Licensed to Kill (1965)

Pretty Good

Best movie of this year hands down!

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

This movie essentially begins with an agent for the British Secret Service named "Charles Vine" (Tom Adams) being assigned to guard a Swedish nuclear physicist by the name of "Professor Henrik Jacobsen" (Karel Stepanek) who has developed a new technology that has the potential to disable incoming nuclear missiles. That being the case, although he plans to sell this technology to the British government, the Soviet Union has other plans and are willing to do everything at their disposal to either capture or kill the professor first. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film had the potential of being a really good spy movie except that the decision was made to turn it into a spoof of the "James Bond" franchise rather than a more serious and solid picture in its own right. In that respect it resembled the "Matt Helm" (starring Dean Martin) or the "Flint" (James Coburn) films than the actual James Bond movies. And like the other two spoofs this particular film wasn't too bad. But again, with a little bit of thought or effort it could have been much better. In any case, I have rated it accordingly. Average.

MASTER PLAN: assassinate a scientist who has a new formula. This isn't really a parody of the James Bond secret agent thriller, more like a copy of the already slightly absurd sub-genre. It's more direct in this respect than the other imitators of this decade because this depicts the same covert agency of the Bond universe, not the new worlds of, say, 'Flint' or Matt Helm. The double-0 agent here (Adams) isn't some fumble-witted fool like, for example, the "The Liquidator," who hates to kill anyone; no, this Vine character really is the 2nd best agent, able to kill bad guys left & right quite effectively. The tone and plot are not ridiculous, containing only some subtle satirical jabs here & there - the most outrageous is probably in the teaser, depicting a strange assassination. Then Sammy Davis Jr. sings the somewhat over-the-top title song ("The 2nd Best Secret Agent..."). There's an amusing copycat scene of Bond's first meeting with M from "Dr.No," Vine has a similarly fluid way to Bond with the ladies in bed, there's a sly reference to "Goldfinger" and he uses a silencer gun with an extra-long barrel, which I'm sure sent a signal to some viewers on the meaning. But, other than that, the action is pretty straightforward, with the agent's main mission protecting a scientist who has invented a new gravity formula (or anti-gravity; depends on how you look at it). See also "The Glass Bottom Boat" for another sample of the preoccupation with gravity formulas around this time. The writers included some dialog that even explores and attempts to explain such a secret agent's approach to life and his job, a commentary on the whole Bond outlook, which may or may not ring true. This was always left to the imagination in the Bond films, not spoken outloud.There's a repetitive quality to the story, which may strike some as a weakness. There are several attempts by assassins on the life of the scientist; these bits usually take place on a road somewhere - the heroes are tricked into stopping the car and then Vine has to demonstrate why he's still alive and almost the best in the business. There's even a weak instance of the assassins delaying their termination of Vine and the scientist for no reason, including even the lame 'last cigarette gambit' by Vine, but most of the scenes do contain elements of tension and excitement. There's even some suspense regarding the motivations and true goals of the scientist. Probably due to a small budget, the film steers away from any spectacular set-pieces of the later Bond films of "Goldfinger" and after, but this just means it resembles the basic espionage plot lines of "Dr.No" and "From Russia With Love." Don't expect huge explosions or sets, just some standard gun-play and tepid auto chases. The writers also threw in a doppelganger subplot towards the end, which builds on the 'false death' scenarios of a couple of Bonders. There are no really memorable villains, with mostly some Cold War Soviet intrigue behind-the-scenes, including actor Bull from "Dr.Strangelove" in a similar role. As Vine, Adams is adequate; he certainly lacks the charisma and presence of Connery, and he's almost too humorless in the role. It's probably better that he didn't stray into tongue-in-cheek silliness, but his lack of expression throughout was a bit too stiff and a little on the dull side. He would return once more in "Where The Bullets Fly." Hero:6 Villains:6 Femme Fatales:5 Henchmen:6 Fights:6 Stunts/Chases:6 Gadgets:4 Auto:5 Locations:5 Pace:6 overall:6

Let's be frank. This is one damp spoof. I'll go into the details of this deadly dull affair if, for some reason, you're interested. Tom Adams is Charles Vine, an inexperienced agent whose assignment is to keep an eye on a scientist (Karel Stepanek) as he prepares his formula for Regrav, a process that reverses gravitational waves. Vine is `a double 0 number, licensed to kill' and he certainly does make use of that particular privilege. During the course of the film Vine kills more than a dozen people. It's not the number that gives one pause, it's the callous and somehow nonchalant way he goes about it that is perturbing. Vine is, by his own confession, in it for the money but one suspects he gets a certain pleasure out of taking lives as well.Stepanek (Our Man in Havana), as the Swedish scientist, gives the best performance of the movie but that's not saying much. The entire production is so lifeless that the actors seem to just want to get it over with, and one can hardly blame them. The film starts off with a bad taste killing when a nanny pulls a machine gun out of her baby buggy and slaughters a man in front of her two infant charges. Then we are treated to a lame theme song by Sammy Davis Jr. and it's all downhill from here, folks. The film suffers from poor pacing, badly choreographed gun battles and worse fight scenes and the whole thing feels much longer than its 95 minute running time.

Any actor who carries....and can PROPERLY LOAD ...a Mauser Broomhandle has GOTTA worth an hour or two of my time. And Tom Adams as Charles Vine can sure do THAT. He's suave, sophisticated, very-British, and carries an odd-ball handgun. Wow!I first saw this movie, via Turner's Chanel 17, when I was in college. It seemed to me to be head and shoulders above the average James Bond-wannabies. It stuck with me well enough I watched the second film, called WHERE THE BULLETS FLY, when it was offered.My only regret is, since TIME-WARNER took over Turner Television, many of these 'small' films are lost...never re-shown....by these out-of-touch cost-accountants that run TW.Take my advice...if offered a chance to see LICENSED TO KILL or WHERE THE BULLETS FLY, give it a chance. It MIGHT just grow on you.