{"id":46,"date":"2010-09-19T00:00:42","date_gmt":"2010-09-19T04:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hypnosisinmedia.com\/blog\/?p=46"},"modified":"2024-04-24T20:12:26","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T00:12:26","slug":"our-man-flint-1966","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hypnosisinmedia.com\/blog\/46\/our-man-flint-1966\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cOur Man Flint\u201d (1966)"},"content":{"rendered":"

His\u00adto\u00adry:<\/em> The year is 1966. Amer\u00adi\u00adca is under\u00adgo\u00ading the throes of the British spy inva\u00adsion. James Bond 007 leads the assault from the movie screen and book racks every\u00adwhere, sup\u00adport\u00aded ably on the small screen by \u201cThe Avengers\u201d<\/em>. Amer\u00adi\u00adca coun\u00adters with its own home-grown tele\u00advi\u00adsion spy series. \u201cThe Man From U.N.C.L.E.\u201d<\/em> and \u201cGet Smart\u201d<\/em>, but who shall chal\u00adlenge the fore\u00adrun\u00adner, the invin\u00adci\u00adble 007 him\u00adself, on the big screen?<\/p>\n

In answer to Amer\u00adi\u00adca\u2019s call comes Derek Flint, super\u00adspy, mar\u00adtial artist, bal\u00adlet mas\u00adter, speak\u00ader to por\u00adpois\u00ades, mil\u00adlion\u00adaire, gour\u00admand, man-about-town, ladies man, etc. In effect, every\u00adthing James Bond is, and more. Armed with his trick lighter, which can per\u00adform 82 dif\u00adfer\u00adent func\u00adtions (83 if you include light\u00ading a cig\u00adar,) his quick wits and flash\u00ading grin, Flint saves the world from poten\u00adtial con\u00adquerors and nuclear dis\u00adas\u00adter in \u201cOur Man Flint\u201d<\/em><\/a> (1966) and \u201cIn Like Flint\u201d<\/em><\/a> (1967).<\/p>\n

Descrip\u00adtion:<\/em> Some\u00adone is manip\u00adu\u00adlat\u00ading the world\u2019s weath\u00ader through con\u00adtrolled seis\u00admic activ\u00adi\u00adty. Espi\u00adonage agen\u00adcies across the globe are help\u00adless to com\u00adbat them. Only the best spy can be called upon to do the job, but, alas, British agent 0008 is unavail\u00adable: \u201cinter\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal nar\u00adcotics.\u201d But even he would not be enough: no one in the sys\u00adtem can pos\u00adsi\u00adbly do the job. Only some\u00adone inde\u00adpen\u00addent, some\u00adone supreme\u00adly capa\u00adble, some\u00adone out\u00adstand\u00ading can tack\u00adle the job. That some\u00adone is Derek Flint (James Coburn<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Except he does\u00adn\u2019t want it. Increas\u00ading lev\u00adels of mil\u00adi\u00adtary brass approach him, all to be turned away. Even his old boss Lloyd Cram\u00adden (Lee J Cobb<\/a>) of ZOWIE (Z<\/u>onal O<\/u>rga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion for W<\/u>orld I<\/u>ntel\u00adli\u00adgence and E<\/u>spi\u00adonage) is unable to con\u00advince him. But when Cram\u00adden takes a poi\u00adsoned dart meant for him, Flint sud\u00adden\u00adly has a very per\u00adson\u00adal inter\u00adest in the case.<\/p>\n

Trac\u00ading a faint amount of Bouil\u00adl\u00adabaisse on the dart to a seedy dive in France, he gets into a bar fight with a row\u00addy Eng\u00adlish\u00adman, who turns out to be the afore\u00admen\u00adtioned 0008, track\u00ading down a new drug on the mar\u00adket. \u201cSPECTRE?\u201d asks Flint, and 0008 replies that it is a new group, big\u00adger the SPECTRE, GALAXY. With that, Flint thanks him for his help and throws 0008 out the door. The fight draws the atten\u00adtion of two of GALAXY\u2019s agents, Hans Gru\u00adber (Michael St. Clair) and Gila (Gila Golan<\/a>). Gru\u00adber meets his end try\u00ading to attack Flint, but dur\u00ading that time, Gila places a bomb for Flint to dis\u00adcov\u00ader, which he evades.<\/p>\n

Flint fol\u00adlows the trail to Italy and Gila, but she and Rod\u00adney (Edward Mul\u00adhare<\/a>) trap him inside a sealed vault for deliv\u00adery to GALAXY. Flint would escape, except he over\u00adhears Gila autho\u00adriz\u00ading the abduc\u00adtion of Flint\u2019s four \u2018com\u00adpan\u00adions\u2019, so he relents and allows his cap\u00adtors to believe him dead. Actu\u00adal\u00adly, he is using a med\u00adi\u00adta\u00adtion tech\u00adnique to slow his metab\u00ado\u00adlism to fool his cap\u00adtors so he can escape the trap they held him in and infil\u00adtrate GALAXY head\u00adquar\u00adters. (On the way, Gila throws down a 0008 nov\u00adel, say\u00ading that no one could pos\u00adsi\u00adbly be like the man in the novel.)<\/p>\n

GALAXY head\u00adquar\u00adters is an unchart\u00aded idyl\u00adlic island. Wear\u00ading the uni\u00adform of a GALAXY guard, he is able to wan\u00adder the grounds, see\u00ading a par\u00adadise in action. But he is dis\u00adcov\u00adered (by an eagle \u201ctrained to iden\u00adti\u00adfy and attack Amer\u00adi\u00adcans.\u201d) and brought before the three sci\u00aden\u00adtists who run GALAXY. There he is giv\u00aden the oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty to join them in their quest to cre\u00adate a per\u00adfect world.<\/p>\n

But its not Flint\u2019s idea of per\u00adfec\u00adtion. His out\u00adspo\u00adken\u00adness in oppo\u00adsi\u00adtion to the sci\u00aden\u00adtists leads to his sen\u00adtence to be \u201celec\u00adtro-defrag\u00admen\u00adtized\u201d. Nor is Gila safe: her mis\u00adcues and the enmi\u00adty of her rival Rod\u00adney leads to her re-assign\u00adment as a prospec\u00adtive plea\u00adsure unit. In response, she covert\u00adly steals Flint\u2019s con\u00adfis\u00adcat\u00aded lighter and returns it to him under the guise of a pas\u00adsion\u00adate kiss.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

After avoid\u00ading the \u201celec\u00adtro-defrag\u00admen\u00adtiz\u00ader\u201d (at the cost of his \u2018mag\u00adic\u2019 lighter) he goes in search of Gila, the four kid\u00adnapped women and some answers. That\u2019s when Flint dis\u00adcov\u00aders the ugly truth behind the par\u00adadise of GALAXY. Male work\u00aders are reward\u00aded with the plea\u00adsure drug, which is cer\u00adtain\u00adly psy\u00adcho\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly addic\u00adtive and pos\u00adsi\u00adbly phys\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly addic\u00adtive as well, as well as access to the female work\u00aders, the plea\u00adsure units. Beau\u00adti\u00adful women, includ\u00ading his com\u00adpan\u00adions, are hyp\u00adnot\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly pro\u00adgrammed into becom\u00ading these plea\u00adsure units, designed and dri\u00adven to please.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy sole pur\u00adpose is life is to bring plea\u00adsure to my com\u00adpan\u00adions. Any\u00adthing that is asked of me I will per\u00adform. It is an hon\u00ador to give my body to the ser\u00advice of GALAXY.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Those words are being repeat\u00aded by Gila, sit\u00adting before a col\u00ador\u00adful hyp\u00adnot\u00adic spi\u00adral, wear\u00ading only a biki\u00adni, deeply entranced, becom\u00ading more and more emphat\u00adic with each sen\u00adtence. Except that Flint breaks her hyp\u00adnot\u00adic trance by com\u00admand\u00ading her to say \u201cI am not a plea\u00adsure unit.\u201d Togeth\u00ader they sab\u00ado\u00adtage the mech\u00ada\u00adnisms to the point that the entire island is erupt\u00ading. The three sci\u00aden\u00adtists plead with Flint to stop, but he refus\u00ades, ask\u00ading them to sur\u00adren\u00adder and pro\u00advide the world their great knowl\u00adedge. They agree, but Rod\u00adney inter\u00advenes, try\u00ading to attack Flint but instead caus\u00ading the sci\u00aden\u00adtists to fall into the seis\u00admic device at the cen\u00adter of their pow\u00ader. Flint is able to res\u00adcue his girls and get them and him\u00adself to safe\u00adty as the island explodes, end\u00ading the threat of GALAXY.<\/p>\n

Adden\u00adda:<\/em><\/p>\n

There was a nov\u00adel\u00adiza\u00adtion of the film released at the same time. Judg\u00ading from some of the mate\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal, it used a pre\u00adlim\u00adi\u00adnary draft of the script.<\/p>\n

The music was com\u00adposed by Jer\u00adry Gold\u00adsmith<\/a>, who com\u00adposed for a wide vari\u00adety of movies, earn\u00ading  17 Oscar\u00ae nom\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtions, among the most nom\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtions for any indi\u00advid\u00adual. He also wrote the theme to \u201cThe Man From U.N.C.L.E.\u201d<\/em>  but he is pos\u00adsi\u00adbly best known for com\u00adpos\u00ading for sev\u00ader\u00adal of the the \u201cStar Trek\u201d<\/em>  movies. Gene Rod\u00adden\u00adber\u00adry want\u00aded Gold\u00adsmith to write the theme for \u2018The Cage\u2019<\/em>, the pilot for the orig\u00adi\u00adnal \u201cStar Trek\u201d<\/em> series, but he was unavail\u00adable at the time.<\/p>\n

Com\u00admen\u00adtary:<\/em> Yes, these two movies are spoofs of the spy genre, except that these spoofs stand on its own as reg\u00adu\u00adlar spy movies, too. They also pave the way for lat\u00ader Bond films, espe\u00adcial\u00adly in the 80\u2019s, where the gad\u00adgets were almost as flam\u00adboy\u00adant as the guy who used them. The in-jokes (the whole 0008 thing, the anti-Amer\u00adi\u00adcan eagle, etc.) only add to the fla\u00advor. But it is Coburn as Flint who steals the show: with his cocky grin and suave atti\u00adtude, he\u2019s a wel\u00adcome change from the cool\u00adness of the ear\u00adly Bonds.<\/p>\n

There is some\u00adthing to be said about the phys\u00adi\u00adcal state of defense\u00adless\u00adness (as indi\u00adcat\u00aded by the almost total lack of cloth\u00ading, wear\u00ading noth\u00ading but a reveal\u00ading swim\u00adsuit) suf\u00adfered by all of the women being con\u00addi\u00adtioned into becom\u00ading plea\u00adsure units and the cor\u00adre\u00adspond\u00ading state of men\u00adtal defense\u00adless\u00adness. Clothes can be a defen\u00adsive mech\u00ada\u00adnism, and the removal same can cause such defens\u00ades to break down, uncon\u00adscious\u00adly or through the overt act of forc\u00ading that removal. Com\u00adpare that to the scene in \u2018Attack Angels\u2019<\/em> where Tanya Roberts\u2019 char\u00adac\u00adter is inside the hyper\u00adbar\u00adic cham\u00adber and being con\u00addi\u00adtioned to obey, wear\u00ading only a bikini.<\/p>\n

And just for the record, the Ian Flem\u00ading Bond nov\u00adel \u201cOn Her Majesty\u2019s Secret Ser\u00advice\u201d<\/em> with its bevy of beau\u00adti\u00adful babes under the hyp\u00adnot\u00adic thrall of the vil\u00adlain was pub\u00adlished in 1963. If any\u00adthing, \u201cOur Man Flint\u201d<\/em> bor\u00adrowed that trope from it, cer\u00adtain\u00adly not the oth\u00ader way around.<\/p>\n

Rec\u00adom\u00admen\u00adda\u00adtion:<\/em> Absolute\u00adly rec\u00adom\u00admend\u00aded. Any\u00adone from the 60\u2019s will appre\u00adci\u00adate how it spoofs the 60\u2019s spy craze and any\u00adone else will see a true movie classic.<\/p>\n

Triv\u00adia:<\/em><\/p>\n