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The best spy spoof ever!

Modesty Blaise is the best spy spoot ever!! You folks who don't like it need to get a life. Relax, on your plush sofa. Roll a doobie and enjoy Ms Blaise. I dig her the most, baaby!!

One of the better Bond spoofs...

This movie is so CHIC, I haven't got the exact words to describe it. The cast is sort of chi-chi: Monica Vitti, Terence Stamp, Harry Andrews, Dirk Boarde and Clive Revill, with Jospeh Losey directing, (Joseph Losey??) A hoi-polloi audience was almost assured! I saw this film in 1966 when it came out and was immediately struck by how different it was from the other Bond spoofs, such as "Our Man Flint" and those awful Matt Helm movies. "Modesty" is avant garde in that notoriously sanitized, late sixties style that made psychedelia palatable for the masses, with op art wallpaper everywhere and decadence celebrated by way of the villains portrayed by Bogarde and "Mrs. Fathergill".

The jazzy score is very reminiscent of the one for "The Tenth Victim", though the lyricked theme song used in the opening credits should do WITHOUT the words, since they're just a WEE bit too arch! The instrumental side, however, is done beautifully, and adds to the "chic" feel of the movie.

The fact that Monica Vitti has an accent so thick, you could choke on it, only adds to this flavor, as does Terence Stamp's prophetic "Alex the Droog" portrayal of her sidekick, Willie Garvin. The casual use of Ferraris, Rolls Royces, Citroens and multi-colored cigarettes make this a fashion-mongerer's wet dream.

It's been stated that this film had no plot....oh, it's got a plot, alright, but there's so much OTHER business going on while it's unraveling, you can miss it! Modesty and Willie's briefs are to make sure fifty million pounds of foreign aid, in the form of diamonds, are delivered to an arab sheikh without the inimitable Gabriel, (Bogarde,) getting his superciliously foppish hands on them. Revill plays his fawning sidekick, accountant and condifante, McWhorter.

Everybody involved seems to be having the time of their lives being in this flick, especially Stamp and Vitti.

Chic, funny, and unique, a DEFINITE change of pace for the classic Hollywood director who helmed it, (if he indeed ever existed)....this movie joins "Help!", "Lord Love A Duck" and a few other zany flicks as icons of sixties aesthetics and cinematic philosophy.

A museum piece of late sixties culture....

(Why ...does she have to be called "Modesty Blaise"?? How about "Modesty Ace" or "Modesty Aqua"?)

What a travesty

I am a huge Modesty Blaise fan. I own and have read all the books and most of the comics. This movie is a disaster. First of all Modesty is BLONDE!!No no no this is all wrong, Modesty is of a Middle Eastern background, how can she be BLONDE!! Next why on earth do Modesty and Willie Garvin KISS!! Arghhhh. Modesty and Willie don't have that kind of a relationship.
The important thing about the Modesty Blaise series is the characters and their interaction, this movie is just high camp and sets and costumes. Terrible terrible.If I could give this no stars I would.

Waste of time

I am a real fan of parody and was hoping this film would fit the mold. Nope. It was boring and a waste of time. The Flint movies were superb - Fathom was acceptable. This is the first DVD I bought that I gave away after watching it (and I have a large collection of 1950 Sci Fi bad movies!). Don't bother renting or buying this DVD. It is a waste of money to do so.

enjoyable hotch-potch of [stuff]

MODESTY BLAISE is an enjoyable, campy little gem that is quite fun. High in style and low in plot, the cast obviously had a ball working on this great film.

Based on the popular long-running comic strip character, the story concerns high-class jewel and art thief Modesty Blaise (played bewitchingly by Monica Vitti) who is called upon to investigate the actions of reclusive millionaire and criminal Gabriel (Dirk Bogarde) who lives on a foreboding island.

Modesty enlists the help of her associate and some-time lover Willie Garvin (Terence Stamp) and soon Modesty is up to her neck in psychedelic espionage and sexy costumes! However, there is always Gabriel's assistant to contend with: the man-eating, sadistic Mrs Fothergill (Rosella Falk)...

The plot is as wafer-thin as Modesty's silken dresses; between the time that Modesty is recruited to the final showdown on Gabriel's island, there is about 90 minutes of plot that I cannot even fathom. Dirk Bogarde relishes his role as the decadent Gabriel, wearing a John Inman-esque fright wig and drinking out of impossibly-sized glasses. Another hilaious scene is where Mrs Fothergill is holding "diving lessons". During the climactic battle, Modesty and Willie have a time-out to sing a rather annoying love song, and somehow Arabs on stallions are mysteriously transported to the island to assist Modesty in her showdown with Gabriel!!...Totally unbelievable and only possible in the 60's.

Nontheless, MODESTY BLAISE is a charming piece of fluffy eye-candy and should be savored as the harmless schlock that it was meant to be.

Highly recommended. (Single-sided, single-layer disc).

An absolute travesty

I consider myself very lucky to have become acquainted with Modesty Blaise. Thank you, Peter O'Donnell, for Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin (my thanks are late but heartfelt, nonetheless). My life is much the richer for your work.

This film, however, is a travesty. Modesty Blaise could have been, should have been, bigger and better than James Bond.

Originally, I felt that the folks that made this film should be [fired]. However, I have entertained a more appropriate condemnation:

They should be required to view their abomination repetitively ad infinatum.

But there's more...

The only good news here is that Quentin Tarantino is expected to produce a remake of this film. The original was made before the industry standardizad the spoof of spy movies. One can only hope that Tarantino's vision will include the elements missing from the original that we now come to expect in Hollywood films.

A new standard of awfulness

I bought this DVD knowing it was bad, but I was interested in the psychedelic aspects of it. I thought maybe it would have a campy "Batman" feel to it, being made in the same great year of '66. I was not prepared for how terrible it really is. It's so abysmal that I couldn't finish it. The acting is nauseatingly bad, the script is pathetic, and the actor's voices appear to have been dubbed (badly). I found no kitsch or camp value in it whatsoever - it's just plain awful. In fact, the back cover of the DVD pretty much admits that: the only positive thing they can say is that the movie has "psychedelic wallpaper". Yes, it sure does, some very groovy designs indeed, but I need more than wallpaper in a movie to keep me interested. This is one of the worst movies I ever tried to watch. It was put on DVD purely because of the then-current Austin Powers/60's fad. Although I love the sixties, I think all copies of this movie should be burned, and the DVDs made into coasters.

Highly Intellectual Spoof

This spoof reminds me of the Mrs. Peel black and white Avengers episodes. There is no sex. The women have modestly shaped bodies and wear full coverage, baggy clothes. What little violence is of the cartoon variety. The villains are eccentric. The plot is preposterous. British upper class government ministers are lampooned mercilessly. It takes several viewings to really appreciate it.

Not Even a Touch of Modesty

Were it not for the success of Austin Powers, Modesty Blaise would almost certainly never have been released on DVD. People buying it expecting something like Mike Meyers's film will either be disappointed or pleasantly surprised, depending on taste. Both films are parodies of spy movies, but that's about where the similarities end. Powers is star-centered low comedy; Modesty is a humorless director's vision of cartoon action.

The film is genuinely funny, but in a way that may not be everyone's cup of tea. As just one of the more over the top examples, a joke late in the film depends on Dirk Bogarde's reaction to a strangled body hanging limply behind him. The moment *is* funny, but I suspect that more than a few viewers will find it anything but. The pace too is leisurely, not at all in the fist-in-the-face mode of even the early Bonds, much less more recent films in the series. In other words, expect neither childish jokes à la Powers nor fast-paced action à la Bond.

Instead, there is a lot of what pretentious critics call the "gestural," which might best be described as mannerisms so showy that even academics notice. There isn't an ounce of subtlety in any of it, which seems to be the point. From Losey's overly elaborate camerawork (take a moment to figure out how the shot in the credit sequence was taken without the camera crew becoming pretzels, for example), to Richard Macdonald's eye-popping Op Art inspired production design, to Dirk Bogarde's camped up Gabriel, everyone seems to be trying to out-outrage one another.

If you are familiar with Losey's more serious work, this loud declaiming might seem out of character, but the results are as obscure and opaque as his collaborations with Harold Pinter. Still, if you normally enjoy his films, you will probably get a kick out of seeing Losey's claustrophobia turned inside out and made into a joke.

A Feast of Camp Psychedelia

Probably no film screams "swinging sixties" at you as much as Modesty Blaise does with its bright colours and pop art and op art designs, a musical score that is a blend of jazz and pop, a script that seems determined not to make sense, a campy collection of character actors, and direction that seems to have everything but direction. And yet despite all of this - or more probably because of it - the film remains oddly entertaining. And it is definitely a reflection of the era in which it was made. Some of us may watch it with twinges of nostalgia mixed with embarrassment. To say the style of the film is dated is to state the blindingly obvious. But that's part of its charm.

If you are willing to dispense with logic and enter into the spirit of the film, the experience can be quite good fun. Based on a popular comic strip and released at a time when every other film was about spies, Modesty Blaise refuses to take itself, or anything else, seriously. Monica Vitti - always a strange choice for the role - is seldom made up to look like the character she is portraying. Terence Stamp, as her sidekick Willie Garvin, seems to be having a great time. Other British stalwarts such as Clive Revill and Harry Andrews happily do their bits. But it falls to Dirk Bogarde and Rosella Falk to go as far over the top as the film's mood and style requires. Falk in particular seems to have realised exactly what was called for by director Joseph Losey.

But it is Dirk Bogarde who carries things along and whose performance will be most remembered. It is a performance for which the word "camp" might have been invented. With hair, makeup, costume and body language suitably outlandish, he wisely counterpoints them by dryly delivering his dialogue with his trademark underplaying. Only Bogarde could be staked out in a desert and desperately call out: "Champagne...champagne..."

In the end, you almost wonder why Bogarde and Losey made this film, which is such a distinct change of pace from their earlier collaborations. Some of the sequences are brilliantly shot, especially the more realistic Amsterdam scenes early in the film. But having Vitti and Stamp bursting into song was a huge mistake.

Like most cult films, Modesty Blaise is an acquired taste and will not appeal to everyone. Fans of sixties excess will love it and admirers of Dirk Bogarde will be amazed by it. Anyone watching it for the first time are advised to keep an open mind.

Shakespear this ain't!!!!!! But a funny funny movie!!!!

This movie is nearly ruined by the two leaden performances by its lead stars (Stamp almost seems embarrassed to be in the movie!!). What save this and turns it into a glorious romp are the performances by Dirk Bogarde (yes, heavy drama Dirk!! with white blonde hair!!!!!) and Clive Revill doing camp in high style. Their to-the-wall campy characters are alone worth every penny of this. They are a riot as the mad menancing boss and his competitive right hand. Bogarde and Revill have a fine grasp of what camp should be, unlike the two leads that seem alternatively to take it serious (big mistake) or seem rather ashamed to be caught in this off-the-wall, odd ball film. Heavily weighed down by mod 60's culture (which Austin Powers now makes a fortune with), it obviously was ahead of its time!!!!

So pop some popcorn and ice the pepsi, and maybe buy you a big box of JuJu fruit, click back and enjoy. People that enjoy Austin Powers series of films, will go for this BABY!!!!!!!!!!

Best DVD Ever

...I feel very special to have this in my collection. A 'lost' cult classic which up until now was not available. This DVD looks spectacular and seems to be 'un-cut' but I have never seen another print. This is a must for fans of 60's pop art. Films such as Danger Diabolik, Blow Up and Our Man Flint are good comparisons. Monika Vitti is stunning. The locations and photography are tre cool.
So run out and purchase this. yeah baby!

A bad film in a disappointing genera: really no stars

It's too bad that spoofs of the James Bond films tend to be so very bad. Both print and television have done quite well making hip fun of Bond and his imitators, but movies made with the same idea consistantly come up short. Some of them are a lot of fun, even if they don't hold together. Some are completely unwatchable. Modesty Blaise comes somewhere in the middle. It isn't actually revolting, but it's nowhere near as clever as it thinks it is.
Fans of the Modesty Blaise comic strip and novels should avoid this film like the plague. This isn't Modesty, or Willie, any more than the Matt Helm films are adaptations of the Matt Helm books. People unfamilliar with the other Modesty material may find this film mildly enjoyable, but would be better off with the Flint movies, which come as close as anything ever done to making a success of this idea.

"What's that? Looks like a fish!" Modesty will live forever, despite the best efforts of Gabriel and Joseph Losey

Monica Vitti as Modesty Blaise has such a thick Italian accent and such minimal acting skills you're never sure if she's inviting you to her bed or telling you she wants another helping of spaghetti. Joseph Losey, the director, has attempted a comedy thriller along the lines of a Jane Bond knock off. All he and his screenwriter, Evan Jones, have managed to wring out of such a stale idea, stale even in 1966, is lead-foot comedy dialogue, mannered characters which must have embarrassed the actors who played them, and an awkward, ham-handed, swinging style. Not only is what are supposed to be amusing send-ups not, the pace of the movie is as flaccid as a month-old cucumber

Thank goodness Modesty Blaise, as Peter O'Donnell gave her to us, first in his comic strip and then in his novels, is indestructible. She don't need no Joseph Losey or Monica Vitti to bring her to life...just O'Donnell's words and our own imagination.

O'Donnell was asked to write a screenplay based on his popular comic strip character. He did, turned it over to Losey, and watched while the script was re-written, changed, neutered and nudged until he, and just about everyone else, conceded that the caricature of Modesty in the film had almost no resemblance to the smart, shrewd, tough, resourceful woman O'Donnell created. The movie was made and flopped. O'Donnell took his original script, rewrote it as a novel titled Modesty Blaise and the novel was a big success.


Here we have Modesty in awful Sixties styles (and with an awful Sixties soundtrack) hired by British intelligence to foil a plot by the criminal mastermind, Gabriel (Dirk Bogarde, in a performance he probably regretted for the rest of his life). A huge sum in diamonds is in play to secure a middle-east oil deal. Gabriel plans to heist the ice. It will be Modesty and her faithful friend, Willie Garvin (Terence Stamp), against the swish, effete Gabriel and his band of vicious exaggerations, ranging from a mad accountant to a collection of pretty young men. Keep an eye out for Mrs. Fothergill, played by Rosella Falk. She's another lush plate of lasagna, one with thighs of steel and the habits of a psychopathic dominatrix. That's a lotta pasta. Gabriel rather cares for her.


If you're as fond of Modesty as I am, watch this movie to see for yourself the depths to which some creative types fall while confusing their talent with talent. Losey even has Modesty and Willie sing a jaunty partnership song. Vitti and Stamp are not dubbed. They are stunningly awkward. So's the song. The movie is a misbegotten product from the casting to the writing to the direction. I'm giving this movie one star, not because I'm fond of the real Modesty, but because Losey and Jones, with their screenplay and direction, made such a long (nearly two hours), confused, unconvincing and joyless film.

All will not be in vain, however, if you are intrigued by Peter O'Donnell's erotic, original and often violent creation. Start your love affair with Modesty by reading his first novel, Modesty Blaise. You'd have to be a dried, stale old prune not to want Modesty to come to your aid and comfort, with Willie Garvin, her knife-wielding platonic best friend, as back-up for the aid part.

Awful

This is truly awful - both in and of itself and especially in comparison with the assured and sophisticated novels. Modesty Blaze is here played as a silly vain woman, not as a world-wise leader of men, her side-kick looks too weak to lift his own luggage and their government contact is a twit. It's intended to be hip, 60's pop-adelic 'like wow man' but it is simply a reminder of how self-indulgent and lame most of that was.

Modesty Bad!

About a long while ago I saw on my digital cable that "Modesty Blaise" was going to be on the Fox Movie Channel so I taped it since that I was going to see another movie. When I watched the film later on, I couldn't believe how bad it was. For those that are thinking about buying this movie on DVD, DON'T! It is as of now the worst 60's movie that I have ever seen and there are enough holes to fill swiss cheese. The thing that really kills me is that Monica Vitti (an Italian actress who-hello!-is playing a British spy) changes her hair from black to blond and back again; as if we have two Modesty Blaises. Also of note I couldn't see most of the opening credits as it surrounded by a pop title song! (that seems to be modeled later by "Barbarella" which was based on a comic book like this one) The movie may be 119 minutes long but it drags on and on. In conclusion, this is one that you shouldn't bother.

Better than I remember it being, but still not recommended

I saw "Modesty Blaise" in the cinema when it was first released in 1966. At that time I had already read the book, which I loved, and I came away from the cinema thinking that this travesty, this blasphemy of a movie was total trash.

Peter O'Donnell, the author of the book and the comic strip that inspired the movie, went on to write a whole series of books about Modesty Blaise, and I loved them all, especially the first five - six of them, after which the series declined somewhat. I became a greater and greater fan of Modesty Blaise, and my memory of this movie remained completely negative.

Why this negativity? Because the movie does not follow the true concept of Modesty at all. The Modesty books are intelligent and exciting and character-driven, with a touch of humor. In particular, the characters of Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin (Modesty's loyal side-kick) and their unusual relationship are key factors in the books.

This movie, on the other hand, is just plain silly. It's "campy", with all of the characters acting strangely and with everything that is done being exaggerated. Modesty and Willie, who are both poorly cast relative to their appearance and physique as described in the books, even break into song a couple of times!

So as a movie depicting the "true Modesty Blaise" this movie deserves one star, even though the script does actually follow the first book to a large extent, although everything is modified a bit one way or another.

Now I've watched the movie again on DVD, and my opinion is less harsh.

If you take the point of view that this isn't a Modesty Blaise movie, but a Joseph Losey movie, then it isn't all that bad. Joseph Losey (the director) did have a specific idea of what kind of (campy) movie he wanted to make, and by gum, he did make it.


"Modesty Blaise" (the movie) lasts all of two hours, and the style is consistent and sure. Everyone acts consistently silly, the plot is silly, the action is silly and even the theme song (although catchy) is silly. So if you're in the mood for a silly, campy movie, you've come to the right place.

In fact, if I was a fan of campy movies then I might be giving this movie four or five stars. But I'm not, so I'll leave it at three stars. But it does deserve that simply for the consistent weirdness and for the song "Ice is Nice", sung by Bob Breen. (There's actually a sound track CD available!)

Incidentally, there is no extra material on the DVD, although it does include sound tracks in English, French and Spanish.

Over the years there was often talk of a new Modesty movie, and finally in 2003 "My Name is Modesty" was made and released directly to DVD. Comparing this movie with "My Name is Modesty" (which I also give three stars) I can say that the big difference is in the intention.

"Modesty Blaise" (the movie) was not intended to be a true Modesty movie, so it fails if that is what one is looking for. But it succeeds fairly well in what it was attempting to be, namely a campy movie.

"My Name is Modesty", on the other hand, really was trying to be a true Modesty movie, so it simply fails.

We true blue Modesty fans are still waiting for a good Modesty movie.

Rennie Petersen

Fun, but not Modesty

The movie is mildly entertaining, but only one single line from Peter O'Donnall's script survived, "I am Mr. Fothergill." So, if you've seen the film, don't think you know anything about Modesty Blaise. Read the books from Titan, or the serial story in Comics Revue monthly.

Did it inspire Austin P?

I first saw this movie during its original release. All these years later, my memories were positive enough for me to buy it. Oh dear! Memories have a habit of being selective. Even though its a satire and by no means to be taken seriously, its so high camp that it just loses you. It doesn't really entertain at any level. The only positive was the thought that maybe it had sown the seed for the far more enjoyable and also-camp-but-not-so-pre-occupied-with-itself Austin Powers.