Eurospy films

Eurospy films is a nickname for the genre of European films that imitated and spoofed the James Bond 007 series of films. The Eurospy genre was highly prolific in the years from the end of 1964 when "Goldfinger (film)" was released until 1967 following the release of "You Only Live Twice (film)" or the demise of the international popularity of the sword and sandal genre and the rise of the spaghetti western. They often featured American and British stars in the lead. [Blake, Matt & Deal, David "The Eurospy Guide" Luminary Press 2004]

Some European stars and their films were renamed and retitled to cash in on the superspy craze. For example Jesus Franco's or "Jess Frank"'s 1964 "La Muerte Silba un Blues" was later retitled "077 Operation Jamaica" or "077 Operation Sexy" with star Conrado San Martin rechristened "Sean Martin" to evoke images of Sean Connery and Dean Martin (who played Matt Helm). Germany's fictional hero Rolf Torring's film "Der Fluch des Schwarzen Rubin" was retitled "Agente S3S Operazinie Uranio". [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058883/ Fluch des schwarzen Rubin, Der (1965) ] ]

Notable examples are the French "OSS 117" André Hunebelle series based on the Jean Bruce character [http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.oss117.org/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=10&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522oss%2B117%2522%26hl%3Den] and Claude Chabrol's "Tiger" series, the German "Kommissar X" and "Jerry Cotton" series, and various Italian imitations such as an "Agent 077" series with various actors in the lead, Bruno Corbucci's "James Tont" series starring Lando Buzzanca [ p.126 Biederman, Danny "The Incredible World of Spy-Fi: Wild and Crazy Spy Gadgets, Props and Artifacts from TV and the Movies" Chronicle Books 2004] and "OK Connery" starring Sean Connery's younger brother Neal and various people who appeared in the actual James Bond series. Dino De Laurentiis's "Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die" was filmed in Rio de Janeiro using an American director as well as American and British stars and featured a higher budget then most Eurospy films.

The recent French film "" both recreates and parodies the genre for a new audience.

Notes

References

Blake, Matt & Deal, David "The Eurospy Guide" Luminary Press 2004.