'Our Man Flint' kicks Austin Powers' ass

Our Man Flint (1966)
Starring: James Coburn, Lee J. Cobb, and Gila Golan
Director: Daniel Mann
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

When the world is threatened by a mysterious cabal who has the abilit to trigger natural disasters at will, only super-spy Derek Flint (Coburn) can save it. But will even his mastery of karate, fencing, bio-chemistry, world cuisne, and countless dance styles; his trick lighter with 80+ functions and weapons; his complete mastery of all his bodily functions; and his powers of seduction be enough to overcome the sinister briliance and beauty of his female counterpart (Golan)?


"Our Man Flint" is a hilarous spy comedy that derives its laughs from the fact that it's played completely straight (unlike "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" and its progressively worse sequels, which goes out of their way to be goofy). Flint is an outrageously over-the-top James Bond-type character who can do pretty much everything, and who knows everything, but who is so perfect that he will humbly say that there are many things he doesn't know. His "man-of-peace" attitude (until his friends and acquaintances are threatened), gentlemanly nature combined with his swingin' Sixties lifestyle (with his super-bachelor pad and four live-in girlfriends/personal assistants) make him an even more interesting and funny character.


The storyline is fast-paced, the jokes are funny, and the story is fun, flippant super-spy fare. I think lovers of comedy and James Bond-style spy movies will something to like about "Our Man Flint."

A 1960s satire that remains relevant

The President's Analyst (1967)
Starring: James Coburn, Godfrey Cambridge, Severn Darden, and Joan Delany
Director: Theodore J. Flicker
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

When Dr. Sidney Shaefer (Coburn) is recruited to be the President of the United States' personal psycho-analyst, he is thrilled and honored. However, being the person the most powerful man in the world can confide in soon becomes too much pressure for Sidney to bear, and, while suffering from a nervous breakdown, he flees Washington, D.C.. This is when his real troubles begin, however, as every foreign intelligence agency in the world (including the Canadian Secret Service) want to capture him and force him to reveal the president's secrets.


"The President's Analyst" is a hilarious satire that skewers the internal politics of the American intelligence and law enforcement services, pokes fun at American society in general, and spoofs the ever-popular chase-thriller. Although some small portions of the film are dated--like the hippies that Shaefer hooks up with while on the run, the obvious spoof of J. Edgar Hoover's FBI, and the scene where the gun-toting liberal from New Jersey explains to Shaefer how he sponsored the "colored family" to move into the neighborhood--most of the comedy remains fresh and even relevant forty years after the film's initial release, marking it as a true classic.

In fact, given how Hollywood seems to be cranking out more and more remakes of movies that don't need to be remade, I'm surprised that we didn't seen a remake of "The President's Analyst" back when everyone in Hollywood was trying to show how George Bush was eeeevil. Perhaps this film is ultimately too politically neutral for the knuckleheads that run the film industry to see that they could have shot the script mostly as-is with just a few search-and-replaces to update it--maybe they can't see past the portrayal of "liberals" or the fact that CIA (sorry, CEA) agents are among the film's good guys? I'm glad no one has taken this classic and turned it into a steaming pile of "reimagined" crap, but I'm astonished it hasn't been done.

The witty, fast-paced script of "The President's Analyst" is delivered with great style by a cast of actors who all turn in a fine job. Coburn in is in fantastic form, with his usual winning smile coming across as hilariously maniacal while Shaefer is proving that just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you. Cambridge and Darden also turn in funny performances as an American and a Russian spy with shared mutual respect and love of goofy disguises.

Anyone who likes a well-made farce should check out "The President's Analyst"... and should do so before the inevitable crappy remake shows up in theaters or on cable TV.

What is the deadly truth behind 'Charade'?

Charade (1963)
Starring: Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant, Walter Matthau, James Coburn and George Kennedy
Director: Stanley Donen
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

'Reggie' Lampert (Hepburn), a quirky young American living in Paris, has her world turned upside down when her husband is murdered and she learns that he wasn't all who she believed him to be. Worse, three thugs (including Coburn and Kennedy) are stalking her, insisting that she has the $250,000 that her dead husband stole from them. Only the charming Peter Joshua (Grant) and the mysterious Paris CIA Station Chief (Matthau) can help her... but will they? When a quarter of a million dollars are up for grabs, can anyone be trusted?


For many years, I would catch pieces of "Charade" on television, and I was convinced that it had to one of Alfred Hitchcock's movies--one of his best, in fact. It isn't, of course, but it is a far sight more "Hitchcockian" that the vast majority of films that critics like to apply that label to. Its fast-patter dialogue, its mixture of intrigue, mystery, comedy, and romance is very reminicent of great Hitchcock movies like "The 39 Steps" and "The Lady Vanishes".

Hepburn is as gorgeous and energetic as ever as 'Reggie' Lampert, and her acting skills are on fine display here. Cary Grant is likewise up to form in an excellent performance, even if this film was made during the twilight of his career; his ability to be charming and menacing at the same time comes into play nicely in a couple of scenes here, and keep your eyes open for the moment when he mokcingly mimics Hepburn's "surprised look". (Another very remarkable thing about Grant's part in this movie is the acknowledgement that he is old enough to be her father, and that he initially keeps her at arm's length when she aggressively persues him in a romantic way. 'Reggie' clearly has a thing for older men, but Peter Joshua has enough class to respect their age difference. How many other Hollywood leading men would accept a role like that? Given what is standard fare in movies, not many!)

In addition to great performances by its stars, the film sports a spectacular supporting cast, with George Kennedy as a hulking, hook-handed maniac, and Walter Matthau's quirky American agent being particularly noteworthy, and an intelligently constructed story full of sparkeling dialogue, clever twists, lots of laughs and thrills, and a climactic chase and confrontation that definately makes this "the best Hitchcock movie that Hitchcock never made."

Rounding out this perfect package is the score by Henry Mancini. The 'Charade Theme' is perhaps the best tune he ever wrong, and its heard in many different and clever permutations throughout the film.

"Charade" is a true classics, and it's a film that should be required viewing for anyone who thinks they can properly mix comedic and thriller elements in a film. (The blender they show in the beginning of the original 1963 preview for the film is a great analogy... the elements of a romantic comedy and a thriller have been blended together here in a seamless, perfect whole. Movies like this are all too rarely made these days.)

It's also more than worth seeing for an excellent performance by Hepburn, one of the most beautiful women to ever grace the silver screen.