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Modesty Blaise by Joseph Losey
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DVD Cover InformationActor: Dirk Bogarde, Harry Andrews, Michael Craig, Monica Vitti, Terence Stamp Director: Joseph Losey Producer: Joseph Janni Producer: Michael Birkett Writer: Evan Jones Writer: Harold Pinter Writer: Jim Holdaway Writer: Peter O'Donnell Writer: Stanley Dubens DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; German (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD, NTSC Picture Format: 1.85:1 Running Time: 119 minutes DVD Release Date: 2002-07-16 Audience Rating: Unrated Studio: 20th Century Fox
Movie Reviews of Modesty BlaiseMovie Review: One of the better Bond spoofs... Summary: 5 Stars
This movie is so CHIC, I haven't got the exact words to describe it. The cast is sort of chi-chi: Monica Vitti, Terence Stamp, Harry Andrews, Dirk Boarde and Clive Revill, with Jospeh Losey directing, (Joseph Losey??) A hoi-polloi audience was almost assured! I saw this film in 1966 when it came out and was immediately struck by how different it was from the other Bond spoofs, such as "Our Man Flint" and those awful Matt Helm movies. "Modesty" is avant garde in that notoriously sanitized, late sixties style that made psychedelia palatable for the masses, with op art wallpaper everywhere and decadence celebrated by way of the villains portrayed by Bogarde and "Mrs. Fathergill".The jazzy score is very reminiscent of the one for "The Tenth Victim", though the lyricked theme song used in the opening credits should do WITHOUT the words, since they're just a WEE bit too arch! The instrumental side, however, is done beautifully, and adds to the "chic" feel of the movie. The fact that Monica Vitti has an accent so thick, you could choke on it, only adds to this flavor, as does Terence Stamp's prophetic "Alex the Droog" portrayal of her sidekick, Willie Garvin. The casual use of Ferraris, Rolls Royces, Citroens and multi-colored cigarettes make this a fashion-mongerer's wet dream. It's been stated that this film had no plot....oh, it's got a plot, alright, but there's so much OTHER business going on while it's unraveling, you can miss it! Modesty and Willie's briefs are to make sure fifty million pounds of foreign aid, in the form of diamonds, are delivered to an arab sheikh without the inimitable Gabriel, (Bogarde,) getting his superciliously foppish hands on them. Revill plays his fawning sidekick, accountant and condifante, McWhorter. Everybody involved seems to be having the time of their lives being in this flick, especially Stamp and Vitti. Chic, funny, and unique, a DEFINITE change of pace for the classic Hollywood director who helmed it, (if he indeed ever existed)....this movie joins "Help!", "Lord Love A Duck" and a few other zany flicks as icons of sixties aesthetics and cinematic philosophy. A museum piece of late sixties culture.... (Why ...does she have to be called "Modesty Blaise"?? How about "Modesty Ace" or "Modesty Aqua"?)
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