Lively, entertaining reviews of, and essays on, old and newer films and everything relating to them, written by professional author William Schoell.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

THE NUDE BOMB


THE NUDE BOMB (1980). Director: Clive Donner.

In this theatrical film based on the sixties TV series Get Smart, evil forces of the sinister group Kaos have created a "nude" bomb which will destroy all fabric, leaving everyone on the planet in their birthday suits. Don Adams is as wonderful and funny as ever as Maxwell Smart, although Dana Elcar makes little impression as the Chief [after Ed Platt]. Andrea Howard, however, is appealing as agent 22. ["Barbara Feldon's "99" does not appear in the movie, for shame.] Some of the funniest scenes feature Bill Dana as Jonathan Levinson Seigle of the garment trade. For some reason the organization known as Control on the TV series is now called PITS. Vittorio Gassman seems to be having a lot of fun as the villain of the piece, and there's a wild finale wherein dozens of his clones get in a melee with dozens of Smart's duplicates. Rhonda Fleming has a nice bit as an ex-wife of Gassman's whom Maxwell pays a call on. The Nude Bomb is silly, yes, but it's also quite amusing. Fans of the show will definitely enjoy.

Verdict: Much better than that remake. ***.

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