''Some Girls Do'' is a 1969 British

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

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) ...

directed by

Ralph Thomas Ralph Philip Thomas MC (10 August 1915 – 17 March 2001) was an English film director. He is perhaps best remembered for directing the ''Doctor'' series of films. His brother, Gerald Thomas, was also a film director, probably best remembere ...

. It was the second of the revamped

Bulldog Drummond Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond is a fictional character, created by H. C. McNeile and published under his pen name "Sapper". Following McNeile's death in 1937, the novels were continued by Gerard Fairlie. Drummond is a First World War veteran who, ...

films (following 1967's ''

Deadlier Than the Male ''Deadlier Than the Male'' is a 1967 British adventure crime mystery film. It is one of the many take-offs of James Bond produced during the 1960s, but is based on an already established detective fiction hero, Bulldog Drummond. Richard Johnso ...

'') starring

Richard Johnson Richard or Dick Johnson may refer to: Academics * Dick Johnson (academic) (1929–2019), Australian academic * Richard C. Johnson (1930–2003), professor of electrical engineering * Richard A. Johnson, artist and professor at the University of ...

as Drummond, made following the success of the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

films of the 1960s. ''Some Girls Do'' even featured a white Aston Martin DB5, the same marque used by Bond.

Plot

A series of inexplicable accidents befall the development of the world's first supersonic airliner, the SST1 – a man falls victim to a homicidal air stewardess (an uncredited

Maria Aitken Maria Penelope Katharine Aitken (born 12 September 1945) is an English theatre director, teacher, actress, and writer. Early life and career Aitken was born in Dublin, Ireland, the daughter of Sir William Aitken, a Conservative MP, and Penelo ...

) and two women (

Yutte Stensgaard Yutte Stensgaard (born 14 May 1946) is a Danish actress born in Thisted, Jutland, Denmark, best known for her starring role in Hammer's '' Lust for a Vampire'' (1971). Career Born Jytte Stensgaard, she moved to the United Kingdom to improve her ...

and an uncredited

Joanna Lumley Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an English actress, presenter, former model, author, television producer, and activist. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (1992 ...

) perform separate acts of sabotage during tests. The Air Ministry calls on Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond (

) to investigate. Aided by ditzy American blonde Flicky (

Sydne Rome Sydne Rome (born March 17, 1951) is an American-Italian film actress. Her first name is often misspelled ''Sydney'' or ''Sidney''. Biography Born in Akron, Rome grew up in a wealthy, Jewish family in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. Her father was preside ...

), Drummond uncovers a plot by criminal mastermind Carl Petersen (

James Villiers James Michael Hyde Villiers (29 September 1933 – 18 January 1998) was an English character actor. He was particularly known for his plummy voice and ripe articulation. He was a great-grandson of the 4th Earl of Clarendon. Early life Villie ...

), who stands to gain eight million pounds if the aircraft is not ready by a certain date. Petersen, assisted by beautiful but deadly assassins Helga (

Daliah Lavi Daliah Lavi (born Daliah Lewinbuk or Levenbuch, he, דליה לביא ; 12 October 1942 – 3 May 2017) was an Israeli actress, singer, and model. Biography Daliah Lewinbuk (or Levenbuch) was born in Shavei Tzion, British Mandate of Palestine ...

) and Pandora ( Beba Lončar), has developed a number of robots: beautiful girls with electronic brains to help him sabotage the SST1 project by means of

infrasound Infrasound, sometimes referred to as low status sound, describes sound waves with a frequency below the lower limit of human audibility (generally 20 Hz). Hearing becomes gradually less sensitive as frequency decreases, so for humans to perce ...

(sound waves with too low frequency to be detected by the human ear) which can be directed at people or objects with devastating results. After the initial sabotage attacks by Peterson's robots, Helga and Pandora begin systematically murdering various people associated with the SSTI, such as engineer Dudley Mortimer (

Maurice Denham William Maurice Denham OBE (23 December 1909 – 24 July 2002) was an English character actor who appeared in over 100 films and television programmes in his long career. Family Denham was born on 23 December 1909 in Beckenham, Kent, the son ...

) and Miss Mary (

Robert Morley Robert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE (26 May 1908 – 3 June 1992) was an English actor who enjoyed a lengthy career in both Britain and the United States. He was frequently cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment, of ...

), a spy who runs a cooking class as a front for his activities. Helga makes contact with Drummond at a shooting party, and attempts to kill him by planting a bomb in his telephone after sleeping with him. Then Helga and Pandora try to kill Drummond again by crashing into his glider. The ripcord from his parachute was sabotaged but Drummond manages to manually open his parachute and escape death. The trail leads Drummond to North Africa, following up on a lead on an infrasound-powered powerboat, where he is assisted by Peregrine Carruthers ( Ronnie Stevens) from the British Embassy. Pandora kills the boat owner with a miniature infrasound device, but is thwarted in her attempt to steal the boat. Drummond and Peregrine decide to drive the powerboat in a scheduled race: Helga and Pandora also participate in the race and successfully capture the men and the boat, delivering them all to Petersen at his island headquarters, staffed by an army of his female robots, including the defective but endearing No. 7 ( Vanessa Howard). Drummond and Peregrine are also reunited with Flicky, who has successfully infiltrated Petersen's organisation. Over dinner, Petersen reveals the full details of his plan to use infrasound technology to sabotage the SST1's maiden flight. That night, Drummond sleeps with Helga once more, while Pandora contents herself with seducing Peregrine. In the morning, Drummond attempts to retrieve the infrasound powerboat and is met by Flicky, who tells him she is actually a CIA agent assigned to help him. They are caught by Helga – Drummond escapes but Helga holds Flicky at gunpoint. Petersen sends his robots to search the island for the runaway agent – Drummond is cornered by No. 7, but to his surprise, she deliberately chooses not to reveal his location. Peregrine and Flicky are held hostage in Petersen's control room and are forced to witness the SST1's destruction as he puts his plan into action. Drummond scales the wall of Petersen's hideout, and saves the SST1 from destruction by using Petersen's infrasound waves against him, destroying his control room. Petersen, Pandora and Helga are all apparently killed in the explosion. Drummond, Flicky, Peregrine and No. 7 escape the subsequent mayhem, having retrieved the infrasound device. Flicky reveals herself to be a double agent working for the Russians and escapes on the powerboat with the device. Peregrine, wanting to improve his Russian relations, decides to go with her. As the base finally explodes, Drummond finds comfort in the arms of the beautiful No. 7, who turns out not to be a robot after all.

Cast

as Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond *

as Baroness Helga Hagen * Beba Lončar as Pandora *

as Carl Petersen * Vanessa Howard as Robot No. 7 *

as Dudley Mortimer *

as Miss Mary *

as Flicky * Ronnie Stevens as Peregrine Carruthers * Virginia North as Robot No. 9 *

Adrienne Posta Adrienne Posta (born Adrienne Luanne Poster, 24 March 1949) is an English actress and singer, prominent during the 1960s and 1970s. She adopted the surname 'Posta' in 1966.Adrienne Poster, page on "Ready Steady Girls" (readysteadygirls.eu). Retr ...

as Drummond's Daily * Florence Desmond as Lady Manderley * Nicholas Phipps as Lord Dunburry *

as Robot No. 1 * George Belbin as Major Newman *

Richard Hurndall Richard Gibbon Hurndall (3 November 1910 – 13 April 1984) was an English actor. He is best remembered for replacing William Hartnell in the role of the First Doctor for '' Doctor Who's'' 20th anniversary special '' The Five Doctors''. Caree ...

as President of Aircraft Company * Marga Roche as Birgit * Douglas Sheldon as Kruger *

as Robot No. 2 (uncredited) *

as Flight attendant (uncredited) * Shakira Caine as Robot Observer (uncredited) * Johnny Briggs as Air traffic controller (uncredited) * Dora Graham as Robot Twin (uncredited) * Doris Graham as Robot Twin (uncredited)

Production

Filming began May 1968 and took place mainly in Spain. One of the British filming locations was the National Gas Turbine Establishment at Farnborough. It was known as "Pyestock". The locale doubled for the British Atomic plant where the engines and wind tunnel models of the fictional SST1 were being tested. Wycombe Air Park was also used as a location in the film for the glider sequence.

, who appears uncredited as one of Petersen's female robots in the film, was also working on the set of '' On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' at the same time, as both films were produced at Pinewood Studios. Virginia North also worked on both films simultaneously.

Reception

The contemporary review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' was especially scathing, calling ''Some Girls Do'' an "... addlepated distant cousin of James Bond... Richard Johnson, (stars as) the glum Drummond of this mishmash of an intrigue ... Reviewer Leslie Halliwell dismissed the film as an "... abysmal spoof melodrama in the swinging 60s mould; a travesty of a famous character."Halliwell 1977, p. 937.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

External links

*
''Some Girls Do''
at ''BFI''
''Some Girls Do''
at ''Britmovie''
"Review of film".
at ''

'' {{Bulldog Drummond Films based on Bulldog Drummond 1969 films British action comedy films British science fiction comedy films British spy comedy films 1960s English-language films British sequel films Films directed by Ralph Thomas Films produced by Betty Box Supersonic transports British aviation films Films shot at Pinewood Studios 1960s action comedy films 1960s science fiction comedy films 1960s spy comedy films 1969 comedy films 1960s British films