Deadlier Than the Male
Encyclopedia
Deadlier Than the Male is a 1967 British action film
featuring the character of Bulldog Drummond
. It is one of the many take-offs of James Bond
produced during the 1960s but based on an established detective fiction
hero. Richard Johnson
(Terence Young's original preference to play James Bond
) stars as Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond
, updated to a suave Korean War
veteran now an insurance investigator trailing a pair of sexy assassin
s (Elke Sommer
and Sylva Koscina
) who kill for sport and profit. Drummond's American nephew, Robert Drummond (Steve Carlson then a Universal Pictures
contract star), becomes involved in the intrigue when he comes to visit.
The title is a reference to the 1911 Rudyard Kipling
poem "The Female of the Species," which includes the line "The female of the species must be deadlier than the male", and also refers to Sapper's earlier Drummond book The Female of the Species.
The movie poster is slightly misleading; although three other female assassins are featured briefly in the finale, the brunette, Kitty Swan, has a less prominent role in the film but is as prominent as the two leads on poster.
The film was followed by a sequel Some Girls Do
in 1969.
Drummond pursues them from foggy London
to the sunny Mediterranean, but finds himself trapped in a deadly game of cat and mouse with a diabolical mastermind. It is revealed that Carl Petersen (Nigel Green
) is the evil genius
behind the assassinations (masquerading as an executive) and that his own assassination was faked. Using two female assassins, Irma (Elke Sommer
) and Penelope (Sylva Koscina
), Petersen kills anyone who either attempt to uncover his alter ego or block his attempts at making money.
The finale of the movie involves Petersen's attempt at killing King Fedra, who refuses to sell his oil fields. Grace, who unknowingly reveals to Peterson that she is disillusioned with Peterson while talking to Drummond, is unwittingly used to carry a plastic explosive onto the King's yacht. While playing against Petersen in a game of chess that uses giant motorized pieces, Drummond attempts to escape from Petersen's castle where he is a prisoner. In the process, Drummond kills Petersen's bodyguard Chang (Milton Reid
) and presumably kills Petersen himself by dropping him down an exploding hole in the chessboard (a different actor portrays the character in the 1969 sequel).
Irma and Penelope, forced to be near Grace on King Fedra's yacht while Drummond tries to find the bomb, escape when one of King Fedra's guard is distracted by Grace's off-screen nudity while Drummond is searching her. After a seemingly successful escape, Irma comments to the other that the bomb was in Grace's hairclip. Penelope is shocked, for she envied Grace's hairclip and replaced it with her own (having been envious of other women's belongings throughout the entire film, using them to the increasing consternation of others). The two assassins are killed instantly when the hairclip explodes, destroying their motorboat.
for a television series. It was filmed in three months with Thomas admitting he did it for "greed".
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
featuring the character of Bulldog Drummond
Bulldog Drummond
Bulldog Drummond is a British fictional character, created by "Sapper", a pseudonym of Herman Cyril McNeile , and the hero of a series of novels published from 1920 to 1954.- Drummond :...
. It is one of the many take-offs of James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
produced during the 1960s but based on an established detective fiction
Detective fiction
Detective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...
hero. Richard Johnson
Richard Johnson (actor)
Richard Johnson is an English actor, writer and producer, who starred in several British films of the 1960s and has also had a distinguished stage career. He most recently appeared in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.-Life and career:...
(Terence Young's original preference to play James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
) stars as Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond
Bulldog Drummond
Bulldog Drummond is a British fictional character, created by "Sapper", a pseudonym of Herman Cyril McNeile , and the hero of a series of novels published from 1920 to 1954.- Drummond :...
, updated to a suave Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
veteran now an insurance investigator trailing a pair of sexy assassin
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
s (Elke Sommer
Elke Sommer
Elke Sommer , born Baroness Elke Schletz, is a German actress, entertainer and artist.-Career:Sommer was born in Berlin to a Lutheran minister and his wife...
and Sylva Koscina
Sylva Koscina
Sylva Koscina was an Italian actress.-Biography:...
) who kill for sport and profit. Drummond's American nephew, Robert Drummond (Steve Carlson then a Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
contract star), becomes involved in the intrigue when he comes to visit.
The title is a reference to the 1911 Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
poem "The Female of the Species," which includes the line "The female of the species must be deadlier than the male", and also refers to Sapper's earlier Drummond book The Female of the Species.
The movie poster is slightly misleading; although three other female assassins are featured briefly in the finale, the brunette, Kitty Swan, has a less prominent role in the film but is as prominent as the two leads on poster.
The film was followed by a sequel Some Girls Do
Some Girls Do
Some Girls Do is a 1969 British comedy spy film directed by Ralph Thomas. It was the second of the revamped Bulldog Drummond films made following the success of the James Bond films of the 1960's.-Cast:...
in 1969.
Plot
When a top oil executive dies mysteriously aboard his private jet, the company's board suspects foul play and hires Drummond to investigate. Attempts on his own life lead him to believe two lovely females are "hit men" for an international crime syndicate.Drummond pursues them from foggy London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to the sunny Mediterranean, but finds himself trapped in a deadly game of cat and mouse with a diabolical mastermind. It is revealed that Carl Petersen (Nigel Green
Nigel Green
Nigel Green was a South African-born English character actor. Because of his strapping build and commanding demeanour he would often be found playing military types and men of action in such classic sixties films as Jason and the Argonauts, Zulu, Tobruk and The Ipcress File.-Early life and...
) is the evil genius
Evil genius
The evil demon, sometimes referred to as the evil genius, is a concept in Cartesian philosophy. In his 1641 Meditations on First Philosophy, René Descartes hypothesises the existence of an evil demon, a personification who is "as clever and deceitful as he is powerful, who has directed his entire...
behind the assassinations (masquerading as an executive) and that his own assassination was faked. Using two female assassins, Irma (Elke Sommer
Elke Sommer
Elke Sommer , born Baroness Elke Schletz, is a German actress, entertainer and artist.-Career:Sommer was born in Berlin to a Lutheran minister and his wife...
) and Penelope (Sylva Koscina
Sylva Koscina
Sylva Koscina was an Italian actress.-Biography:...
), Petersen kills anyone who either attempt to uncover his alter ego or block his attempts at making money.
The finale of the movie involves Petersen's attempt at killing King Fedra, who refuses to sell his oil fields. Grace, who unknowingly reveals to Peterson that she is disillusioned with Peterson while talking to Drummond, is unwittingly used to carry a plastic explosive onto the King's yacht. While playing against Petersen in a game of chess that uses giant motorized pieces, Drummond attempts to escape from Petersen's castle where he is a prisoner. In the process, Drummond kills Petersen's bodyguard Chang (Milton Reid
Milton Reid
Milton Rutherford Reid was an Indian-born English actor and professional wrestler. He was born in India, the son of a Scottish-born Customs and Excise inspector and an Indian woman...
) and presumably kills Petersen himself by dropping him down an exploding hole in the chessboard (a different actor portrays the character in the 1969 sequel).
Irma and Penelope, forced to be near Grace on King Fedra's yacht while Drummond tries to find the bomb, escape when one of King Fedra's guard is distracted by Grace's off-screen nudity while Drummond is searching her. After a seemingly successful escape, Irma comments to the other that the bomb was in Grace's hairclip. Penelope is shocked, for she envied Grace's hairclip and replaced it with her own (having been envious of other women's belongings throughout the entire film, using them to the increasing consternation of others). The two assassins are killed instantly when the hairclip explodes, destroying their motorboat.
Cast
- Richard JohnsonRichard Johnson (actor)Richard Johnson is an English actor, writer and producer, who starred in several British films of the 1960s and has also had a distinguished stage career. He most recently appeared in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.-Life and career:...
as Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond - Elke SommerElke SommerElke Sommer , born Baroness Elke Schletz, is a German actress, entertainer and artist.-Career:Sommer was born in Berlin to a Lutheran minister and his wife...
as Irma Eckman - Sylva KoscinaSylva KoscinaSylva Koscina was an Italian actress.-Biography:...
as Penelope - Nigel GreenNigel GreenNigel Green was a South African-born English character actor. Because of his strapping build and commanding demeanour he would often be found playing military types and men of action in such classic sixties films as Jason and the Argonauts, Zulu, Tobruk and The Ipcress File.-Early life and...
as Carl Petersen - Suzanna LeighSuzanna LeighSuzanna Leigh is a former English actress.Born to a manufacturer of car engines Suzanna Leigh grew up in the Belgrave district of Leicester, England and later went to convent schools outside London...
as Grace - Steve Carlson as Robert Drummond
- Virginia NorthVirginia NorthVirginia North was an English-American actress who appeared in small roles in five movies and one TV program between 1967 and 1971.-Life and career:Born Virginia Anne Northrop in London to a British mother and a U.S...
as Brenda - Justine LordJustine LordJustine Lord is an English actress, active on television throughout the 1960s.She began her acting career in repertory theatre, and in the 1960s made guest appearances on The Avengers, The Saint, The Prisoner and Man in a Suitcase as well as playing regular roles on Crossroads, Compact,...
as Miss Peggy Ashenden - Leonard RossiterLeonard RossiterLeonard Rossiter was an English actor known for his roles as Rupert Rigsby, in the British comedy television series Rising Damp , and Reginald Iolanthe Perrin, in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin...
as Henry Bridgenorth - Laurence NaismithLaurence NaismithLaurence Naismith was an English actor.Naismith appeared in films such as Carrington VC , Richard III , Sink the Bismarck! , Jason and the Argonauts , and Diamonds Are Forever . He also starred in a children's ghost film The Amazing Mr Blunden...
as Sir John Bledlow - Zia MohyeddinZia MohyeddinZia Mohyeddin is a Pakistani actor famed for his voice.He was born in Faisalabad, , British India in a Urdu Speaking Family. He passed his early life in Karachi. He was trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London from 1953-1956...
as King Fedra - Lee MontagueLee MontagueLee Montague is an English actor noted for his roles on film and television, usually playing tough guys.Film credits include: Moulin Rouge, The Camp on Blood Island, The Savage Innocents, Billy Budd, The Secret of Blood Island, Deadlier Than the Male, The Legacy and Brother Sun, Sister...
as Boxer - Milton ReidMilton ReidMilton Rutherford Reid was an Indian-born English actor and professional wrestler. He was born in India, the son of a Scottish-born Customs and Excise inspector and an Indian woman...
as Chang - Yasuko NagazumiYasuko Nagazumiis a producer and manager in Hollywood responsible for print advertising campaigns for clients such as Armani, Donna Karan, Guess?, Pirelli, Vogue Magazine and working with photographers Peter Lindbergh, Herb Ritts, Helmut Newton and others....
as Mitsouko - Didi Sydow as Anna
- George PastellGeorge PastellGeorge Pastell was a Cypriot character actor in British films and television programmes. His real name was George Pastellides....
as Carloggio - Dervis Ward as Henry Keller
- John StoneJohn Stone (actor)-Career:Born in Cardiff, Wales as John Hailstone, Stone was educated at Brighton College. He made his first West End appearance in One Wild Oat by Vernon Sylvaine, 1948...
as David Wyngarde - William MervynWilliam MervynWilliam Mervyn was an English actor best known for his portrayal of the Bishop in the clerical comedy All Gas and Gaiters.-Life and career:...
as Chairman of the Phoenician Board
Production
Publicity announced the film in December 1964 but it wasn't filmed until 1966. In an interview, Ralph Thomas stated that the film was intended as a pilotTelevision pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
for a television series. It was filmed in three months with Thomas admitting he did it for "greed".