Hot Enough for June.

Another British spy spoof made on the back of the success of the first two James Bond films Dr No (1962) and From Russia with Love (1963) was the Rank Organisations Hot Enough for June released in 1964 and produced by Betty E Box and directed by Ralph Thomas. The film starred Dirk Bogarde who reverted back to his matinee idol image so loved by Rank.

 

The Job Interview. 

As well as Bogarde this comedy thriller starred Robert Morley and in her English film debut Yugoslavian actress Sylva Koscina who went on to play Danica in the Yugoslavian partisan film Battle of Neretva (1969) and incidentally was considered for the role of Tatiana Romanova in From Russia with Love.   

 

The Driver and Guide Vlasta. 

Based on the 1960 novel The Night of Wenceslas by Lionel Davidson, Bogarde plays the unemployed writer Nicolas Whistler[1] who when he turns up at the Labour exchange is sent for an interview as a trainee executive at a glass company. Prior to this we witness Roger Allsop (John Le Mesurier) handing in the belongings of a deceased agent code name 007 and at a meeting with his superior Colonel Cunliffe (Morley) he discusses the need to send someone behind the Iron Curtain to collect some “secret” information. There’s a knock on the door and in walks Nicolas Whistler ready for his interview for the executive job he knows he is not at all suitable for!  When Cunliffe finds out that his interviewee can speak Czech he offers him £40 per week plus expenses if he will go to Prague and collect some data. The naïve Whistler believes he is collecting information for a new type of safety glass. Still unaware of his real purpose even when he discovers that his driver and guide is the beautiful uniformed Communist Vlasta (Koscina).  But his suspicions grow when he suddenly realises that his life could be in danger?  

 

Whistler's suspicions grow!

Another of these British movies made at Pinewood, where if your of a certain age will recognise some very familiar character actors including Leo McKern as the Communist intelligence officer, with John Standing, Derek Nimmo and John Junkin in smaller roles. Not well received by the reviewers at the time of release including the Daily Worker’s critic who wrote an open letter to Betty Box accusing her of stirring up the ‘Cold War’! A return to a somewhat witty and bright role for Bogarde after winning a BAFTA for Best Actor in The Servant  (1963) as the sinister Hugo Barrett, and although a little lightweight, an enjoyable movie all the same. The film was cut by twenty minutes and retitled Agent 8¾ for the US release.

 

A nice publicity shot of Bogarde with Sylva Koscina. 

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[1] A part originally meant for British actor Laurence Harvey.

Battle of Neretva.

‘On Neretva in occupied Europe, we have fought one of the most famous and most human battles – battle for saving the wounded. The fate of the revolution was at stake, and here the brotherhood and unity of our nations won’.[1]

 

The brave Partisan Army.

In the beginning of 1943 Hitler ordered the destruction of the free Partisan Republic of Yugoslavia. The German high command had become concerned about the possibility of an Allied landing in the Balkans. This was of particular concern due to the substantial resources they were extracting from Yugoslavia, including timber and copper. In the event of an Allied landing, resistance forces in Yugoslavia would be likely to interfere with German defensive operations as well as continued resource extraction. Hitler’s orders were to take no prisoners sparing neither the women nor children. The partisans and thousands of refugees, including the wounded and these sick with typhoid, left the city’s behind and begin a hazardous trek northward to the Bosnian Mountains. Their goal was to cross the treacherous Neretva gorge over the only bridge in an attempt to get to safety. Their trip was fraught with danger having to face German tanks and air force, Italian infantry, Chetnik Cavalry, disease and the natural elements. This mammoth exodus was an attempt to move a nation and its culture to beyond the iron grip of Germany and their allies and on to safety. Those that refused or could not join this gigantic migration were hung or shoot by the multinational force that was close on the heels of Tito’s brave partisans and his people.

Picasso's Film poster.

Based on a true story of WW2 that depicts the historically correct patriotic battles between the Yugoslavians and the combined enemy axis.[2] The first class cinematic depictions of this epic cross country flight and final battle was the most expensive motion picture ever made in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the seventh most expensive non-English movie ever produced. The budget for the extras alone would, I imagine, be able to finance a small modern day production! The movie has some familiar faces that European audiences will recognise including Yul Brynner as Viado the man in charge of the Engineers that booby trapped the roads and blow up the giant railway bridge over the Neretva River in Jablanica. A bridge that was actually blown up, rebuilt and blown up again but because of the excessive smoke coursed by the explosion the footage was never used, instead the scenes of the bridge being blown up that eventually ended up in the movie were shot using a small scale table size replica at a sound stage in Prague. We also have Orson Welles as the Senator in charge of the Chetnik’s, Curd Jürgen’s as General Lohring leader of the German High Command, Hardy Kruger as Colonel Kranzer head of the German ground forces and Franco Nero as Captain Michele Riva the Italian commander who deserts and joins the Partisans because of his hatred of the fascist regime. But the real stars of the film are the Yugoslavian and East European actors like the beautiful Sylva Koscina,[3] Segey Bandachuk, Lyubisa Sanadzic and Boris Dvornik, names that that you will not be quite so familiar with, but who make this movie totally convincing. 

 

The bridge.

The Croatian film director Veljko Bulajic who also wrote the screenplay directed the movie.[4] He is best known for directing state sponsored Yugoslav WW2 themed Partisan films and you can see why. The authentic battle scenes where the male and female partisans fight side by side must rank as some of the best ever filmed and certainly compare with modern WW2 films. I’m not always sure that the subtitles always allowed you to understand the subtleties of the story and the DVD transfer is a little lacking but this does not detract from a film that shows what state sponsorship of the film industry can produce. Watching the film you can’t help but wonder how man can do these things to each other?

 

Sylva Koscina.

See also Cinema Komunisto for further information on the Yugoslavian film industry.  

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[1] Marshal Josip Broz Tito President of Yugoslavia 1953-1980

[2] Pablo Picasso created the poster for the film.

[3] Her English film debut was in 1964 when she co-starred along side Dirk Bogarde in the comedy Hot Enough for June.

[4] The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.