MATCHLESS (1967)
Article 3007 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-1-2009
Posting Date: 11-7-2009
Directed by Alberto Lattuada
Featuring Patrick O’Neal, Ira von Furstenberg, Donald Pleasence
Country: Italy

An American journalist, while a prisoner in China, acquires a magic ring that can turn him invisible for limited periods of time. When he returns to the U.S., he is sent on a mission by the military to track down a genius master criminal to acquire his secrets.

This spoof of the Bond movies doesn’t have much of a reputation, but I found it amusing enough in a harmless sort of way. I’m a bit amused that the fantastic content involving invisibility seems to involve magic rather than science, which is kind of odd for the superspy genre. It’s also fun to see Henry Silva in a more comic role than usual for him, and, for my money, Donald Pleasence is a lot more fun as the villain of this movie than when he played Blofeld. I also liked a car chase scene that ends up with the cars on top of a moving train. I’d hardly call it a great movie, but this cross between INVISIBLE AGENT and the Bond movies did keep me consistently entertained.