Film Year: 1967
Genre: Spy, Adventure
Director: Alberto De Martino
Starring: Neil Connery, Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell, Aldolfo Celi, Daniela Bianchi
MST Season: 5
The Movie
Actors from the Bond series are aplenty, and at least it doesn’t suck as hard as Live and Let Die. Sean’s brother Neil Connery stars as the brother of an unnamed ( ::cough::ahem:: ) top secret agent. Dr. Connery is a hypnotist cosmetic surgeon (because why not?) who is hired to be a spy because obviously siblings are always exactly alike.
I’ve always been curious about Operation Double 007 AKA Operation Kid Brother AKA OK Connery AKA whatever you want to call it. At its heart it’s yet another Italian Bond movie wannabe, with better production values than most. But it seems the producers decided to go whole hog, thinking that if they were going to rip of James Bond they might as well push things to the limit. Someone sought out Sean Connery’s brother Neil to play the lead, despite Neil having never starred in a film before. Then they went to the trouble to cast actors heavily associated with the Bond franchise up to and including series staples Bernard Lee and Lois Maxwell. What made all of these people say yes is anybody’s guess, though it should be noted that Maxwell has more to do here than she ever did sitting behind that desk in her Bond movies, which probably made the film all the more appealing for her. There seems to be a desire to make a Bond movie even if they can’t officially call it a Bond movie.
But it isn’t. Bernard Lee isn’t M. Lois Maxwell isn’t Moneypenny. And Dr. Neil Connery isn’t the brother of James Bond. It seems to just be a movie made to advertise itself with these actors so closely associated with a large franchise, but deliver another ho-hum foreign cash-in flick that has little to do with the franchise it’s leeching off of. This movie shouldn’t exist but somehow it does.
I find it hard to have an opinion about Operation Double 007 because of this. But then again I find it hard to have an opinion on Bond movies in general. Most of them are the same, and Bond isn’t really an interesting character (outside of Skyfall, that is). Any elements the Bond films have are just excuses to film exotic scenery and women, while choreographing action sequences on a large scale. Operation Double 007 has exotic locations and women, but lacks larger-than-life action. What are we to do when a spy film is missing one of its two legs?
The Episode
There’s a certain smugness about this episode that’s almost infectious. The crew looks like they’ve gotten away with doing something naughty by pulling this forgotten Bond film leech out of obscurity and putting it on their show. This movie might not be from the Bond franchise, but it’s so oddly connected that our boys feel like it’s their big shot at riffing a legendary franchise.
One virtue of this episode in particular is that they don’t rely solely on Bond riffs. There are certainly a few, but they seem to be limiting themselves so they don’t get stale. Unfortunately with a movie this dry maybe to run on full force with something you’re holding back on might be exactly what it needs. There are funny moments, with the mockery of Neil’s lip-reading skills highlighting for me as well as a few of the movie’s odd attempts as sexiness (the movie on a woman’s bare back?), but mostly the episode seems to be coasting on “Hey, get THIS movie!” That might be amusing enough for people who are amused by the movie’s existence alone, but be forewarned the riffing doesn’t exactly rise above workmanlike.
Host segments are more consistent, with my favorite being Joel hammy impression of our Bond-lite villain. We also get a lovingly jokey career retrospective of Neil Connery (contrary to what this episode states, Neil starred in The Body Stealers after this movie, and while stayed non-career in the acting game accepted bit parts every now and then), as well as a simple but funny visit from Torgo. Invention exchange is fairly weak, which is mostly devoted to Frank’s weak “laugh at how unfunny this is” gag. Bobbin’ Buzzard is a cute enough concept though.
Operation Double 007 has its moments, though it never really takes off in the way it feels like it should. Perhaps I’m expecting too much of an episode with loose ties to film’s most iconic franchise, but what should be sensational feels far too “watch when nothing else is on.” The laughs are here for fans with patience though.
Average
The DVD
The only special feature is an introduction by Joel (who discusses it under the 007 title). He discusses the excitement of getting something (loosely) connected to the James Bond franchise and about his final year on the show.
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