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Our Man Flint

There's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment in beloved spy spoof Our Man Flint when an extra blatantly cops a feel from a curvy, scantily clad actress. This unintentional detail probably as much about Our Man Flint's place in the firmament of swingin'-'60s camp as anything else in the picture. Released at pretty much the zenith of the "spy craze"—clinched by the James Bond films and carried on by slew of imitators on screens big and small—Our Man Flint introduced private superspy Derek Flint, as portrayed by the inimitable James Coburn amongst bevies of "babes."

Hal Finberg and rewriter Ben Starr share screenplay credit for this colorful Cinemascope adventure directed by Daniel Mann (BUtterfield 8) and snazzily scored by the great Jerry Goldsmith (who had recently composed the theme tune for the spy show The Man from U.N.C.L.E.). A knowing American affront to Bond, Our Man Flint makes a couple of overt, cheeky references to the burgeoning Bond franchise: a Sean Connery lookalike dubbed "Triple-0 Eight" and the comment "It's bigger than SPECTRE." Though he can handle himself (with wacky-looking martial-arts moves), Flint comes equipped with the requisite goofy gadgetry, the better to infiltrate the villains' giant compound and save the world.

Amusingly, the first line of Our Man Flint goes "Gentlemen, it's quite true. The weather still continues to defy nature." That threat has since become a daily one, but it's a suitable reason to prompt Lloyd Cramden (Lee J. Cobb), chief of spy agency Z.O.W.I.E. (Zonal Organization for World Intelligence and Espionage), to reluctantly recruit Flint into action. Though I'll always think of Cobb as the originator of Willy Loman on Broadway, he pleasantly surprises as a fine nattering comic foil here, pulling takes at Flint's free-love harem and super-confident super-competence.

To the extent that Our Man Flint works, it does so due to its tossed-off wit—like the odd mismatch of names and faces for mad scientists Doctors Krupov (Rhys Williams), Wu (Peter Brocco), and Schneider (Benson Fong)—and the sheer oddity of Coburn, the toothy, gangly character actor who nevertheless charms his way into stardom here with laid-back cool. The sex objectification of women obviously hasn't aged well, but there's definite nostalgic appeal in the shag-adelic style, which laid the groundwork for Austin Powers (which sampled Flint's Presidential-hotline ringtone).