''Come Spy with Me'' is a 1967 American

spy film The spy film, also known as the spy thriller, is a genre of film that deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way (such as the adaptations of John le Carré) or as a basis for fantasy (such as many James Bond films) ...

produced by Arnold Kaiser, directed by

Marshall Stone Marshall Harvey Stone (April 8, 1903 – January 9, 1989) was an American mathematician who contributed to real analysis, functional analysis, topology and the study of Boolean algebras. Biography Stone was the son of Harlan Fiske Stone, who wa ...

, and released by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

Plot

Starring

Troy Donahue Troy Donahue (born Merle Johnson Jr., January 27, 1936 – September 2, 2001) was an American film and television actor and singer. He was a popular sex symbol in the 1950s and 1960s. Biography Early years Born in New York City, Donahue was ...

and

Andrea Dromm Andrea Dromm (born February 18, 1941) is a former American actress. She is the daughter of an engineer, and attended school in Patchogue and later in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Career Dromm's career began as a child model at the age of six, but s ...

, the film features Dromm ("I'm an AGENT, not a spy!"), solving a murder case, rescuing a kidnap victim (Valerie Allen, Donahue's wife at the time of filming), breaking up a mastermind's (

Albert Dekker Thomas Albert Ecke Van Dekker (December 20, 1905 – May 5, 1968) was an American character actor and politician best known for his roles in ''Dr. Cyclops'', ''The Killers (1946 film), The Killers'' (1946), ''Kiss Me Deadly'', and ''The Wild Bun ...

) underwater bomb assassination plot of several world leaders, and dancing the new dance called "the Shark" on the Caribbean island of

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

.Hamrick, Craig (2004). ''Big Lou: The Life and Career of Actor Louis Edmonds'' Lincoln, Nebraska: iUniverse. pp. 64-65.

Smokey Robinson & the Miracles The Miracles (also known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group that was the first successful recording act for Berry Gordy's Motown Records, and one of the most important and most influential groups ...

performed the film's titular theme song, written by lead singer Robinson.

Production

The film was the first produced under a 13-film co-production treaty between Allied Artists and five television stations owned by ABC. It was the first movie made by Troy Donahue following the end of his contract with Warner Bros. It was originally called ''Red on Red''. Hot off her success for her performance in ''

The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming ''The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming'' is a 1966 American comedy film directed and produced by Norman Jewison for the United Artists. It is based on the 1961 Nathaniel Benchley novel ''The Off-Islanders'', and was adapted for th ...

'' Andrea Dromm was recruited by the

American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Calif ...

to host a television special about the

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitable ...

craze called ''Hit the Surf'' and to play a female secret agent in the lead role of

ABC Films Worldvision Enterprises, Inc. was an American television program and home video distributor established in 1954 as ABC Film Syndication, the domestic and overseas program distribution arm of the ABC Television Network. They primarily licensed ...

first production. She knew the director Marshall Stone from their work together in National Airlines and

Clairol Clairol is the American personal care-product division of company Wella, specializing in hair coloring and hair care. Clairol was founded in 1931 by Americans Joan Gelb and her husband Lawrence M. Gelb, with business partner and lifelong frien ...

"Summer Girl" television commercials.p.18 Lisanti, Tom & Wells, Carole ''Drive-In Dream Girls: A Galaxy of B-Movie Starlets from the Sixties'' 2003 McFarland Dromm had to learn motorcycle riding and

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for " Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chr ...

for the film, but her underwater shots were doubled. Dromm was nervous about scuba diving and what she felt were unsafe conditions; she said that Troy Donahue got into some trouble underwater due to problems with his

diving regulator A diving regulator is a pressure regulator that controls the pressure of breathing gas for diving. The most commonly recognised application is to reduce pressurized breathing gas to ambient pressure and deliver it to the diver, but there are als ...

. Dromm never made another film. The film was overshadowed by 20th Century Fox's other

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

female

s; ''

Fathom A fathom is a unit of length in the imperial and the U.S. customary systems equal to , used especially for measuring the depth of water. The fathom is neither an International Standard (SI) unit, nor an internationally-accepted non-SI unit. ...

'' with

Raquel Welch Jo Raquel Welch ( Tejada; September 5, 1940) is an American actress. She first won attention for her role in '' Fantastic Voyage'' (1966), after which she won a contract with 20th Century Fox. They lent her contract to the British studio Hamm ...

and '' Caprice'' with

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...

Critical reaction

The film was released to mostly negative reviews and was not a success. The

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the '' New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

film review stated "The film belongs on top of sky high pile of other 'I Spy' losers" ending the review with "come die with me".p.19 Lisanti, Tom & Wells, Carole ''Drive-In Dream Girls: A Galaxy of B-Movie Starlets from the Sixties'' 2003 McFarland The review in ''Variety'' paraphrased Dromm's National Airline commercial catchphrase "Is this any way to run an airline? You bet it is!" to "Is this any way to make a motion picture? You bet it isn't!"

Home media

''Come Spy with Me'' has not been reissued by 20th Century Fox or released on home video.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Come Spy With Me (Film) 1967 films 20th Century Fox films American spy films Underwater action films Films set in Jamaica Films shot in Jamaica 1960s action films 1960s spy films 1960s English-language films 1960s American films