THE TWO CRAZY SECRET AGENTS (1965)
aka DUE MAFIOSI CONTRO GOLDGINGER, THE AMAZING DOCTOR G
Article 1982 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-18-2006
Posting Date: 1-15-2007
Directed by Giorgio Simonelli
Featuring Franco Franchi, Ciccio Ingrassia, Gloria Paul

Two idiots get embroiled in a plan by a supervillain to turn world leaders into mindless robots.

I was surprised to find that the movie DR. GOLDFOOT AND THE GIRL BOMBS had its defenders, most of whom felt that the presence of Vincent Price was enough to keep the movie from sinking to any utter depths of badness. I wonder how some of these people would contend with Franco and Ciccio movie without the benefit of Vincent Price. Well, here’s your opportunity. To begin with, I do have to admit that this movie is not entirely without merit; as a James Bond parody, it does have its moments. The movie does a fairly decent job when it’s zeroing in on some of the elements of GOLDFINGER and DR. NO for its targets, and at least one joke was brilliant (which I won’t give away other than to say that one presumably major character departs the story early in the proceedings). I actually laughed a couple of times. This last fact I consider amazing, because I’m surprised any joke could survive the incessant mugging and the painful histrionics of its starring comedy team. Actually, to be fair, I can’t really say how they would come across in their native language, and Ciccio (the tall one and the more subtle of the two) is tolerable. But whoever dubbed Franco here has a voice that could cut glass, and he really starts to grate early on. Still, even they had their supporters; they were actually big comic stars in Italy, and with a rating of 5.7 on IMDB (significantly higher than GOLDFOOT’s rating of 3.4 but lower than a whole slew of other movies of theirs), it’s obvious that they still retain a bit of popularity. This may be, but I have to say that any comedians that make me appreciate the relative subtlety of Jerry Lewis, the restraint of Larry Storch, and the commitment to dignity of the Three Stooges, is a little (OK, let’s face it: a LOT) too much for me.