28 AUGUST 2023
JBC rating: ***
James Bond Connections (5):
- Starring James Villiers (Bill Tanner in For Your Eyes Only) as main villain Carl Peterson.
- Featuring Daliah Lavi (The Detainer in Casino Royale [1967]) as Baroness Helga.
- Featuring Virginia North (Olympe in OHMSS) as one of Peterson’s guards.
- Featuring Joanna Lumley (Angel of Death in OHMSS) as one of Peterson’s women.
- Lyrics by Don Black (James Bond, various, 1964 – 1989).
Some Girls Do was the third and final 1960s spy movie starring Shakespearian leading man Richard Johnson, the darkly handsome actor who was a leading contender for Bond in 1962. A sequel to Deadlier than the Male (1967), Johnson again plays an updated version of H.C McNeile’s long running hero ‘Bulldog Drummond’. Whilst the filmmakers behind Deadlier than the Male clearly modelled their update of Sapper’s hero on Sean Connery’s Bond, the earlier film maintained its own individuality by casting Drummond as an insurance investigator – rather than an operative of British intelligence – and adding some family peril. However, in Some Girls Do Drummond’s profession is barely referenced by the clunky script and the character is portrayed as just another Bond-style spy. But with plenty of action, amusing characters, and a great soundtrack (Bond lyricist Don Black pens the catchy theme tune), Some Girls Do is a lot of campy fun. For James Bond fans, the film presents a final chance to see an actor who nearly was 007 star in an espionage movie.
Continue reading “Some Girls Do (1969): Bulldog Bond’s last stand”