Mata Hari (1985)

Mata Hari: Directed by Curtis Harrington. With Sylvia Kristel, Christopher Cazenove, Oliver Tobias, Gaye Brown. Mata Hari is a beautiful Dutch-born dancer, working in Paris. It is August 1914 and war between France and Germany seems imminent. However, she accepts an invitation to travel to Berlin as part of a show. On the train she meets a young German army officer but any thoughts of romance are cut short when a French agent is murdered on the train, while in her company. She is arrested in Germany but freed when the German officer intervenes. While in Germany war breaks out and she is recruited by German Intelligence to spy on France.

“This is a soft-porn version of the life of the real Mata Hari, supposed spy for the Germans, executed by the French in 1917. This movie tries to sanctify MH, but only makes her ridiculous. Her real life and fate was far more interesting than this movie.”