedy had been a huge fan and avid reader of the James Bond book series written by Flemming. "Casino Royal" had also been a Bond novel written by Flemming but had not starred either Connery or Moore. The story was the bases of a campy sixties commedy film (also entitled 'Casino Royal') with an all star cast (i.e. the likes of David Niven, Woody Allen, Orsen Wells, Peter Sellers, Ursala Andress [who had starred in the first Bond film starring Sean Connery]and others). But this film was campy and sexy and commical (very similar to KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE in that respect)and thus wasn't a serious treatment of the Flemming novel upon which it was loosely based. There was a live made for TV production of 'CASINO ROYAL' starring an American actor as James Bond (the late Jacky Cooper I believe)back in the 1950's but aside from that cheap TV production and the David Niven, Woody Allen movie, the book Casino Royal has never been given a full blown motion picture budget or series treatment. However, as of March 2006 it has been anounced that the next Bond film will be based on the Flemming novel "CASINO ROYAL" and thus finaly be given the treatment it diserves. Shame Peirce Brosnan won't be playing Bond. The studio that owns the rights to make the Bond films has decided to go with a younger actor. But, given that this next Bond film will be based on a Flemming novel, maybe it will be as good as the Bond films of the sixties and seventies.
If you got from what I wrote that the "inferiority complex" plot originated with KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE, that's not at all what I was attempting to communicate.
Rather, it would seem that MOONRAKER and KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE have enough similarities between the plot and the locations to suggest that the Bond filmmakers were at least well aware of the earlier product starring Mike Connors, Raf Vallone, Dorothy Provine, and Terry-Thomas. The real question is: how close does MOONRAKER the film match MOONRAKER the Fleming story, versus how closely the elements of MOONRAKER the film coincide with what's going on in KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE.
Spy spoofs existed throughout the 60s, including CASINO ROYALE, which itself is a complete send up of the whole Bond series up to that point, along with other serious entries in the genre. Stalwart spies having to thwart diabolical masterminds who have some sort of "inferiority complex" is the stuff of numerous spy spoofs including OUR MAN FLINT, et.al. Even Hitchcock had his own tongue-in-cheek entries in the spy satire category with much earlier films.
To say that everything started with Fleming isn't quite accurate, but the Bond "image" and all that certainly did -- nobody's trying to say that it didn't.
I once had the privilege of seeing the 1950s TV adaptation of CASINO ROYALE, btw, in film school. It was a dreary, dull affair but was (reputedly) a much closer match to the Fleming story than the overblown (but hilarious) 60s spoof.
Once Woody Allen portrayed the bumbling and sexually frustrated Dr. Noah in CASINO ROYALE it's a wonder that subsequent films in the spy genre that attempted to re-use the same plot device could even be taken seriously, but they certainly were. However, as the Bond series goes, some of the cheekiness of CASINO ROYALE ultimately seemed to creep into the Bond cycle (with the additon of Roger Moore, who some afficionados dismiss as the worst Bond for that very reason). And by the time MOONRAKER came out the jokes were quite broad; villains like Jaws were being played almost strictly for laughs.
Hence, I don't see anything inaccurate about recognizing connections between the tone and plot elements of KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE and the way MOONRAKER was handled. Since I haven't read the Fleming novel, I don't know how accurately the Roger Moore film adapts the story (of megalomaniac Drax turning loose on the world a sterilization plague, after which he will repopulate the planet with his carefully selected specimens). Sure bears a close resemblance to Raf Vallone's character in KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE, though (not to mention the Dr. Noah character in CASINO ROYALE), but I suppose we would all do well to remember that by 1979 there was little left in the whole "spy" genre that hadn't already been "done".
Interesting. You know your stuff! I agree, we need to check out these Ian Flemming books. Pinguin (a British publisher, if I'm not mistaken) published all the Flemming "Bond" books in a box set just a couple of years ago. I think I'll check out Amazon and see if they're any still available. Probably are. It would be interesting to find out if some of these plot elements you mentioned as being shared by KTGAMTD and MOONRAKER are in the Flemming books (like the secret base deep in the jungle interior of the Amazon and the business about mass sterolization and eugenics/repopulating the earth; and super-villains trying to over compensate for their inferiority complexes,etc.).
You got me; I don't know anything before Flemming. Maybe Flemming is like Bram Stolker in the sense that just as Stolker didn't invent the vampire in fiction but pulled all the traditions and lore together and gave them a wider popularity, so to, Flemming might be credited with doing the same for spy-sci-fi.