Mediocre poliziottesco, with an equally lackluster score, about the attempt to smash a drug ring in Tunisia (admittedly, an atypical setting for the genre). Amusingly, one of the two criminal factions involved is led by a cigar-chomping heavy-set man called Maltese Joe (even if he speaks with a heavy Sicilian accent!) the other by a paraplegic sporting slick attire, shades and the coolest of demeanors (hilariously instructing his underlings at one point to elevate him off his wheelchair). The hero, then, is an Edmund Purdom past his prime his womanizing antics (in a feeble attempt to link the film with the concurrent James Bond spy sagas) often getting in the way of his job. In fact, most of the action is entrusted to a couple of relics from the peplum era namely Alan Steel (who has a fixed expression throughout, and the sight of him behind a desk with coat and tie was also quite funny!) and Gordon Mitchell (who actually turns up in only one scene before being killed, for no specific reason).
As expected, there are plenty of women on hand (including a black girl called Zula who, out of the blue, performs a dance completely nude!): most look quite nice, but are given little of substance to do. One is Purdom's reporter girlfriend unaware of his specialized police work and suspecting a fling, she follows him from London to Tunisia. Another is Maltese Joe's blonde moll, a woman who's past it but who makes herself useful by procuring her boss with information on his opponents/rivals. One more is a local girl (an Italian actress made to look like an Arab it's safe to assume that the company never left the country!) who helps a young police aide, who sells information to the highest bidder, by having him dress up as a Casbah girl; the latter is played by Andre' Montchal: I was vaguely aware of his face as I watched the film, but couldn't quite place him until I realized he had been the hero of one of Jess Franco's best efforts, EUGENIE DE SADE (1970). And then there's the ultra-efficient Secretary of Purdom's boss: her presence in Tunis isn't properly explained but she's able to bug any discussion held between the various parties and, at the end, leaves with Purdom and his girl (much to the latter's chagrin)!
The film has a slapdash overall look (I, for one, had never heard of writer/director Lombardo) most evident in the adoption of odd angles without any rhyme or reason, not to mention some of the clumsiest stunt-work on record! Even so, it was an agreeable time waster which is why my rating was not as low as it could have been under the circumstances.
As expected, there are plenty of women on hand (including a black girl called Zula who, out of the blue, performs a dance completely nude!): most look quite nice, but are given little of substance to do. One is Purdom's reporter girlfriend unaware of his specialized police work and suspecting a fling, she follows him from London to Tunisia. Another is Maltese Joe's blonde moll, a woman who's past it but who makes herself useful by procuring her boss with information on his opponents/rivals. One more is a local girl (an Italian actress made to look like an Arab it's safe to assume that the company never left the country!) who helps a young police aide, who sells information to the highest bidder, by having him dress up as a Casbah girl; the latter is played by Andre' Montchal: I was vaguely aware of his face as I watched the film, but couldn't quite place him until I realized he had been the hero of one of Jess Franco's best efforts, EUGENIE DE SADE (1970). And then there's the ultra-efficient Secretary of Purdom's boss: her presence in Tunis isn't properly explained but she's able to bug any discussion held between the various parties and, at the end, leaves with Purdom and his girl (much to the latter's chagrin)!
The film has a slapdash overall look (I, for one, had never heard of writer/director Lombardo) most evident in the adoption of odd angles without any rhyme or reason, not to mention some of the clumsiest stunt-work on record! Even so, it was an agreeable time waster which is why my rating was not as low as it could have been under the circumstances.
