Operation Kid Brother (1967)

Operation Kid Brother (1967). 1h 44m | Not Rated

“If youu0026#39;re a fan of the Euro-spy movies made in the 60s, how can you not just love Operation Double 007? Using the success of James Bond as a model, those crazy Italians certainly made some crazy spy movies. This one stars Sean Conneryu0026#39;s brother, Neil Connery (who plays a character cleverly named Neil Connery) as a plastic surgeon / hypnotist / lip reader. With tongue firmly in cheek, we also learn that Neil is the brother of a famous spy and, as his brother is unavailable, the government wants Neil to stand in and give them a hand. Before you can say Dr. No, Neilu0026#39;s up to his neck in beautiful women, a super-villain with a nuclear device, the obligatory henchmen, archers on horse back, gun fights, car chases, blind Arab rug-weavers, can-can dancers, explosions, underground lairs, and a Japanese woman kidnapped by the worldu0026#39;s most vicious nun/nurse. Donu0026#39;t worry, it all makes sense in the end (well, sort of anyway). Besides, if thereu0026#39;s a loose end here or there, who cares when youu0026#39;re having this much fun.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eJoining Connery in the cast is a plethora of Bond vets including Daniela Bianchi, Adolfo Celi, Bernard Lee, and Lois Maxwell. Itu0026#39;s a real treat to see them all in a different setting. In particular, itu0026#39;s great to see Lois Maxwell out from behind that desk she always sat at in the Bond movies. Here, sheu0026#39;s not only gets out in the field, but she gets the chance to mow down baddies with a machine gun as well. Celi, always the bad guy in a movie like this, looks like heu0026#39;s having the time of his life. Thereu0026#39;s at least one scene where itu0026#39;s not hard to notice a small smile come to his face and youu0026#39;ve got to wonder how close he came to losing it. But as much as I enjoyed both of these fine actors, I was particularly impressed with the work of Daniela Bianchi from From Russia with Love fame. In Operation Double 007, she gets to play both the good and bad girl, wear some over-the-top outfits, and look generally fabulous. Itu0026#39;s a shame she didnu0026#39;t go on to do more after this movie. She had a definite screen presence about her.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere are some out there who want to label Operation Double 007 a u0026quot;James Bond rip-offu0026quot;. Itu0026#39;s not a rip-off, itu0026#39;s a parody – and a good one at that. Operation Double 007 was released the same year as the more famous Bond parody Casino Royale. The big difference is that Casino Royale is one big, bloated mess of a movie thatu0026#39;s rarely funny. Operation Double 007, on the other hand, is a blast. In fact, and this may be blasphemous to some, but itu0026#39;s more fun than about half of the Bond movies. Itu0026#39;s too bad itu0026#39;s never had a proper R1 DVD release so that more people might discover this movie. The only way Iu0026#39;ve seen the movie is courtesy of a DVD-R of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode on which it appeared. Itu0026#39;s a great episode, but I would love to see a good release without the bots and their comments.”