<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:fixed; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:fixed; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073743103 0 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} </style>  <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jdb_Y5LLp7A..." imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jdb_Y5LLp7A..." width="303" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">David Robbins</div><div class="MsoNormal">© 2015</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt;">With another James Bond film in the offing, it’s fitting to call your attention to a guy many consider the classiest spy ever. No, not Bond, whose undeniable appeal has resulted in one of the highest-grossing film franchises ever.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt;">We’re talking about Derek Flint, an uber cool blend of Bond and Doc Savage, who was featured in two hit movies from the 1960’s. Both starred the inimitable James Coburn.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8AQSD9XCOnw..." imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8AQSD9XCOnw..." width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: 18.0pt;">[Flint unleashes some karate.  Coburn had a genuine interest in the martial arts. He trained under Bruce Lee for a number of years, and the two reportedly became friends.]</span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt;">Way back then, the movie Bond had kicked off a spy craze. TV jumped on the bandwagon with a host of shows: THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., SECRET AGENT, I SPY, and more.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt;">There were also spy spoofs, big screen and small. And the best of the bunch were OUR MAN FLINT and its sequel, IN LIKE FLINT.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt;">Ironically, Derek Flint wasn’t really a spy. He was everything else. A scientist, who wrote the textbook on ‘isomerism’. A cetologist, who developed a ‘dictionary’ on dolphin sounds so humans and dolphins could communicate. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A martial artist, with black belts in karate and judo. A ballet <i>artiste</i>, so exceptional, he taught ballet. A painter, whose oil works hung in international galleries. He spoke scores of languages, was an Olympic medalist in fencing, the pentathlon, and other sports, he played a dozen instruments, had degrees in medicine and law and……well, you get the idea.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SaT-pi3ATdc..." imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="172" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SaT-pi3ATdc..." width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: 18.0pt;">[Flint 'talking' to a dolphin. The talent later proved handy.]</span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-size: 18.0pt;">Coburn played this paragon of excellence absolutely straight, and therein likes much of the appeal. Whether he’s traipsing around on a Russian stage in tights or going up against a score of soldiers, hand-to-hand, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coburn is the quintessential sophisticated superman.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt;">In OUR MAN FLINT, a triumvirate of mad scientists have perfected a way to control the weather and are out to control the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>After following a series of clues, Flint invades their island fortress to rescue his coterie of special ladies, and in a spectacular finale, disposes of the villains. The plot is over the top, the humor nonstop, the action sequences hold up well even today, and the score, by the prolific Jerry Goldsmth, is extraordinary.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bqwKhwh_92w..." imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bqwKhwh_92w..." width="388" /></a></div><span style="font-size: 18.0pt;">[Flint working out. He also fences, and does a pretty mean high-bar.]</span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-size: 18.0pt;">OMF did so well, the studio rushed out a sequel the following year. IN LIKE FLINT tries mightily to be as entertaining, and almost succeeds. The weakness, if you can all it that, has to do with the ‘bad guys’. They aren’t guys at all. They’re gals. No problem, right? After all, there are a lot of kick-butt women in movies. But where a lady today would, literally, pound the snot out of someone---take a look at, oh, Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow---these ladies walk up to them…and kiss them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>To say the least, ILF is more than a little outdated. But if you realize it was a product of its time, and can get past that aspect, you’re in for another rollicking adventure with some great highlights.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vrygonnvj6A..." imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vrygonnvj6A..." width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: 18.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">[You don't sleep on chairs? It does wonders for the heart rate.}</span></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-size: 18.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once again, Coburn is outstanding. No more so than in the best action sequence from either film. Flint sneaks into a top secret installation, unaware he has walked into a trap. A dastardly general unleashes his henchmen, and Flint cuts loose.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt;">Which brings us to an aside. Flint is no milquetoast. Take him on and he takes you down. In OUR MAN FLINT, he riddles two bad guys with a Thompson sub-machine gun, brutally kills another with a knife, and in his most badass moment, kicks two guys from a high catwalk and stands there staring down after they splat on the concrete.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt;">So it’s no surprise that in the extended fight in Z.O.W.I.E. headquarters, Flint goes for the throat. And the spine. And the kidney. And the knee. No ten minute slugfests for him. One or two blows and down they go.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QkkWtSiQ4X0..." imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="317" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QkkWtSiQ4X0..." width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: 18.0pt;">[In addition to this rare card, there were novelizations of both movies. Not long ago, Moonstone came out with a comic based on them, THAT MAN FLINT.]</span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-size: 18.0pt;">You might be wondering why I’m doing a post on Flint after all this time. It’s because I only recently found out that Twilight Time has produced Blu-ray versions. Outstanding sets, with a treasure-trove of special features, including the scores.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt;">So if you’re a Flint fan, or if you remember these films fondly, or just want the fun of watching them for the first time, treat yourself. You might end up being as impressed as Austin Powers. What’s that? You didn’t know that IN LIKE FLINT was his favorite movie?</span><span style="font-size: 18.0pt;"> For shame, baby.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A0pqjELZITU..." imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A0pqjELZITU..." width="297" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt;"> </span> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DavidR..." height="1" width="1" alt=""/>