815-Agent for H.A.R.M.

Film Year:  1966
Genre:  Spy, Adventure
Director:  Herd Oswald
Starring:  Peter Mark Richman, Carl Esmond, Barbara Bouchet
MST Season:  8

The Movie

Secret agent Adam Chance goes on a modestly budgeted spy adventure to stop a scientist who has created a deadly bacteria that dissolves human flesh.

According to the special features on the DVD, Agent for H.A.R.M. was originally the pilot movie for a H.A.R.M. television series that was never picked up, purchased by Universal, and released in theaters.  Technically since it has had theatrical distribution, Agent for H.A.R.M. is a “movie,” but it’s very nature is that of “made for television.”  The riffers of Mystery Science Theater waste little time comparing H.A.R.M. to James Bond, but that’s an unfair comparison when you get down to the bone.  It would be better to compare H.A.R.M to the likes of Mission:  Impossible or The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (by which I mean original television shows, not Tom Cruise and Henry Cavill blockbusters).  But then again, even by more modest expectations, Agent for H.A.R.M. fails to deliver much excitement.  The primary problem is as a TV production the storyline is fairly “villain of the week” feeling, and it feels like it’s stretching itself thin at eighty-five minutes in length (like a lot of double length episodes).

That said, Agent for H.A.R.M. grows tedious at times, but is always easy on the eyes.  The production looks solid enough, and when things slow down it isn’t beneath throwing a hourglass-shaped woman at the audience.  Most notable is the gorgeous Barbara Bouchet, who spends the majority of the movie in a bikini showing off her midsection.

Agent for H.A.R.M. doesn’t turn the spy genre on its head, nor is it very good at its job, but in passing an afternoon I can only say it’s H.A.R.M.less.  Forgive the predictable but deliciously tempting pun.  With a movie like this you got to take what joys it can give you.

The Episode

Another of the rare occasion where an episode is more known for its host segments than the riffing, Agent for H.A.R.M. delivers a fairly delicious courtroom parody.  In this episode Mike is put on trial for the destruction of Ape-dominated Earth (The Deadly Mantis), the Observers’ homeworld (The She-Creature), and the camping planet (Riding with Death).  It has been a fairly fun run-on gag so far that has turned Mike into a “destroyer of worlds” that climaxes with these wonderful segments.  My personal favorite is the first, as Mike is transported down to the planet and being the dunderhead he is accidentally picks Pearl for the prosecution and Bobo for the defense (though theoretically Bobo on the defense would be a conflict of interest, since Bobo was an inhabitant of the first world that Mike destroyed).  I love the back and forth between Mike and the Judge during this scene, as the Judge accuses Mike of being “typical of his race” forcing Mike to assume that his trial will pass judgment on all of humanity, causing the judge to shoot back “quit blaming other people for your mistakes!”  Like a lot of segments, the trial an tend to have ups and downs.  The video defenses by Servo, Crow, and Gypsy are hilarious while the back and forth between Bobo and Observer about apple pie gets long, tedious, and doesn’t really go anywhere.

When it comes to the movie itself I find myself not expecting much going in.  When you remember the host segments more than the riffing, that tends to tell you that the theater is probably a bit of a slog (The Unearthly, anyone?).  Also working against it is that it’s sandwiched in between two of my favorite episodes of the season, Riding with Death and Prince of Space, so it’s an episode that’s easily gleamed over at a glance.  That said, Agent for H.A.R.M. might take the viewer by surprise, as using a spy movie to bridge the host segments does not really whet my appetite (spy movies are far from my favorite genre for the show), but the riffing for this movie in particular tries to make a convincing argument for H.A.R.M. being the best spy episode of the series (probably challenged only by Danger!! Death Ray, but more on that when that episode comes up on rotation).  Knowing they have a spy film to watch, the boys definitely have Bond on the brain, and when the film grows idle with inaction our riffers pipe up a bombastic Bond musical cue for it.  While this run-on gag threatens to wear out its welcome, they take aim at other spy movie tropes, including our smarmy hero (“You lucky trunks.  Get ready to wrap a beautiful package.”).  And when the movie starts to get silly, Mike and the bots are eager to point it out.  One of the biggest laughs of the episode happens early on when Mike expresses disbelief at a character casually mentioning a “Judo Range.”

And of course…SPAZ CHOP!

But I now have visual confirmation on both the host segments and the riffing and can deduce that both are winners.  The latter might slip through the cracks in relation to the former, but when you break the episode down, it’s truly something spectacular.  Agent for H.A.R.M. is a must-see.

Classic

The DVD

This episode was released in Shout Factory’s Volume XXXIII DVD set, with good audio and video.  The sole special feature is an interview with the movie’s star Peter Mark Richman, called In H.A.R.M.’s Way.  The interview briefly touches Richman’s other work, but is mostly devoted to Agent for H.A.R.M with some neat behind the scenes tidbits.