clanciai Delightful spy comedy with plenty of good humour in its cheeky mix of ironical satire, flippant comedy, serious paranoia, the full terror of a dictatorial police state and diplomatic charm. The introductory scene sets the mood: the remnants of a certain agent 007 are turned in and filed in a box labelled 'deceased' while the caretakers remark on the necessity of getting a replacement. Dirk Bogarde is fished out as a suitable candidate and is appropriately recruited without being informed what it is all about. He is sent on a mission to Czechoslovakia on what seems to be some quite innocent business where he is to be contacted by someone about something. That is all. The Prague authorities welcome him and give him a beautiful driver to show him around, which contact develops into a love affair, but she works for the police, and her father (the formidable Leo McKern) is chief of the secret police. The satirical comedy drastically turns into a political thriller half way into the film with ensuing complications and lots of manhunts and crowded confusions.The film is gilded by some very enjoyable performances by especially Robert Morley, Dirk Bogarde himself of course, the aforesaid Leo McKern and his daughter Sylva Koscina. It's really very close to the real Czech comedies by Milos Forman and others later on, it's the same kind of intelligent humour, and the film gets better all the time. Ultimately no one gets hurt, so in spite of the serious political business, as it was in Czechoslovakia before 1968, which it gives a fairly correct and realistic rendering of, it's a spiritual and entertaining comedy of some great excitement but all laughs and no tears.

Torson Falcradine Dirk Bogarde excels in this spy movie.Although Hot Enough For June also known as Agent 8 3/4 is portrayed as a spoof spy movie in the James Bond mold, the movie is not a comedy although it has it's funnier moments. It is a thrilling and suspenseful drama directed by Earl St John with some lighter moments. The movie takes a serious look at spying in the Cold war era and which was very enjoyable. Whilst the lighter moments are welcome in that it keeps your attention the underlying message highlights the skulduggery that went on at the time.The movie changes from one one location to another thus moving at brisk and exciting pace. Mid movie things get very serious for Dirk, when his life is threatened and holds the attention of the audience. Whilst Dirk is portrayed initially as a bumbling idiot it soon becomes clear than he is smarter than initially portrayed. Eric Morley excels too and it is good to see Leo McKern on the runway tarmac in the closing scene giving a nice twist when Dirk climbs onto the BEA Vickers Vanguard.Definitely worth the watch and getting the DVD if available.

Bogmeister MASTER PLAN: capture that spy! A restrained yet witty, surprisingly entertaining parody of the James Bond/spy genre so prevalent during the Cold War of the sixties. Keep in mind that the connection to Bond may be based on the fact that agent 007 was killed at the end of the original novel version of "From Russia With Love." The hero and main character (Bogarde) is not actually a spy - that is, trained for or knowledgeable of the arcane profession. He's actually a bit of a layabout, an unpublished writer content with collecting unemployment to get by. He's not even truly interested in getting a job, but when the prospect of a good salary unexpectedly comes up, he's unable to resist the offer. He thinks, based on his meeting with his new boss (Morley), that he's being sent to Prague on typical corporate business and because he understands Czech. Some warning signals go off in the back of his mind with the thought of going behind the dreaded Iron Curtain and using a code phrase (the title of the film) as part of his instructions. Well, he should have heeded those signals more. It's intriguing that he doesn't know who his contact is - the return code phrase has something to do with September - and this sets up some amusing scenes.Bogarde is excellent as the slightly naive but nevertheless intelligent, quick-on-his-feet dupe. The story bogs down just a bit as he acquaints himself with the new locale but it really kicks into full gear when he's finally targeted by the enemy (headed by McKern). The audience and the character himself find out that he's actually pretty well suited for the cloak-and-dagger business, much to our astonishment. The actress Koscina had a more flamboyant role in the similarly imitative "Deadlier Than the Male," but she exudes a lot of sultry appeal here. And old pros Morley and McKern show how such experienced thespians can add much to such a film. Since much of the story's premise points to the pointlessness and 'running-about-in-circles' of the espionage business, this translates into a rather frivolous, pointless overall scheme for the film, but you're engaged while viewing it. Also, this early in the decade, this was more derivative of the early "From Russia With Love"-style of the 007 thrillers, rather than the 'world-threatening/domination' plots of later imitators, such as Flint and Matt Helm. And, I'm still trying to figure out the meaning of the alternate title, "Agent 8&3/4." Hero:8 Villain:7 Femme Fatale:7 Henchmen:6 Fights:5 Stunts/Chases:5 Gadgets:4 Auto:6 Locations:6 Pace:6 overall:6

wsfm671 "Hot Enough for June" started as a funny sendup of the Bond movies of its day, but by the end had metamorphosed to a nice combination of suspense adventure and romantic comedy. I wish it was available to see again.