Secret Agent Fireball (1965)

Original title: Le Spie Uccidono a Beirut

Director: Luciano Martino

Writer: Ernesto Gastaldi

Composer: Carlo Savina

Starring: Richard Harrison, Dominique Boschero, Wandisa Guida, Luciano Pigozzi, Aldo Cecconi, Carla Calo, Franco Freda, Clement Harari, Jean Ozenne, Audry Fisher

More info: IMDb

Tagline: This Man Has No Name....Not Even a Number....but in his inside pocket rests the fate of the world!

Plot: An American CIA agent must find the whereabouts of valuable microfilm that was smuggled over by two Russian scientists who had been hoping to defect.

My rating: 5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

This Italian James Bond wannabe has better than average production values but there's no escaping that Richard Harrison plays Agent Fleming (ugh) too silly.  Roger Moore could pull off the aloof side of Bond but Harrison and his dialogue go way over the top.  He's got a bad quip for everything and he looks like he's the most badass dude on the planet and he expects everyone to bow down to his greatness.  Really.  It's that bad but in a silly, campy way.  Connery just needs to show up to look and feel badass.  Harrison's got a way about him that feels like he's got a continuous smirk (whether we see it or not).  It was a total turnoff and it hurts the picture.  As a spy movie goes there's more going on than usual for these lower budget 007 knockoffs which helps a little but it's not enough.  Even if the story were better there's no getting past how cocky Fleming is, going through life like everything is a joke and we owe him something.  Geez.