Come Spy with Me (film)
Encyclopedia
Come Spy with Me is a 1967 American spy film
produced by Arnold Kaiser, directed by Marshall Stone, and released by 20th Century Fox
. Starring Troy Donahue
and Andrea Dromm
, 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
) underwater bomb assassination plot of several world leaders, and dancing the new dance called "the Shark" on the Caribbean
island of Jamaica
. Smokey Robinson & the Miracles performed the film's titular theme song, written by lead singer Robinson
.
Andrea Dromm was recruited by the American Broadcasting Company
to host a television special about the surfing
craze called Hit the Surf and to play a female secret agent in the lead role of ABC Films first production. She knew the director Marshall Stone from their work together in National Airlines
and Clairol
"Summer Girl" television commercials. Dromm had to learn motorcycle riding, and scuba diving for the film though her underwater shots were doubled. Dromm was nervous about scuba diving and what she felt were unsafe conditions; she said that Troy Donohue got into some trouble underwater due to problems with his diving regulator
. Dromm never made another film.
The film was overshadowed by 20th Century Fox's other 1967
female spy film
s; Fathom
with Raquel Welch
and Caprice with Doris Day
.
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". 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!"
Consequently, Come Spy with Me has not been reissued by 20th Century Fox or released on home video; save for some television broadcasts, it has not been seen in several decades.
Spy film
The spy film genre deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way or as a basis for fantasy . Many novels in the spy fiction genre have been adapted as films, including works by John Buchan, John Le Carré, Ian Fleming and Len Deighton...
produced by Arnold Kaiser, directed by Marshall Stone, and released by 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
. Starring Troy Donahue
Troy Donahue
Troy Donahue was an American actor, who was active between the late 1950s and late 1990s.-Life and career:...
and Andrea Dromm
Andrea Dromm
Andrea Dromm is an American actress. She is the daughter of an engineer, and attended school in Patchogue and later in Greensburg, Pennsylvania....
, 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
Albert Dekker
Albert Dekker was an American character actor and politician best known for his roles in Dr. Cyclops, The Killers, Kiss Me Deadly, and The Wild Bunch. He is sometimes credited as Albert Van Dekker or Albert van Dekker...
) underwater bomb assassination plot of several world leaders, and dancing the new dance called "the Shark" on the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
island of Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
. Smokey Robinson & the Miracles performed the film's titular theme song, written by lead singer Robinson
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy...
.
Production
Hot off her success for her performance in The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are ComingThe Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming is an American comedy film. Based on the Nathaniel Benchley novel The Off-Islanders, the film was directed by Norman Jewison and adapted for the screen by William Rose....
Andrea Dromm was recruited by the American Broadcasting Company
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
to host a television special about the surfing
Surfing
Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...
craze called Hit the Surf and to play a female secret agent in the lead role of ABC Films first production. She knew the director Marshall Stone from their work together in National Airlines
National Airlines (NA)
National Airlines was an airline founded in 1934 and was headquartered on the grounds of Miami International Airport in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States near Miami.- History :...
and Clairol
Clairol
Clairol is a personal care products division of Procter & Gamble. The Clairol company was started in 1931 by Lawrence M. Gelb and wife, Joan, who named their enterprise after a hair-coloring preparation they found while traveling in France....
"Summer Girl" television commercials. Dromm had to learn motorcycle riding, and scuba diving for the film though her underwater shots were doubled. Dromm was nervous about scuba diving and what she felt were unsafe conditions; she said that Troy Donohue got into some trouble underwater due to problems with his diving regulator
Diving regulator
A diving regulator is a pressure regulator used in scuba or surface supplied diving equipment that reduces pressurized breathing gas to ambient pressure and delivers it to the diver. The gas may be air or one of a variety of specially blended breathing gases...
. Dromm never made another film.
The film was overshadowed by 20th Century Fox's other 1967
1967 in film
The year 1967 in film involved some significant events. It is widely considered as one of the most ground-breaking years in film.-Events:* December 26 - The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour airs on British television....
female spy film
Spy film
The spy film genre deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way or as a basis for fantasy . Many novels in the spy fiction genre have been adapted as films, including works by John Buchan, John Le Carré, Ian Fleming and Len Deighton...
s; Fathom
Fathom (film)
Fathom is a 1967 British spy comedy film directed by Leslie H. Martinson, starring Anthony Franciosa and Raquel Welch. Fathom Harvill is a dental assistant and an American skydiver touring Europe with a U.S. parachute team...
with Raquel Welch
Raquel Welch
Jo Raquel Tejada , better known as Raquel Welch, is an American actress, author and sex symbol. Welch came to attention as a "new-star" on the 20th Century-Fox lot in the mid-1960s. She posed iconically in a animal skin bikini for the British-release One Million Years B.C. , for which she may be...
and Caprice with Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
.
Critical reaction
The film was released to mostly negative reviews and was not a success. The New York Herald TribuneNew York Herald Tribune
The New York Herald Tribune was a daily newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune acquired the New York Herald.Other predecessors, which had earlier merged into the New York Tribune, included the original The New Yorker newsweekly , and the Whig Party's Log Cabin.The paper was home to...
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". 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!"
Consequently, Come Spy with Me has not been reissued by 20th Century Fox or released on home video; save for some television broadcasts, it has not been seen in several decades.
External links
- original film trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5ZsKHkFuFU