SOME GIRLS DO (1969)
Article #1471 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-25-2005
Posting Date: 8-22-2005
Directed by Ralph Thomas
Featuring Richard Johnson, Daliah Lavi, Beba Loncar

Hugh Drummond investigates several murders that are tied to the development of a supersonic airliner.

Having only been familiar with Hugh ‘Bulldog’ Drummond through the movies about him in the thirties, I have to admit that I was a bit surprised that the character was revived for a short time during the late sixties. However, I was not surprised to discover that the character was revived as a James Bond knockoff. Nor was I surprised that all the regular characters from the earlier series (Algy Longworth, Tenny, Inspector Nelson) were thrown by the wayside for other characters. However, I was quite surprised and delighted to see that the sense of humor that the earlier series had displayed had somehow remained intact. If anything, the humor is even stronger; this superspy movie is more than half a comedy, with its eccentric characters (Ronnie Stevens as Drummond’s prissy bodyguard, Robert Morley in a scene-stealing cameo as the instructor in a cooking school) and pithy one-liners. In truth, I found the humor here much more appealing than that of the Bond movies themselves; I always found those movies to be just a little too smug for my taste. In short, I was quite delighted by this movie, even if it was the last of the short-lived revival, and I look forward to seeing the first movie of the series. This is currently my favorite Bond rip-off.