New release: The 1967 classic, Deadlier Than the Male, will be released on Blu-ray next week. Loosely based on the Bulldog Drummond series, the movie starred Elke Sommer, Sylvie Koscina, and Richard Johnson. Promotional materials traditionally featured images from the film's unforgettable sequence with girl assassins in bikinis with spearguns (see Japanese poster below). Network's Blu-ray maintains the original 1.66:1 widescreen print and includes standard-def extras like on-set featurettes, theatrical trailer, interviews, image galleries and promo materials. No word yet if Network will follow up with the sequel, Some Girls Do. Spy Vibers outside of the UK will require a multi-region player to play this Region B disc. Material produced for the PAL system sometimes experiences a 4% speed-up (as I experiences on the PAL-to-NTSC converted Blu-ray of The Avengers Season 5 set), so hopefully there will be no issues with this release. I look forward to checking this out! Street date is April 27th. AmazonUK page here. You can find the 2003 standard NTSC DVD edition on Amazon here. Enjoy!
Selected Spy Vibe posts: Golden Margaret Nolan, Man From UNCLE Rocksteady, Pussy Galore Calypso, Cynthia Lennon R.I.P., Edward Mann Fashion, Leonard Nimoy Tribute, Shatner at 84, Bob Morane series, New Saint Publications, The Saint Complete box set, Gerry Anderson Box Sets, Music For Spies, Thai Bond Design, Brian Clemens RIP, Bond vs Modernism, Imitation Game, New Avengers Books, Ringo Does Goldfinger, Sixties Beat Wear, Popular Skullture, Art of Modesty, Avengers Blu-ray update, Tokyo Beat 1964, Polaroid Spy, Feraud Mod Fashion, Flint Scores!, Bond Danish, New Richard Sala Book, New 007 Comics, Designing Bond Books, Green Hornet Manga, Margaret Nolan Art, No 6 Festival, Barbarella Returns, Designer: Gene Winfield, Avengers Interview: Michael Richardson, Ian Fleming: Wicked Grin, Jane Bond Hong Kong Records, Ryan Heshka Interview, Comics Week: Man From R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E., Comics Week: Archie, Comics Week: Robots, Comics Week: Cold War Atomic, Comics Week: SPYMAN, Comics Week: Jimmy Olsen, Rare Avengers Scripts, Man From Uncle UK Comics, Thunderbirds Comics, Shakespeare Spies: Diana Rigg, Shakespeare Spies I, Rodney Marshall Avengers Interview, Avengers Book: Bowler Hats & Kinky Boots, George Lois Design & Mad Men, Richard Sala: Super-Enigmatix, Cold War Archie, Playboy Bunny Interview, The 10th Victim Japanese and Kindle, U.N.C.L.E. Japanese Books, The Saint books return, Trina Robbins Interview, Catsuits, Batman '66 Green Hornet Interview: Ralph Garman Ty Templeton.
We continue our spotlight on vintage models kits with a selection of box art images for vehicle sets. The James Bond Aston Martin looms large, of course, but companies also featured interesting designs like the Man From U.N.C.L.E. car, the Toyota and Little Nellie from You Only Live Twice, and a Bond scuba propulsion craft from Thunderball. Like the Bond and Oddjob sets, some of these have been reissued. Check local hobby shops and Amazon for availability. You can also find cool reproduction posters of box art on-line and at toy and comic conventions. Later this week we'll look at some models based on Gerry Anderson and Irwin Allen shows. See our image collection of painted spy-figure models here. U.N.C.L.E. model from spencer1984 here. Original Airfix art from Illustrated 007 here and here.
Recent Spy Vibe posts: Model Secret Agents, Remo Williams Blu-ray, Bunny Yeager and Ursula Andress, Danger Mouse, Lost Avengers Episodes, Big Fun Toys, Danger Diabolik Soundtrack, Bruno Nicolai CD, Mother's Day (Avengers), Mod Fashion Dolls, Wild Wild West Blu-ray, Cold War Archie, New Avengers Comic, Ipcress File Blu-ray, Honor Blackman Tour, Playboy Bunny Interview, The 10th Victim Japanese and Kindle, U.N.C.L.E. Japanese Books, The 10th Victim German Edition, UNCLE Gun, The Saint books return, Spy exhibit at the Pacific Science Center, Trina Robbins Interview, Catsuits, Batman '66 Green Hornet Interview: Ralph Garman Ty Templeton.
Spy Vibe goes back to the days of Saturday morning cartoons, when we camped out in living rooms with bowls of cereal for hours of animated pop adventures. If your vibe is vintage superheroes, there are a number of DVD sets available that collect 1960s Filmation, Hanna-Barbera, and Marvel series like Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Mighty Thor, Aquaman, The Flash and Hawkman, and later series like the New Adventures of Batman and Super Friends: Legendary Super Powers starring Adam West. You can see documentary featurettes about many of these cartoons on YouTube.
My earliest memories of Saturday morning cartoons are the first wave of Japanese anime: Marine Boy, Gigantor, Astro Boy, and Speed Racer. Although limited by today's standards, I loved the Japanese imports for their use of dynamic depth-staging, James Bond-style gadgets, sense of danger, and exciting action. These stories were often rooted in Space-Age technology and Cold War intrigue. My favorite was Marine Boy (1968-1969), one of the first color cartoons to be dubbed for the US market. Like many of its contemporaries, the cartoon tapped a then-current fascination with undersea exploration.
Marine science and scuba diving captured popular imagination in the late 1950s and 1960s with shows like Sea Hunt (1958-1961), Flipper (1964-1967), Jacques Cousteau (1968-1976), and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964-1968). Just as fans were thrilled by James Bond's mini-breather in Thunderball (1965), and by Gerry Anderson's Stingray (1964-1965), kids tuning into Marine Boy on Saturday mornings got their own hi-tech wish fulfillment for deep sea adventure.
Below is a model kit of the Submarine P1-0 from Marine Boy. The design was reminiscent of the "Flying Sub" in Irwin Allen's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and the "Spindrift" ship in Allen's Land of the Giants (1968-1970). The general form was inspired by real breakthroughs in undersea exploration (see National Geographic April 1964 and Time Magazine March 1960 below).
Marine Boy centered around a young hero who aided the Ocean Patrol in its fight against a weekly rogue's gallery of diabolical masterminds and mechanized terrors. Marine Boy was outfitted for adventure by his father, Dr. Mariner. His arsenal of gadgetry included an indestructible suit, propulsion boots, electric boomerang, radio helmet, retractable flippers, dolphin whistle, and "oxy-gum" to enable the boy to breath under water. The show was unique in that it was produced in Japan, but apparently for first-release run in North America. Canadian actress Corinne Orr provided Marin Boy's voice, as well as voices for other programs like Ultraman and Speed Racer. Marine Boy was out of print for years, but was finally resurrected by Warner Archives. Season One came out in June 2013 and the second season just appeared on the Warner site here.
Season One description from Amazon: "It's Marine Boy! The original "American anime"
classic is here, at last! Produced in Japan but intended for first run in the
US, Marine Boy was one of the first color cartoons to come from Japan, soon to
be sharing syndicated screen space with the likes of Kimba the White Lion and
Speed Racer (with whom it shares a number of voice actors). Teenage Marine Boy
battles evil on and under the seas on behalf of the Ocean Patrol, aided by the
amazing inventions of his father, Dr. Mariner and the brilliant Professor
Fumble. Joining Marine Boy in his mission are his white dolphin, Splasher,
young mermaid Neptina, and fellow Ocean Patrol agents Bullton and Piper. Adding
complication to the mission are the effort of to CliCli prove himself a
miniature Marine Boy. So break out your Oxy-Gum and get ready to dive into the
amazing aquatic animated adventures found on this 3-Disc, 26-Episode
Collection."
Recent Spy Vibe posts: Mary Quant, Patrick Macnee, Gloria Steinem and Denny O'Neil on MOD Wonder Woman, Win Scott Eckert interview, Siegel and Shuster's SPY, David McCallum: Son of Batman, Jon Gilbert talks Fleming, Barbarella TV series, Meet the Beatles 50th, Wonderwall comes to Blu-ray, Batman Strips, David Bowie at 67, Kevin Dart talks Ringo & Powerpuff Girls, Sherlock Exhibit, Fu Manchu history panel, Andy Warhol box set, Six-Million Dollar Man, Striped Light Nude, Buckminster Fuller, Dylan at Newport, Jane and Serge, The Goldfinger Variations, Mod Tales Interview, Pete Seeger, Kraftwerk returns to US, Beatles BBC on Fresh Air, Steranko S.H.I.E.L.D. Artist Editions, David Tennant's Ian Fleming audio books, Atomic Art, Modern Architecture LP, Julius Shulman, Shane Glines Batman, The Prisoner and Captain Scarlet, Diego Fortunato and Verner Panton, Saturday Morning Cartoons, Assassination Bureau on DVD, new Young Bond series, new Hercule Poirot novel, Early Beatles image archive, Julie Newmar, Erno Goldfinger, Hitchcock tribute.
Recent Ian Fleming posts on Spy Vibe: Ian Fleming Letters, Erno Goldfinger, Ian Fleming Music Series links: Noel Coward, Whispering Jack Smith, Hawaiian Guitar, Joe Fingers Carr, new Ian Fleming Catalog, Jon Gilbert interview, Double 007 Designs, Bond audio book reissues, discovery of one of Ian Fleming's WWII Commandos, James Bond book covers, Ian Fleming's Playboy interview for Kindle, Spy Vibe's discovery of a rare Ian Fleming serialization, rare View to a Kill, Fleming's Royal gold typewriter, Ian Fleming's memorial address, Spy Vibe's Ian Fleming image archive.
I had a nice birthday in the Spy Vibe lair today! Sushi lunch and dinner with fellow agents, and I got to add more volumes to my collection of classic Dick Tracy comic strips. Opening the box got me thinking about those childhood treasures and holiday moments. How many Spy Vibers liked to look at the Sears or Corgi catalogs back in the day and dream over the cool spy toys? Did any of you collect the Gilbert toys? I never had the Gilbert action figures and play sets below until I was in college (hey, I was a late bloomer!), but they still managed to fire my imagination. I love that they made things like Goldfinger's laser table. Just what every kid needed to torture their own secret agent and stage cliff-hangers at home! And Ken Adam's designed trick pool table with secret map- ingenious! I eventually had all of the sets sealed on their original cards, but sold them off with other James Bond artifacts to help fund my first move to Japan. Sometimes I think about picking some of these up again and photographing ala David Leventhal or Slinkachu. But for now, the catalog does the trick. Here's a little dream for you. Click to enlarge. Enjoy!
A 2012 take on the scuba girl-assasin from Deadlier Than the Male? The September issue of inStyle features a beautiful series of portraits by Horst Diekgerdes of some of the leading ladies from the 007 movies. The collection of images include actresses Berenice Marlohe (with spear gun below), Michelle Yoe, Maud Adams, Olga Kurylenko, Carey Lowell, Talisa Soto, Tanya Roberts, Britt Ekland, Jane Seymour, Teri Hatcher, and Caterina Murino. You can see many photo projects by the artist at his official website. Younger SpyVibers should be advised that the body of work does include some artful nudes. The Bond Women series can be seen at Fashion Scans Remastered here.
Where Avengers fans may relate Emma Peel's Lotus with her track-suit styled fashion, the Fiat Spider calls up this iconic image. From the Spy Vibe archives, a fave advertisement from 1966. Published the year following Thunderball, the piece reflects the ongoing fascination and link between well-dressed mystery/adventure and sports apparel. The wetsuit was first designed in 1956, many years after Cousteau introduced the aqua-lung. Scuba diving grew in popularity during the 1950s and achieved a mainstream boom in 1958 with the debut of the television series, Seahunt, and the development of the YMCA diver certification program in 1959.
Author Ian Fleming was literally riding the wave when he published the undersea Bond adventure Thunderball in 1961. Read author Jeremy Duns' article about the behind-the-scenes development of the original Thunderball story here.
