Forget James Bond. Forget Matt Helm, Harry Palmer, Maxwell Smart, Bulldog Drummond and even Austin Powers. The toughest, sexiest, greatest secret agent of the 1960s was only one man. A karate champion, brain surgeon, swordsman and nuclear physicist. A man able to talk to dolphins and make love in 47 languages. A man who thinks a Walther PPK and an attaché case with a concealed throwing knife are "crude". The man who put the SUPER in super-spy. Derek Flint.
In the late 1960s, in the wake of the huge success of the first three Sean Connery films, other studios wanted a piece of the Bond-mania action and came up with their own take on the secret agent franchise. Of course there had been early attempts at aping the genre Bond made so successful but these were mostly out and out comedies or broad farce - Dirk Bogarde as "Agent 8 3/4" or "Carry On Spying" - plus of course TV legends Morecambe & Wise in "The Intelligence Men". Rat Pack lounge crooner Dean Martin would basically be himself as the booze-loving, easy-going, wisecracking playboy Matt Helm in four films from 1966 onwards. But when director Daniel Mann needed someone to play laconic master spy Derek Flint, he turned to James Harrison Coburn III.
Coburn first came to prominence as the knife-throwing cowboy Britt in the classic 1960 western "The Magnificent Seven" (even though he has only eleven lines of dialogue in the whole film) and followed this up with several memorable tough guy roles in "Hell Is For Heroes", "The Great Escape", "The Americanization Of Emily" and "Major Dundee". He also just missed out on the lead role in "A Fistful Of Dollars". His lanky frame, Cheshire Cat grin and thatch of silver hair meant that he perhaps wasn't a conventional Hollywood leading man, but he exuded an aura of confidence mixed with a touch of insubordination, turning him into the embodiment of 1960s effortless cool.
I'm sure I was aware of Coburn as an actor through TV viewings of some of his films in the mid 1970s but it was really two other factors that primed me for what is still (in my mind at least) his most iconic role. Firstly I became a big fan of spy novels and films, particularly the James Bond series. Around eleven or twelve years old I discovered and devoured the original Ian Fleming books, borrowing them in batches from the local library. The films were also turning up on TV on a regular basis and I always made time to watch them whenever I could. I also clearly remember a thrilling trip to the cinema with my grandfather in the school holidays to see a double bill of "Live And Let Die" and "The Man With The Golden Gun". Roger Moore was *my* Bond and I still think that those are his two best movies. The second important thing (as has been repeated throughout my life) was a comic strip. In 1979, in Prog 140, 2000 AD began their adaptation of Harry Harrison's first "Stainless Steel Rat" novel - scripted by Kelvin Gosnell with art by the incomparable Carlos Ezquerra. It's a fantastic story with many twists and turns - and the design of the Rat himself, aka 'Slippery' Jim diGriz, is clearly based on James Coburn...
Ezquerra's depiction of DiGriz through this and two subsequent comic strip sequels ("...Saves The World", and "...For President") is so ingrained in my mind that I cannot picture anyone but James Coburn in the role. Even when I read the novel and it's many sequels and prequels, it's James Coburn delivering those lines. It's such a shame then that a film or TV version never managed to get off the ground. Even in his later years Coburn would still have been the perfect choice. Anyway, it was not long after that initial 2000 AD story that I first discovered the delights of "Our Man Flint". I was astounded that I had not seen or heard of it before. Here was a film that combined the spy genre with a sprinkle of science fiction elements and a slightly futuristic comic book feel. It could almost be a 'Rat' story if you squinted a bit - Slippery Jim was just in disguise.
The story starts with a series of natural disasters caused by a weather-control device operated by the 'Galaxy' organisation, who are led by a trio of mad scientists. They threaten more disasters if their demands to take control of the planet and set up a 'utopian' scientifically regimented new world order are not complied with. A conference of world leaders meets with Cramden (Lee J. Cobb), the head of Z.O.W.I.E. (Zonal Organization for World Intelligence and Espionage) to discuss the crisis and they use their UNIVAC super-computers to figure out what to do next. Every single computer votes that there is only one man up to the task of stopping 'Galaxy' - ex Z.O.W.I.E. agent Derek Flint. But Flint is retired - happy to spend his time is his groovy Manhattan bachelor bad with his every whim tended to by a bevy of women of varying nationalities. Cramden also thinks he is too much of a loose cannon who plays by his own rules and dismisses the idea - until the president calls on his red phone and over-rules: "Get Flint!".
Ah now, that red phone. That unmistakable ringtone. You know it. I know it. It seems to have seeped into the public conciousness. It's this one:
That ringtone has appeared frequently in the "Austin Powers" movies of course, but it also cropped up in the criminally under-rated "Hudson Hawk". Bruce Willis has another link to "Our Man Flint", but we'll get to that later. Back to the plot...
Flint initially refuses to help, but when an attempt is made on his life with a poison dart while he is out dining with his 'playmates', he decides to investigate. A chemical trace on the dart leads the super-spy to Marseilles, then a specific brand of cold cream takes him to Rome and eventually to the secret base on Galaxy Island in the middle of the Mediterranean (hidden inside a volcano of course). This global chase includes one memorable scene which sees Flint engaged in a mock fight with Agent 0008, who bears more than a passing resemblance to a certain Mr. Connery. Naturally S.P.E.C.T.R.E. is namechecked and ruled out as the masterminds behind Galaxy's nefarious plot!
Flint is a master of - well, everything (which infuriates Cramden no end for some reason). He can fence with two opponents at the same time, and practice martial arts with five. He dances with the Russian ballet. He is a master of disguise. He turns down all the standard spy weapons in favour of his self-designed cigarette lighter which has 82 different functions - "83 if you want to light a cigar". While hunting the lab coated bad guys Flint also performs impromptu surgery, jumps starts a man's heart via a light bulb socket and traces a bouillabaisse recipe to just one specific restaurant on scent alone - all this while keeping his suits spotless, his demeanor unflappably cool and every woman satisfied (often with a single kiss, including his would-be assassin, Gila). Oh and he can put himself into suspended animation and slow his heart rate to fake death (waking himself with his modified watch). He's a cross between Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, Doc Savage - and Hugh Hefner.
Sneaking into the Galaxy complex, Flint must not only save the world but also rescue his four 'companions' who have been kidnapped by the misguided scientists. His cover is then blown by an eagle that's been trained to spot and attack Americans ("An anti-American eagle. It's diabolical...") and he is taken before Galaxy's trio of leaders. Refusing a chance to join their new world order, he narrowly avoids disintegration by using his nifty all-purpose lighter (slipped to him by the now loyal Gila). Flint sabotages the weather-control machinery and escapes the island with his playmates and Gila as the volcano erupts and the base sinks below the waves forever...
It's hard to put into words how much I love this film, but I'll try. I just have a huge James Coburn sized grin on my face every time I watch it. I think it's doing a great disservice to the movie to call "Our Man Flint" a James Bond spoof. Yes, it has elements of that, in that it takes the tropes of a 007 adventure and exaggerates them by turning the dial up to eleven, but to be fair the majority of the Bond movies are hardly serious drama. "Flint" walks the line just the right side of parody to make it a very entertaining homage and a great secret agent movie in its own right. The film capitalises on the hip "Coburn cool" - he oozes charisma and his magnetic presence dominates the screen. He's also pretty impressive in the fight sequences. While he seems to be flinging his arms and legs around while howling and making crazy faces (all without breaking a sweat), Coburn did train in the martial arts with Bruce Lee, so there is an underlying skill to these scenes. The actor also plays things as if he knows the inherent ridiculousness of the character but is having far too much fun to care. There is also one trick - where Flint 'relaxes' by suspending himself between two chairs with no support - that Coburn was able to perform himself, needing no stunt double or special effects. What a guy!
Yes there is a certain amount of 60s sexism present (such as woman being captured by 'Galaxy' to be hypnotised into being "pleasure units"), but Flint himself seems to treat his harem of ladies with great respect - even though they do seem to constantly pester him for sex all the time (poor guy) to which he always replies "Later..." It's unfair to criticise a film for being a product of it's time though. Also worth mentioning is the fantastic Jerry Goldsmith score which is incredibly catchy and really pulls the whole film together.
The film was so successful that a sequel was released just a year later. "In Like Flint" is just as bonkers although possibly even more sexist, with a group of beauty salon executive women plotting to take over the world from the men that are ruining it. I still enjoy watching it but it hasn't stuck in my memory quite as much as Flint's first outing. Sadly it was nowhere near as popular at the box office and this disappointment along with Coburn's wish not to become typecast led to a potential third move - "F Is For Flint" - being canned.
The thing is, the impact of the Flint pair of movies is far more wide ranging than you might suspect. There are the obvious influences on the Austin Powers films of course, plus it beat Bond to the hollowed out volcano lair idea by two years - but the weather-control plotline was also used in the 1998 Ralph Fiennes version of "The Avengers" (although perhaps the less said about that the better). Better yet there is the name of the bald Galaxy agent who Flint kills in a bathroom in Marseilles which turns up in the classic action thriller "Die Hard". His name? Hans Gruber. See, I told you Bruce Willis was a fan...
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