OPERATION KID BROTHER

Neil Connery as Neil Connery

OPERATION KID BROTHER (aka O.K. Connery/1967). Director: Alberto De Martino.

"I want to be generous. In return for your services, I will give you your life." -- Beta

Wanting to cash in on the James Bond craze like a dozen other producers, somebody got the bright idea of casting Sean Connery's younger brother, Neil, as the hero in this dubbed Italian spy movie. They also cast Lois Maxwell and Bernard Lee (Miss Moneypenny and M) in what are basically the same roles they play in the 007 films. Then they enlisted Adolfo Celi, the villain from Thunderball, and Daniela Bianchi, the heroine from From Russia With Love and concocted a stew that mixes elements from Thunderball (the sinister organization Thanatos instead of Spectre; the evil Rosa Klebb-like lesbian), Goldfinger (Thanatos wants to control the world's gold reserves), and the climactic battle from both films in which the forces of good try to stop the forces of Thanatos from employing a magnetic wave device that will make machinery, planes, arms, etc. inoperable. The basic plot is workable, but there are too many digressions in this, and while it begins well, Operation Kid Brother quickly degenerates into something that is very busy but not very entertaining. Maxwell and Lee actually have more to do in this film than in any of the Bond movies (the producers of the 007 flicks could not have been thrilled with their participation, even if this film was no competition), and they do it well, as does Celi as Mr. Thai or "Beta." Anthony Dawson, who appeared in three Bond films in smaller roles (playing a barely seen Blofeld in two of them) does a beautiful job as the highly dangerous and menacing "Alpha;" it's too bad his performance couldn't have been captured in a better movie. (Dawson most famously appeared as the would-be murderer in Hitchcock's Dial M. for Murder.) As for Neil Connery, few people would make the connection between him and his brother. Now and then you can catch the resemblance from a certain angle, but otherwise he doesn't much look like Sean and he has none of his presence or panache, although he is not unattractive in his own right. In this he is sort of cast as himself, "Dr. Neil Connery," a plastic surgeon who is also an expert archer and has amazing hypnotic powers. M and Miss Moneypenny -- I mean, "Commander Cunningham" and his female assistant "Max" -- refer to Neil's "older brother," who is a master spy, throughout the movie. The biggest problem with the film isn't the script or acting but the direction of master hack Alberto De Martino [The Chosen], who seems overwhelmed by everything and can't craft engaging action sequences to save his life.

Verdict: Ultimately this is pretty bad. *1/2.

THE MEDUSA AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES

THE MEDUSA AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES (aka Perseo L'invincible/Perseus Against the Monsters/1963). Director: Alberto De Martino.

Perseus (Richard Harrison), an "honorary" son of Hercules, becomes embroiled in a war between two kingdoms, Seriglos and Argos. The ranks of the soldiers from the former kingdom, where Princess Andromeda (Anna Ranalli) holds court, have been depleted by a man-eating dragon that emerges from a lake, and many more have fallen victim to a Medusa in a valley whose gaze turns men into stone statues. Perseus must first manage to conquer the dragon, then decides to free all of the soldiers turned to stone by taking on the nearly impossible task of killing the hideous gorgon. Apparently there were a number of Italian mythological flicks made that, at least in their American versions, featured assorted "Sons of Hercules" and this is one of them. Carlo Rambaldi worked on the monsters: a mechanical dragon with limited movement which nevertheless doesn't look too terrible; and the Medusa, who resembles a tree with one yellow glowing eye and many hair-like stalks. Richard Harrison was an American muscle man hired to star in many Italian epics of this nature; he is still working in films at seventy-nine. The settings and music are effective and the film is modestly entertaining, although not in the league of the original Clash of the Titans, which also features Perseus and Medusa. De Martino also directed Kirk Douglas in The Chosen.

Verdict: Fun Italian spectacle. **1/2.

THE CHOSEN aka RAIN OF FIRE

THE CHOSEN (aka Holocaust 2000 aka Rain of Fire/1977). Director/co-writer: Alberto De Martino.

Released in theaters in 1977, this Italian film has had its name changed more than once, and resurfaced on DVD as Rain of Fire (not to be confused with Reign of Fire, which was about dragons decimating the world of the future). It would seem for all the world like a direct imitation of Damian: Omen 2 -- there's an anti-Christ, sinister deaths and "accidents," and even a doctor cut in half -- were it not for the fact that it came out one year earlier. In any case, The Chosen was clearly influenced by The Omen (1976) and is in some ways a very loose "sequel" to that film. Robert Caine (Kirk Douglas) wants to build a thermonuclear power plant in the mid-east but there's a great deal of opposition to it, including objections from his own wife (Virginia McKenna), who is an early victim of an assassin's blade supposedly meant for Caine. In short order others who oppose the plant are killed off, even as Caine is told that the unborn child he is having with journalist Sara Golan (Agostina Belli) may be the anti-Christ. Then there's Caine's pleasant son, Angel (Simon Ward), who may be anything but. An interesting aspect of the picture is the notion that this plant may be a modern-day embodiment of a seven-headed demon with ten crowns that "will rise from the sea and destroy the world." Adolfo Celi of Thunderball, Alexander Knox [The Sleeping Tiger], and Anthony Quayle [A Study in Terror] are also in the cast. The movie is dull, poorly made and indifferently directed, although the actors, including Douglas (who appears buck naked in a dream sequence to show off what good shape he was in at 61), do the best they can with mediocre and mostly unoriginal material. A gruesome scene involves a politician and the spinning blades of a helicopter, and an unintentionally comical one has a Catholic priest attempting to mastermind an unwilling abortion! The music tries to imitate the score of The Omen without being one tenth as effective.

Verdict: Watch Damian: Omen 2 instead. *1/2.