Modesty Blaise (1966)
Modesty Blaise, a secret agent whose hair color, hair style, and mod clothing change at a snap of her fingers is being used by the British government as a decoy in an effort to thwart a diamond heist. She is being set up by the feds but is wise to the plot and calls in sidekick Willie Garvin and a few other friends to outsmart them. Meanwhile, at his island hideaway, Gabriel, the diamond thief has his own plans for Blaise and Garvin.
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Very disappointing...
Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay
The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.
It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.
When I first saw this on its original release in the mid sixties, I remember being disappointed. I had been bewitched by Monica Vitti's performances with Antonioni and had much enjoyed Losey's earlier film with Dirk Bogarde, the 1963 film, The Servant. It seemed shallow and frivolous, completely lacking in any seriousness. And maybe my assessment still stands, it's just that now I love it. I love its crazy lurches, this way and that, the sinister, yet amusing Bogarde and his extraordinary drinking vessels. I love the successfully over the top performance from Terence Stamp and the glorious pop art set designs and costumerie, which I probably took for granted back in the day. But most of all, I love Monica Vitti. She can be beautifully moody and introverted for Antonioni but here she smoulders and glows with a knowingness that maybe puts her above Bardot. The scenes with Bogarde are alive, those with Stamp amusing but with Vitti on screen, it is hard to look at anything or anyone else. Worry not whether this is a spoof or not, just sit back and enjoy a very special cinematic experience that encapsulated a moment in time perfectly. Wonderful.
Jean-Luc Godard's "Pierrot le fou" was in circulation about the same time as this Joseph Losey comedy, based on a comic book series featuring the sexy Modesty Blaise, a female version of James Bond, played in the movie by Monica Vitti.The visual parallels to "Pierrot le fou" are striking, and there should be a film scholar somewhere willing to figure out who influenced whom. It would be easy to say that Losey was slumming, that this is only "Godard for Dummies," but the filmcraft on display here is too accomplished to dismiss.What brought me to this obscure movie in the first place? Vincent Vega, as played by John Travolta, was the constipated-heroin-shooting hit-man in "Pulp Fiction" who always read a book on the toilet -- a novelization of "Modesty Blaise." Tarantino has always adored Godard (his production company is called A Band Apart), so I suspect Mr. T. senses a connection between this 60s mod 'trash' movie with Monica Vitti and the highbrow efforts of his Continental master, M. Godard.See it for yourself and decide.
Fox pinned hopes on 'Modesty' becoming a franchise to rival Bond, but these were cruelly dashed as Joseph Losey's film played to mostly empty theatres in the U.K. and U.S.A. ( it did rather better on the Continent ). Taken on its own terms, its not too bad. Jack Shampan's production design is superb, as is John Dankworth's music, there are a couple of decent performances ( Clive Revill, Harry Andrews, and a wonderfully camp turn from Dirk Bogarde ) and some good moments such as Modesty finding herself trapped in an op art cell. But as an adaptation of Peter O'Donnell and Jim Holdaway's comic-strip, its a non-starter. Monica Vitti fails to project warmth and charm as Modesty, while Terence Stamp sounds like Michael Caine on an off-day. The scene where they sing a romantic duet whilst under fire is just painful. Losey was clearly not the right director for this project. Fox made a rather more successful 'girl power' Bond thriller a year later - 'Fathom', starring Raquel Welch.
This movie seems to be made with the sole purpose of hurting Peter O'Donnel and insulting his fans. The entire Modesty Blaise concept is completely ignored. O'Donnel is said to have cried when he saw it, and I can believe that.The choice of Monica Vitti as the heroine is disaster #1. The long, dark, strong and mysterious Modesty is played by an average blonde bimbo. It is as if Rick Moranis had been chosen to play James Bond in the very first Bond movie. It may have been somewhat amusing but no "Bond fever" would have resulted. Modesty Blaise is the perfect character for a female Bond. This movie wasted a golden opportunity.The next shock comes when we see the actors chosen as Gabriel and Garvin. The evil, short, slimy scumbag Gabriel is played by a long and handsome man, who could have done a decent Garvin. Garvin is played by someone who could have made a decent Gabriel. Was anyone thinking when doing the movie or were they simply busy wasting O'Donnel's concept?And the coffin is put firmly into the ground by the ending, where the script writer show that they understood so little of the relationship between the heroes that they had to point it out.The plot otherwise follows the book fairly well, but without the essential magic of the heroes, it is just another B-movie. To those who don't know Modesty, it may be somewhat charming due to its age. For us who do, it is painful to watch, knowing that it is the movie that blew all chances for a series of great Modesty movies.PS: Modesty Blaise fans should watch the new movie, from 2003. That's something entirely different.