The first two films in the trilogy of Charles Vine spy thrillers were 'Licensed To Kill' ( 1965 ) - retitled 'The Second Best Secret Agent In The Whole Wide World' in America - and 'Where The Bullets Fly' ( 1966 ). The final entry - known in some quarters as 'Somebody's Stolen Our Russian Spy' - was shot in Spain and Portugal, and features a mainly all-Spanish cast. It was never released theatrically due to the company going bust and, after being found in a film laboratory in 1976, was sold to television.
Colonel Yevtushenko ( Barta Barri ), a defected Russian spy soon to be exchanged in a diplomatic swap, boards a boat in the Mediterranean. Another vessel, apparently ablaze, cuts across its path. It is a ruse. The Colonel is captured by Major Milo Kovacs ( Tim Barrett ) of the Albanian Security Bureau, who is in league with Chinese agent Ly-Chee ( Gene Reyes ). Kovacs reasons that the British will blame the Russians for the Colonel's kidnapping, who in turn will blame the British. In the meantime, Kovacs will have extracted every drop of knowledge from the Colonel's head concerning British and Russian intelligence services.
British agent Charles Vine ( Tom Adams ) is walking down a Spanish street when a pretty girl in a sports car almost runs him down. She invites him to go to the beach, and he accepts. No sooner has Vine got his swimming trunks on than she shoots him with a drugged dart. When he wakes up, he is in a flat owned by Rockwell ( Antonio Jimenez Escribano ), his superior. A new assignment awaits him, namely either to rescue Yevtushenko or, failing that, kill him. Vine is teamed with the lovely Pandora ( Maria Silva ). No sooner are they on the case than he gets captured, and has to pretend to defect in order to stay alive. Along with the Colonel, and a beautiful Russian spy named Galina ( Diana Lorys ), they escape, and the last third of the film is long one chase involving jeeps, helicopters, and speedboats ( anticipating 'Goldeneye' by twenty-seven years, Vine gets at one point to career around in a stolen tank! ).
The earlier films took Vine no further than the English countryside, so it is a little startling to see him abroad. This is basically a poor man's 'From Russia With Love'. Adams is as laconic as ever, and gets a few good lines ( told he will be executed in the afternoon, he replies: "That's rather put me off my lunch!" ) but does not have the same calibre of actors to play off against, in particular Antonio Jimenez Escribano is no 'Rockwell', lacking the warmth John Arnatt brought to the role. Having played bowler-hatted assassin 'Seraph' in the previous film, Tim Barrett returns, this time promoted to lead villain. Like Michael Ripper in 'Where The Bullets Fly', he seems ill at ease in such roles. Diana Lorys though is devastatingly sexy as 'Galina'. Eric Chapman plays 'Potts', a British soldier Vine encounters who does not know World War Two is over! The only cast member to really shine is Barta Barri as 'Yevtushenko'.
By way of gadgets, Vine has a homing device on his person and wristwatches that explode when you try to wind them. The locations are nice, and the action scenes are okay, but overall this is nothing special, which is a pity as Vine deserved a far better send-off. Though the films have been shown on television down the years, to date no official D.V.D. release has appeared.
Ten years later, 'Licensed To Kill' director Lindsay Shonteff resurrected Vine ( with a slight name change to 'Bind' ) for 'No.1 Of The Secret Service' starring Nicky Henson.
Colonel Yevtushenko ( Barta Barri ), a defected Russian spy soon to be exchanged in a diplomatic swap, boards a boat in the Mediterranean. Another vessel, apparently ablaze, cuts across its path. It is a ruse. The Colonel is captured by Major Milo Kovacs ( Tim Barrett ) of the Albanian Security Bureau, who is in league with Chinese agent Ly-Chee ( Gene Reyes ). Kovacs reasons that the British will blame the Russians for the Colonel's kidnapping, who in turn will blame the British. In the meantime, Kovacs will have extracted every drop of knowledge from the Colonel's head concerning British and Russian intelligence services.
British agent Charles Vine ( Tom Adams ) is walking down a Spanish street when a pretty girl in a sports car almost runs him down. She invites him to go to the beach, and he accepts. No sooner has Vine got his swimming trunks on than she shoots him with a drugged dart. When he wakes up, he is in a flat owned by Rockwell ( Antonio Jimenez Escribano ), his superior. A new assignment awaits him, namely either to rescue Yevtushenko or, failing that, kill him. Vine is teamed with the lovely Pandora ( Maria Silva ). No sooner are they on the case than he gets captured, and has to pretend to defect in order to stay alive. Along with the Colonel, and a beautiful Russian spy named Galina ( Diana Lorys ), they escape, and the last third of the film is long one chase involving jeeps, helicopters, and speedboats ( anticipating 'Goldeneye' by twenty-seven years, Vine gets at one point to career around in a stolen tank! ).
The earlier films took Vine no further than the English countryside, so it is a little startling to see him abroad. This is basically a poor man's 'From Russia With Love'. Adams is as laconic as ever, and gets a few good lines ( told he will be executed in the afternoon, he replies: "That's rather put me off my lunch!" ) but does not have the same calibre of actors to play off against, in particular Antonio Jimenez Escribano is no 'Rockwell', lacking the warmth John Arnatt brought to the role. Having played bowler-hatted assassin 'Seraph' in the previous film, Tim Barrett returns, this time promoted to lead villain. Like Michael Ripper in 'Where The Bullets Fly', he seems ill at ease in such roles. Diana Lorys though is devastatingly sexy as 'Galina'. Eric Chapman plays 'Potts', a British soldier Vine encounters who does not know World War Two is over! The only cast member to really shine is Barta Barri as 'Yevtushenko'.
By way of gadgets, Vine has a homing device on his person and wristwatches that explode when you try to wind them. The locations are nice, and the action scenes are okay, but overall this is nothing special, which is a pity as Vine deserved a far better send-off. Though the films have been shown on television down the years, to date no official D.V.D. release has appeared.
Ten years later, 'Licensed To Kill' director Lindsay Shonteff resurrected Vine ( with a slight name change to 'Bind' ) for 'No.1 Of The Secret Service' starring Nicky Henson.