The Million Eyes Of Sumuru Extended Version (1967) (film review).
Two years before she performed in ‘The Girl From Rio’, actress Shirley Eaton starred in ‘The Million Eyes of Sumuru’, based off a Sax Rohmer story. I know this because I saw ‘The Million Eyes Of Sumuru’ first and was unable to locate the original. Back in the day, film studios worked hard on promoting Eaton as a super-star but tended to give her roles against type, which even she agreed to in print later.
She is Sumuru, a wigged brunette with a deadly agenda for her women’s team to take over the world. One of them fell in love with a leader, and three of the girls drowned her. Did I say she was ruthless?
Colonel Baisbrook (actor Wilfred Hyde-White), a British intelligence officer, meets with Colonel Nick West (actor George Nader) of the CIA in Italy to investigate the murder of Colonel Medkas’s secretary (actor Jon Fong). Medkas is then kidnapped. West is in pursuit across a private hospital, followed by one of his agents, Tommy Carter (actor Frankie Avaklon). He is also subdued, but wakes up in a regular hospital. Basibrook directs both West and Carter to investigate a villa where these women hang out, pointing out that the dead Medkas weren’t the real target, but President Boong (actor Klaus Kinski).
West and Carter’s attempt to penetrate the villa fails, but they do get away. West manages to leave one of the woman guards behind, returns to the hotel, discovers her dead body in his bed, and is forced to flee from the police. Baisbrook instructs them to travel to Hong Kong, where he captures West and transports her to Sumuru’s headquarters. She has difficulty placing her women in Boong’s company, but she needs a man to be the new security chief to introduce one of them to the president. West finds himself being recruited. Beyond here is classified and spoiler.
This is an old plot; the TV series ‘Avengers’ and the films ‘In Like Flint’ and ‘Deadlier Than The Male’ have used women’s literature as a means of conquering women groups, so it’s all down to treatment, and they are all different Much of this is done for comedic effect. The women gaze into the camera with a sinister demeanor, but ultimately, it’s unclear if they truly desire a world devoid of men, given that several of them seem to have changed their minds. There are several flaws. When they capture West, they don’t keep him under observation, and he easily follows instructions as the plot unfolds. Eaton portrays Sumuru as a dragon lady, but it’s difficult to imagine her achieving global dominance, primarily due to her overly gentle nature.
We have two audio commentaries. The first involves film historians David Del Valle and Dan Marino. Their focus is primarily on producer Harry Alan Towers and the cast, rather than the director.
Film historians Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth, in their second audio commentary, highlight the film’s Hong Kong origins. You may need to keep IMdB open as you listen because it references a lot of other films in which the cast has appeared. I was a bit puzzled as to where the second Sumuru film was, but it was actually the 1969 film ‘The Girl From Rio’. The name hadn’t sunk in when I watched it.
The main extras are on the DVD, with a 100-minute documentary called ‘England’s Unknown Exploit Film Eccentric: The Shylock Cinema of Lindsay Shonteff’. The main character, Lindsay Shonteff, lived from 1936 to 2006, and one of his films, ‘Sumuru’, was directed for someone else. You’ll undoubtedly learn more about his career here than you would on IMdB. His philosophy was not to think about making a film but just do it. They really need to release the Charles Vine films on disk. Charles Vine produced a wide range of films, from horror to spy comedies, all on a modest budget and without the involvement of a studio. With ‘Sumuru’, the producer Harry Alan Towers took out a lot of the comedy. After watching this film, I thought I might see Shonteff’s other films if they ever get a DVD release. If you’re new to his work, watch this first before the film.
The Photo and Poster Gallery is 57 pictures long. The first 20 are various posters and press kits, and then a small scattering amongst the rest of the photos.
The RiffTrax version is a voice-over thing that I tend to avoid. If you want that sort of thing, it’s here.
The film is watchable and typical of its time period. The audio commentaries both highlight the weak connection between Sax Rohmer and the plot, focusing primarily on the names. This one certainly makes use of Hong Kong at the time, as it was filmed there. I think I would have liked to have seen the uncut version just to see how far into comedy Shonteff took it, but I suspect the material is long gone. Don’t upset the dragon lady.
GF Willmetts
September 2024
(pub: Blue Underground/MVD Entertainment, 2024. 2 disks DVD/Ultra HD 88 minute widescreen film with extras. Price: £33.00 (UK). ASIN: BLU-BD-7524)
cast: Shirley Eaton, Frankie Avalon, George Nader, Wilfred Hyde-White, Kalus Kinski
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