''Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs'' (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

: ''Le spie vengono dal semifreddo'', lit. "The spies who came in from the cool") is a 1966

Eurospy Eurospy film, or Spaghetti spy film (when referring to Cinema of Italy, Italian-produced films in the genre), is a genre of spy films produced in Europe, especially in Italy, France, and Spain, that either sincerely imitated or else parodied the ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

, made in

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

and directed by

Mario Bava Mario Bava (; 31 July 1914 – 27 April 1980) was an Italian filmmaker who worked variously as a director, cinematographer, special effects artist and screenwriter. His low-budget genre films, known for their distinctive visual flair and stylish ...

. Serving as a sequel to two unrelated films, ''

Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine ''Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine'' is a 1965 Pathécolor comedy film directed by Norman Taurog and distributed by American International Pictures. Starring Vincent Price, Frankie Avalon, Dwayne Hickman, Susan Hart and Jack Mullaney, and fe ...

'' and ''

Two Mafiosi Against Goldginger ''Two Mafiosi Against Goldginger'' or ''Due mafiosi contro Goldginger'' is a 1965 Eurospy comedy film directed by Giorgio Simonelli starring the comic duo Franco and Ciccio. It is a spoof of the 1964 James Bond film, '' Goldfinger''. It was picked ...

'', the film stars

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor. He was known for his work in the horror film genre, mostly portraying villains. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price ...

, Fabian,

Francesco Mulé Francesco, the Italian (and original) version of the personal name "Francis", is one of the most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name include: People with the given name Francesco * Francesco I (disambiguation) ...

Laura Antonelli Laura Antonelli (née Antonaz; 28 November 1941 – 22 June 2015) was an Italian film actress who appeared in 45 films between 1964 and 1991. Early years Antonelli was born Laura Antonaz in Pula, Pola, Kingdom of Italy (in Croatian, Pula), ...

, and the Italian comic duo

Franco and Ciccio Franco and Ciccio (, ) were a comic comedy duo formed by Italian actors Franco Franchi (1928–1992) and Ciccio Ingrassia (1922–2003), particularly popular in the 1960s and 1970s. Their collaboration began in 1954 in the theatre field, and ende ...

. The film was shot in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

Antonio Rinaldi, and released in both English and Italian versions. The Italian release is markedly different from the English-language edition, with more screen time spent on the antics of Franco and Ciccio, and less on Vincent Price and the other cast members. Additionally, the film's Italian title is entirely different, spoofing the 1965 film ''

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold ''The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'' is a 1963 Cold War spy fiction, spy novel by the British author John le Carré. It depicts Alec Leamas, a United Kingdom, British intelligence officer, being sent to East Germany as a faux Defection, defect ...

''.

Plot

Price plays the titular mad scientist who is working with the Chinese government to use exploding female robots to disrupt a scheduled

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

war-game by blowing up the various generals involved in the exercise (one of whom looks exactly like Goldfoot, and whom Goldfoot later impersonates). Fabian is the hero who works to thwart the plot, that is, when he is not busy chasing women such as Laura Antonelli's character. The film ends with an extended frantic chase through the streets of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, and Goldfoot attempting to start

World War III World War III, also known as the Third World War, is a hypothetical future global conflict subsequent to World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). It is widely predicted that such a war would involve all of the great powers, ...

between Russia and the United States by dropping a nuclear bomb on

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Cast

as Dr. Goldfoot / General Willis * Fabian as Bill Dexter *

Franco Franchi Francesco Benenato (18 September 1928 – 9 December 1992), known as Franco Franchi, was an Italian actor, comedian and singer. He was born in Palermo, Sicily and began his career in the 1950s, although his career only really took off in the ...

as Franco *

Ciccio Ingrassia Francesco "Ciccio" Ingrassia (5 October 1922 – 28 April 2003) was an Italian actor, comedian and film director. He was born in Palermo, Sicily, and began his career in the 1950s, although his career only really took off in the 1960s. He star ...

as Ciccio *

as Rosanna *

as Colonel Doug Benson * Moa Tahi as Hardjob * George Wang as Fong *

Gianfranco Funari Gianfranco Funari (21 March 1932 – 12 July 2008) was an Italian television host, writer, stand-up comedian and actor. Biography Funari was born in Rome, where his father was a coachman. After working as a croupier in casinos in Hong Kong an ...

as US Army Official *

Ennio Antonelli Ennio Antonelli (born 18 November 1936) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who was president of the Pontifical Council for the Family from 2008 to 2012. He has been a bishop since 1982, serving as bishop of Gubbio from 1982 to 1988, ...

as Goldfoot Henchman * Veriano Ginesi as Goldfoot Henchman * Amerigo Santarelli as Goldfoot Henchman *

as Angel playing Harp

Production

Development

Fulvio Lucisano Fulvio Lucisano (born 1 August 1928) is an Italian film producer. In 2005 he was honored with a retrospective ("Homage to Fulvio Lucisano") at the 62nd Venice International Film Festival. Selected filmography * '' Planet of the Vampires'' (19 ...

, the head of Italian International Film, wanted to make a sequel to the

film ''

''.

American International Pictures American International Pictures, LLC (AIP or American International Productions) is an American film production company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution c ...

agreed to co-finance, provided it could be turned into a sequel to ''

''. To satisfy the multinational financial backers, two versions of the film were eventually produced: the Italian version places greater emphasis on Franco and Ciccio, while the American film puts forward

's Goldfoot.''Dr Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs''
at Mario Bava

was signed to direct. He had no interest in the film but was hired because Lucisano had him under contract, and he did not participate in the post-production phase of the American version. AIP's executive supervising the shoot was Louis M. Heyward who had worked with Bava on ''

Planet of the Vampires ''Planet of the Vampires'' (; released in the UK as ''The Demon Planet'') is a 1965 science fiction horror film directed and co-written by Mario Bava, produced by Fulvio Lucisano, and starring Barry Sullivan and Norma Bengell. The screenplay wa ...

''.

Casting

Frankie Avalon Francis Thomas Avallone (born September 18, 1940), better known as Frankie Avalon, is an American singer, actor and former teen idol. He had 31 charting U.S. ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' singles from 1958 to late 1962, including Record ...

was originally intended to reprise his role as Craig Gamble from the first film, but he pulled out due to the impending birth of his third child, and

Fabian Forte Fabian Anthony Forte (born February 6, 1943), professionally known as Fabian, is an American singer and actor. Forte rose to national prominence after performing several times on ''American Bandstand''. He became a teen idol of the late 1950s ...

was cast in his place.Richard Harland Smith, "Dr Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs", ''Turner Classic Movies''
accessed 5 July 2014 Fabian said Jim Nicholson of AIP came to him and said "Frankie's having another baby and wants to stay at home... and we have this picture shooting in Italy... ewas so sweet about it". ''Filmink'' thought it was a "mistake" that Jack Mullaney and Susan Hart did not return. At one stage, the film was titled ''Dr. Goldfoot and the Love Bomb'' (a reference to ''How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb'', the strapline of ''

Dr. Strangelove ''Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb'' (known simply and more commonly as ''Dr. Strangelove'') is a 1964 political satire black comedy film co-written, produced, and directed by Stanley Kubrick. It is loosely ...

''), and ''Dr. Goldfoot and the S Bomb'' (a tongue-in-cheek reference to the phrase "

sex bomb "Sex Bomb" is a song by Welsh singer Tom Jones. Performed in collaboration with German DJ and record producer Mousse T., the song was released in November 1999 in several European countries; in January of the following year, it was issued acr ...

").

Filming

Filming started in April 1966 and took place in Rome, mostly at Cinecitta Studios but also such locations as Parco di Principe, the Rome Cavalieri Hilton, and Luna Park. Louis M. Heyward estimates the script was rewritten about nine times just prior to production and says there were difficulties satisfying the Italian and American backers; some different scenes were shot for each country, including emphasising brunettes in the Italian version and blondes in the American version. Heyward later said: "We had one person speaking Portuguese, several of them speaking Italian. Vincent would shake his head in disbelief and say 'What is happening to me?' Not only did he not understand the Italians or the Portuguese or the Spanish; he didn't understand Fabian". When Price was asked about working with Bava he said: "I don't know what happened on the one we did together but perhaps it was not his fault". Bava made a cameo as an angel.

Reception

Two versions of the film were released, one in Italy which emphasized the Italian stars and relegated Price to a "guest star". The American version focused on Goldfoot/Price and was re-edited by Ronald Sinclair, re-scored, and re-written in the dubbing, all without Bava's input. Tim Lucas says the Italian version was "the far more entertaining" but "aside from some charmingly naive special effects" which Bava supervised the movie "cannot really be considered a Mario Bava film". The film was not particularly successful, and is considered by many critics to be director Bava's worst film.

Samuel Z. Arkoff Samuel Zachary Arkoff (June 12, 1918 – September 16, 2001) was an American film producer, known as the co-founder of American International Pictures. Life and career Arkoff was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, to Russian Jewish parents. He was th ...

said that the film's commercial reception was hurt by the refusal of female lead

to take her clothes off. Arkoff claims she was originally willing to, but then his nephew,

Ted Rusoff Ted Rusoff (May 20, 1939 – September 28, 2013) was a Canadian voiceover artist, actor, vocal coach, and translator specializing in the adaptation and translation from and into various languages of synchronized dialogue for the dubbing of fil ...

, who was sent to supervise the film, developed a crush on her and persuaded her not to do it.Samuel Z Arkoff & Richard Turbo, ''Flying Through Hollywood By the Seat of My Pants'', Birch Lane Press, 1992 p 136-137 Price later called the film "the most dreadful movie I've ever been in. Just about everything that could go wrong, did".Vincent Risoli-Black, "Wrong Turn: the Fifth Season of Love: The Way... the Way Out... and the Wayward Dolphins" iUniverse, 23 Sep 2010 p 84
accessed 5 July 2014 Fabian said "I hid in the back seat of my car at the drive in when I went to go see it".

References

Bibliography

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Doctor Goldfoot And The Girl Bombs 1966 films 1960s parody films 1960s spy comedy films 1960s science fiction comedy films American parody films American spy comedy films American sequel films Films directed by Mario Bava American mad scientist films Films about androids Italian parody films Italian spy comedy films 1960s Italian-language films American International Pictures films Films set in Rome Italian sequel films Films produced by Fulvio Lucisano 1966 comedy films Parody films based on James Bond films 1960s American films 1960s Italian films