No. 1 of the Secret Service (1977)

User Rating:

4.3/10   

Director:

Lindsay Shonteff

Writer:

Howard Craig (writer)

Release Date:

31 October 1977 (Sweden)

Genre:

Action

Tagline:

Zero is never beside his name and he's a winner in every game

Plot:

No. 1 is fearless, irrestible, and licensed to kill. No. 1 is assigned to capture a madman killing international financiers...

Plot Keywords:

Mercenary | Financier | Dead Woman On Floor | Magnum Handgun | Gadgetry

Cast

Nicky Henson	...	No. 1 / Charles Bind
Richard Todd	...	Arthur Loveday
Aimi MacDonald	...	Anna Hudson
Geoffrey Keen	...	Rockwell
Dudley Sutton	...	K.R.A.S.H. Leader
Sue Lloyd	...	Sister Jane
Jon Pertwee	...	The Rev. Walter Braithwaite
Milton Reid	...	Eye Patch
Susan Baker	...	Loveday's Girl
Jennifer Baker	...	Loveday's Girl
Fiona Curzon	...	Bar Girl
Jenny Till	...	Vampire Girl
Katya Wyeth	...	Miss Martin
Roberta Gibbs	...	Stormy Weather
Oliver MacGreevy	...	Simms

Also Known As:

Her Majesty's Top Gun (UK) (video title)
Number One of the Secret Service (UK) (alternative spelling)
Tell the Other Guy to Move Over! I'm Number One.

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:16 | UK:15 (video rating) | UK:AA (original rating) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Company:

Lindsay Shonteff Film Productions Limited

Trivia:

The criminal organization's acronym name KRASH stands for "Killing, Rape, Arson, Slaughter, and Hit" and is a parody of the Soviet counter-intelligence organization SMERSH, which was used by James Bond creator by Ian Fleming.

Movie Connections:

References Thunderball (1965)

Look up! Look Down! Look Out - this certainly isn't James Bond!

Director Lindsay Shonteff has been responsible for some of the worst abortions in British cinema history, as anyone who has seen his indescribable 'Big Zapper' will testify. He had already tried to spoof the Bond genre in the mid-sixties, but his cheapjack product hadn't cut it against 'Thunderball'.

With Roger Moore firmly established as the 'new' Bond in 'The Spy Who Loved Me', Shonteff obviously decided to try again. Casting ex-Witchfinder General Star Nicky Henson as a rather tepid Secret Agent was the closest he came to a good idea: he spoofs the Moore Bond very well, and forces the question as to whether he may have been a more satisfactory Simon Templar in 'Return of the Saint'.

In a nod to 'The Ipcress File', Sue Lloyd pops up (though not out) and says a few lines. Also present are 'Spy Who Loved Me' actors Geoffrey Keen and Milton Reid: their presence hardly enlivens the film, but at least they are familiar faces.

On that subject, 2 interesting British horror film starlets can be seen: 'Theatre of Death' actress Jenny Till and Hammer queen Katya Wyeth. Both have since disappeared.

Cheap explosions, lousy dialogue and not very special effects all wear the viewer down, but the diverting script, amusing playing and superbly corny music keep the interest (if not the British End) up.