Two actors not known for comedy, Rod Taylor and Trevor Howard, lead a cast of British comic stalwarts in this sometimes clever, sometimes dopey, James Bond spoof. Taylor takes the part of "L" (the Liquidator) who actually is what Bond pretends to be: an assassin paid by the British government (i.e., taxpayers). The catch? Taylor's character (curiously named Boysie Oakes) can shoot pretty well (trained in WW2) but he can't kill a fly. So he hires a hit-man (Eric Sykes) to do all his murderous handiwork. Then he takes off for the weekend with the boss' secretary (the Miss Moneypenny role, here called Iris--Jill St. John, who never looked lovelier) and all heck breaks loose.
Fine supporting work by Akim Tamiroff, the always watchable Wilfred Hyde-White, and David Tomlinson (not long off "Mary Poppins") playing . . . well, more or less against type. Though the laughs are few and far between the movie never takes itself seriously, and it starts off with Shirley Bassey belting out a ridiculous theme song over the credits, sounding suspiciously like "Goldfinger" only more so.
So why didn't Taylor make more comedies? Well, watch "The Glass Bottom Boat" and you'll see. His humor is pretty ham-handed, and he himself gets nary a smile until the airplane-flying climax. Still, it's worth a peek for anyone obsessed with Bond and its many duplicates. That's what the sixties was really all about: spies, spies, and more spies, on tv and the big screen.
Fine supporting work by Akim Tamiroff, the always watchable Wilfred Hyde-White, and David Tomlinson (not long off "Mary Poppins") playing . . . well, more or less against type. Though the laughs are few and far between the movie never takes itself seriously, and it starts off with Shirley Bassey belting out a ridiculous theme song over the credits, sounding suspiciously like "Goldfinger" only more so.
So why didn't Taylor make more comedies? Well, watch "The Glass Bottom Boat" and you'll see. His humor is pretty ham-handed, and he himself gets nary a smile until the airplane-flying climax. Still, it's worth a peek for anyone obsessed with Bond and its many duplicates. That's what the sixties was really all about: spies, spies, and more spies, on tv and the big screen.