▶ watchcultKiss the Girls and Make Them Die
1966 · Italy · 106m
Mid-tier Eurospy with an unusually good title and Mike Connors.
Eurospy
1964–1969 · 4 films catalogued
Continental Bond knockoffs, produced faster than the originals and occasionally more fun.
Between Dr. No (1962) and the end of the decade, Italian, French, Spanish and West German producers made more than two hundred spy films.
The formula never varies: an agent with a number for a name, one gadget, four European locations shot in a fortnight, a title theme working very hard, and a stolen formula. Budgets run from modest to visible-boom-mic.
Every so often one is excellent. Mario Bava's Danger: Diabolik (1968) has production design that looks ten times its cost.
The cycle died when Bond turned self-parodic and the continental industries moved on to giallo and poliziotteschi, taking the same crews with them.
Where to start
All 4 →▶ watchcult
▶ watchcultOperation Kid Brother
1967 · Italy · 104m
They cast Sean Connery's actual brother. That is the entire idea.
▶ watchcultOSS 117: Mission for a Killer
1965 · France/Italy · 99m
The eurospy archetype, from a French agent who beat James Bond into print by four years.
▶ watchknownDanger: Diabolik
1968 · Italy/France · 104m
Bava doing pop art on pocket change. Genuinely one of the best-designed films ever.