moonspinner55 American agent Charles Hood needs to stop international criminal Hammerhead from stealing a secret report on nuclear defense. British production has cheeky asides and a bouncy score from David Whitaker--as well as a curious obsession with erotic art!--but is so mild it barely makes an impression. Adaptation of the spy novel by James Mayo (aka Stephen Coulter) opens with a garish hippie happening in London that is liable to scare away the film's target audience. In the lead, Vince Edwards seems a little sheepish; he fills the bill but lacks the punchy personality to make Hood a three-dimensional hero. *1/2 from ****

ShadeGrenade 'Hammerhead' was a late addition to the seemingly endless cycle of James Bond imitations that swamped cinemas in the mid-'60's. Based on a novel by James Mayo, it stars Vince Edwards as American agent 'Charles Hood', who is assigned by Colonel Condor ( Patrick Cargill ) of British Intelligence to investigate the activities of evil millionaire Mr.Hammerhead ( Peter Vaughan ). Hood travels to Lisbon with a crate of pornography ( Hammerhead is fascinated by the stuff ) which he hopes to sell to the arch-villain. Getting in his way at all times is lovely model Sue Trenton ( Judy Geeson ). Hammerhead has a palatial villa and a yacht called 'Triton'. One of his staff, Andreas ( Michael Bates ) is training to impersonate Sir Richard Calvert ( also played by Bates ) with a view to infiltrating a meeting of NATO chiefs of staff and photographing a top secret report into Western defense.What distinguishes it from the Bond series - and indeed so many other similar films - are the squirts of hippie atmosphere that book-end the movie. 'Hood' is a colourless character, but Edwards makes a decent fist of it. Peter Vaughan enjoys himself hugely as the titular villain ( 'Espiritu Lobar' in the book ), a sort of cross between 'Auric Goldfinger' and Howard Hughes. Michael Bates is especially good, and Diana Dors and Beverly Adams add to the glamour. Strangely, despite all the beautiful girls around, Hood does not get to bed any of them ( though its hinted he and Sue will be heading for bed as the end credits roll ). William Mervyn, known mainly for comedy roles ( such as in 'All Gas & Gaiters' ), plays one of Hammerhead's men, and Dave 'Darth Vader' Prowse is a super-strong henchman. Irving Allen, the producer, was also responsible for the 'Matt Helm' series starring Dean Martin. While I liked this movie better than the last three Helm pictures, it did not quite come up to the standard of the first - 'The Silencers'.In the action stakes the movie is okay but not particularly outstanding. The Triton yacht is so impressive I was looking forward to seeing it blown up at the end, but it does not happen. Neither does Hood get to fight the Prowse character. The villains have a few gadgets, such a lipstick radio and a tape recorder in a matchbox, but Hood has none! Some good fights though, and a couple of exciting chases through the back alleys of Lisbon. There is one hilarious moment when Hood and Sue, trapped in a coffin, try to summon help from a passing motorcyclist ( Kenneth Cope ). As soon as he sees them, he keels over from shock!Hood made no further appearances on the big screen, which is kind of a pity as the next two books in the series - 'Let Sleeping Girls Lie' and 'Shamelady' - would have in my view made good movies.

OldSchoolWhitey64 Third rate Bond ripoff,with super villain,scantily clad women,etc.About the only moment I even really remember is *NOT A SPOILER* with about 10 minutes left, the wind from a helicopter blows Judy Geeson's skirt up, giving us a good 3-4 second look at her white briefs.That should tell you how memorable the entire movie is.To the first comment,at the bottom,the *SPOILER* ending you described,was to an equally awful film,from the year before, called "The Day the fish came out."

enterplan Like the first commenter, I discovered "Hammerhead" via the score LP in the 1970s. CBS-TV in the US used to show a heavily-edited version regularly; later, an uncut print was seen locally. (It was also spotted on cable during the 1980s.) It's a neat movie, with some good chase scenes (one involving a large hearse). The "Chelsea Happening" music accompanies an interesting performance-art show that was typical of the era. Judy Geeson's character manages to be both kooky and sexy as she and Vince Edwards scoot all over Europe in search of Hammerhead.Note: the music on the LP is a different recording from that in the movie; the arrangements are, however, pretty much identical. The score rather predictably conforms to visual action: for example, those five rhythmic "hits" near the end of "Villa Fight" are cut to Charles Hood slamming a car door on someone's hand! This actually bolsters the charm of this picture.Any chance to see "Hammerhead" should be seized upon!!