In Like Flint
Encyclopedia
In Like Flint is a 1967 film directed by Gordon Douglas, the sequel to the parody spy film Our Man Flint
(1966). It posits an international feminist conspiracy
to depose the ruling American patriarchy
with a feminist matriarchy
. To achieve and establish it, they kidnap and replace the U.S. President, discredit the head of the Z.O.W.I.E. intelligence agency, and commandeer a nuclear-armed
space platform, all directed from Fabulous Face, a women's spa in the Virgin Islands
. Circumstances compel ex-secret agent Derek Flint
to help his ex-boss, and so uncover the conspiracy. Actors James Coburn
and Lee J. Cobb
reprise their roles as "Derek Flint" and spy chief "Lloyd C. Cramden", Flint's ex-boss. The movie poster for In Like Flint features a classic piece of movie poster artwork by the late Bob Peak
.
In Like Flint was the last film made in CinemaScope
. The title is a play on the phrase in like Flynn
.
Chief, Lloyd C. Cramden, joins the President of the United States for a game of golf. While on the links, they are interrupted by a small group from the Fabulous Face organization. Discreetly substituting the presidential golf ball with a small gas bomb, they succeed in temporarily immobilizing the presidential party and replacing the president with an actor surgically altered to look exactly like him.
Puzzled by a stopwatch
that was active during the switch, Cramden visits former agent Derek Flint at his New York City
apartment, asking he investigate the "lost" three minutes recorded by the stopwatch. Flint agrees to take up the matter after his return from a survival exercise in the Mojave Desert
. That evening, however, Cramden encounters Lisa, an operative for Fabulous Face. Disguised as a Southern schoolteacher visiting the city, she drugs him using treated cigarettes and stages a compromising scene with a prostitute; the scene is then photographed and published by General Carter, who is working with Fabulous Face. With Cramden framed as a libertine, the President publicly fires the disgraced spy chief.
Recalled from his exercise, Flint hypnotizes Cramden and learns the details of the encounter with Lisa. Tests of trimmings from Cramden's mustache reveal traces of "euphoric acid". Investigating further, Flint breaks into Z.O.W.I.E. headquarters and discovers that the two astronauts on the recently-launched space platform are, in fact, Russian female cosmonauts. Flint is interrupted by General Carter and a force of turncoat guards who, after a struggle, believe they have killed Flint when he apparently falls into a document incinerator.
Having escaped, Flint travels to the Soviet Union to investigate the cosmonaut connection. Dancing in the Bolshoi
ballet
, he makes contact with ballerina Natasha, unaware that she is a Fabulous Face operative until she attempts to drug him with tainted cigarettes. His interrogation of her is interrupted by the KGB
, who arrive at her apartment to bring Flint to the Soviet Premier. After escaping the KGB agents, Flint sneaks into the Kremlin, where he overhears the Premier bluffing the U.S. President; conversational clues point Flint to the Fabulous Face spa
in the Virgin Islands
. Having discovered the complex himself, Cramden travels there in disguise, but is quickly discovered and locked up with the president.
Flint boards an Aeroflot
flight for Cuba disguised as a bearded Cuban Revolution
ary. Distracting the other passengers, he ties up the pilots, parachutes out over the Virgin Islands and swims to the Fabulous Face complex. There he is met by Lisa, who brings him before the Fabulous Face leadership, a group of female business executives who explain their plan to brainwash women through subliminal messages transmitted in salon hairdryers
into overthrowing the male-dominated political order. As Flint attempts to talk the women out of it, he is interrupted by General Carter, who is dissatisfied with his subordinate role and plans to take power himself with the aid of the fake president. After a fight, Flint is captured by Carter's men and placed, along with Cramden, the captive president and the Fabulous Face leadership, into cryogenic suspension
. Flint escapes his freezing chamber with a sonic wave amplifier device, which is disguised as a cigarette lighter and belt buckle.
Determined to stop Carter's plan to atomically
arm the space station, Flint, Cramden, the president, and the women travel to the nearby island where the launch is scheduled to take place. Once they arrive, the women execute "Operation Smooch", using their sexual allure to distract and subdue the male guards. After the women take over the control room, Carter (who is on board the rocket) threatens to activate the atomic warheads under his control unless he is allowed to proceed with the launch. Flint manages to board the capsule just before it takes off; once in orbit they fight in zero gravity, causing the spacecraft to tumble. After overpowering Carter, Flint escapes the capsule, which is then destroyed with a nuclear missile launched from the surface. Using his wave amplifier, Flint floats to the nearby space platform, where he enjoys the hospitality of the female cosmonauts there while awaiting return to Earth.
Roger Ebert
had similar criticisms: "The sexiest thing in the new Derek Flint misadventure, In Like Flint, is Flint's cigarette lighter, which is supposed to know eighty-two tricks, but actually delivers only five, of which, one is the not extraordinary ability to clip Lee J. Cobb's moustache".
, the main character Austin Powers (while being on honeymoon with his new wife Vanessa Kensington
) switches on the TV to a scene from In Like Flint. He mentions to Vanessa that it is his favorite movie.
Our Man Flint
Our Man Flint is a 1966 action film that parodies of James Bond genre. The film was directed by Daniel Mann, written by Hal Fimberg and Ben Starr, and starring James Coburn as master spy Derek Flint...
(1966). It posits an international feminist conspiracy
Cabal
A cabal is a group of people united in some close design together, usually to promote their private views and/or interests in a church, state, or other community, often by intrigue...
to depose the ruling American patriarchy
Patriarchy
Patriarchy is a social system in which the role of the male as the primary authority figure is central to social organization, and where fathers hold authority over women, children, and property. It implies the institutions of male rule and privilege, and entails female subordination...
with a feminist matriarchy
Matriarchy
A matriarchy is a society in which females, especially mothers, have the central roles of political leadership and moral authority. It is also sometimes called a gynocratic or gynocentric society....
. To achieve and establish it, they kidnap and replace the U.S. President, discredit the head of the Z.O.W.I.E. intelligence agency, and commandeer a nuclear-armed
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
space platform, all directed from Fabulous Face, a women's spa in the Virgin Islands
Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...
. Circumstances compel ex-secret agent Derek Flint
Derek Flint
Derek Flint is a fictional world adventurer and master spy featured in a series of movies and comic books. Flint is a parody of James Bond and Doc Savage. Derek Flint is an agent for ZOWIE...
to help his ex-boss, and so uncover the conspiracy. Actors James Coburn
James Coburn
James Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,...
and Lee J. Cobb
Lee J. Cobb
Lee J. Cobb was an American actor. He is best known for his performance in 12 Angry Men his Academy Award-nominated performance in On the Waterfront and one of his last films, The Exorcist...
reprise their roles as "Derek Flint" and spy chief "Lloyd C. Cramden", Flint's ex-boss. The movie poster for In Like Flint features a classic piece of movie poster artwork by the late Bob Peak
Bob Peak
Robert "Bob" M. Peak was an American commercial illustrator best known for innovative design in the development of the modern movie poster....
.
In Like Flint was the last film made in CinemaScope
CinemaScope
CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
. The title is a play on the phrase in like Flynn
In Like Flynn
"In like Flynn" is a slang phrase meaning "having completed a goal or gained access as desired". In addition to its general use, the phrase is sometimes used to describe success in sexual seduction, and its folk etymology often asserts the phrase has sexual origins.-Origins:The term is often...
.
Plot
After observing the launch of a new space platform, Z.O.W.I.E.Z.O.W.I.E.
Z.O.W.I.E. is the fictional not-so-secret service depicted in the movies Our Man Flint and In Like Flint. It is an acronym for Zonal Organization for World Intelligence and Espionage. While it is nominally the same agency, Z.O.W.I.E. is depicted differently in the two films.In Our Man Flint,...
Chief, Lloyd C. Cramden, joins the President of the United States for a game of golf. While on the links, they are interrupted by a small group from the Fabulous Face organization. Discreetly substituting the presidential golf ball with a small gas bomb, they succeed in temporarily immobilizing the presidential party and replacing the president with an actor surgically altered to look exactly like him.
Puzzled by a stopwatch
Stopwatch
A stopwatch is a handheld timepiece designed to measure the amount of time elapsed from a particular time when activated to when the piece is deactivated. A large digital version of a stopwatch designed for viewing at a distance, as in a sports stadium, is called a stopclock.The timing functions...
that was active during the switch, Cramden visits former agent Derek Flint at his New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
apartment, asking he investigate the "lost" three minutes recorded by the stopwatch. Flint agrees to take up the matter after his return from a survival exercise in the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
. That evening, however, Cramden encounters Lisa, an operative for Fabulous Face. Disguised as a Southern schoolteacher visiting the city, she drugs him using treated cigarettes and stages a compromising scene with a prostitute; the scene is then photographed and published by General Carter, who is working with Fabulous Face. With Cramden framed as a libertine, the President publicly fires the disgraced spy chief.
Recalled from his exercise, Flint hypnotizes Cramden and learns the details of the encounter with Lisa. Tests of trimmings from Cramden's mustache reveal traces of "euphoric acid". Investigating further, Flint breaks into Z.O.W.I.E. headquarters and discovers that the two astronauts on the recently-launched space platform are, in fact, Russian female cosmonauts. Flint is interrupted by General Carter and a force of turncoat guards who, after a struggle, believe they have killed Flint when he apparently falls into a document incinerator.
Having escaped, Flint travels to the Soviet Union to investigate the cosmonaut connection. Dancing in the Bolshoi
Bolshoi Theatre
The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world...
ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
, he makes contact with ballerina Natasha, unaware that she is a Fabulous Face operative until she attempts to drug him with tainted cigarettes. His interrogation of her is interrupted by the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
, who arrive at her apartment to bring Flint to the Soviet Premier. After escaping the KGB agents, Flint sneaks into the Kremlin, where he overhears the Premier bluffing the U.S. President; conversational clues point Flint to the Fabulous Face spa
Spa
The term spa is associated with water treatment which is also known as balneotherapy. Spa towns or spa resorts typically offer various health treatments. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters goes back to prehistoric times. Such practices have been popular worldwide, but are...
in the Virgin Islands
Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...
. Having discovered the complex himself, Cramden travels there in disguise, but is quickly discovered and locked up with the president.
Flint boards an Aeroflot
Aeroflot
OJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines , commonly known as Aeroflot , is the flag carrier and largest airline of the Russian Federation, based on passengers carried per year...
flight for Cuba disguised as a bearded Cuban Revolution
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...
ary. Distracting the other passengers, he ties up the pilots, parachutes out over the Virgin Islands and swims to the Fabulous Face complex. There he is met by Lisa, who brings him before the Fabulous Face leadership, a group of female business executives who explain their plan to brainwash women through subliminal messages transmitted in salon hairdryers
Blowdryer
A blowdryer or hairdryer is an electromechanical device designed to blow cool or hot air over wet or damp hair, in order to accelerate the evaporation of water particles and dry the hair. Blowdryers allow to better control the shape and style of hair, by accelerating and controlling the formation...
into overthrowing the male-dominated political order. As Flint attempts to talk the women out of it, he is interrupted by General Carter, who is dissatisfied with his subordinate role and plans to take power himself with the aid of the fake president. After a fight, Flint is captured by Carter's men and placed, along with Cramden, the captive president and the Fabulous Face leadership, into cryogenic suspension
Cryogenics
In physics, cryogenics is the study of the production of very low temperature and the behavior of materials at those temperatures. A person who studies elements under extremely cold temperature is called a cryogenicist. Rather than the relative temperature scales of Celsius and Fahrenheit,...
. Flint escapes his freezing chamber with a sonic wave amplifier device, which is disguised as a cigarette lighter and belt buckle.
Determined to stop Carter's plan to atomically
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
arm the space station, Flint, Cramden, the president, and the women travel to the nearby island where the launch is scheduled to take place. Once they arrive, the women execute "Operation Smooch", using their sexual allure to distract and subdue the male guards. After the women take over the control room, Carter (who is on board the rocket) threatens to activate the atomic warheads under his control unless he is allowed to proceed with the launch. Flint manages to board the capsule just before it takes off; once in orbit they fight in zero gravity, causing the spacecraft to tumble. After overpowering Carter, Flint escapes the capsule, which is then destroyed with a nuclear missile launched from the surface. Using his wave amplifier, Flint floats to the nearby space platform, where he enjoys the hospitality of the female cosmonauts there while awaiting return to Earth.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| James Coburn James Coburn James Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,... |
Derek Flint |
| Lee J. Cobb Lee J. Cobb Lee J. Cobb was an American actor. He is best known for his performance in 12 Angry Men his Academy Award-nominated performance in On the Waterfront and one of his last films, The Exorcist... |
Lloyd Cramden |
| Jean Hale Jean Hale Jean Hale is an American actress.In films, Hale played Miriam Stark in Taggart , Cheryl Barker in The Oscar , Myrtle in The St. Valentine's Day Massacre and Lisa in In Like Flint... |
Lisa |
| Andrew Duggan Andrew Duggan -Career:During World War II, Duggan was in the 40th Special Services Company, led by actor Melvyn Douglas in the China Burma India Theater of World War II. His contact with Douglas later led to his performing with Lucille Ball in the play Dreamgirl. He developed a friendship with Broadway... |
U.S. President Trent |
| Anna Lee Anna Lee Anna Lee, MBE was an English actress.-Career:Lee studied at the Royal Albert Hall, then debuted with a bit part in the film His Lordship... |
Elisabeth |
| Hanna Landy | Helena |
| Totty Ames | Simone |
| Steve Ihnat Steve Ihnat Steve Ihnat was a Czechoslovakian-born actor and director. He immigrated to Canada when he was five years old, and later became a United States citizen.-Early life:... |
General Carter |
| Thomas Hasson | Lieutenant Avery |
| Herb Edelman Herb Edelman Herbert "Herb" Edelman was an American actor of stage, film and television. He was twice nominated for an Emmy Award for his television work. One of his best remembered roles was as Stanley Zbornak, the ex-husband of Dorothy Zbornak on the long-running situation comedy, The Golden Girls... |
Russian Premier |
| Yvonne Craig Yvonne Craig Yvonne Joyce Craig is an American actress best known for her role as Batgirl from the 1960s TV series Batman, and as the Orion Marta in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode “Whom Gods Destroy”.-Early life and career:... |
Natasha |
| Jennifer Gan Jennifer Gan Jennifer Gan was a sixties pop culture actress who appeared in fourteen movie and television show titles starting in 1964. Prior to this she performed on the stage in musicals such as "Li'l Abner" in 1958, "The Pink Jungle" in 1959 starring Ginger Rogers and Agnes Moorehead and "No Strings" in 1962... |
Amazon |
Critical reaction
In Like Flint received mixed reviews when released in 1967; a New York Times critic said: "Although the film crawls with dime-store beauties, there is a noticeable lack of sexiness in it. Women bent on being tyrants evidently haven't much time for anything else".Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
had similar criticisms: "The sexiest thing in the new Derek Flint misadventure, In Like Flint, is Flint's cigarette lighter, which is supposed to know eighty-two tricks, but actually delivers only five, of which, one is the not extraordinary ability to clip Lee J. Cobb's moustache".
In popular culture
In the movie Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged MeAustin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, released in 1999, is the second film in the Austin Powers series that began with 1997's Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery and continued with Austin Powers in Goldmember. The film was directed by Jay Roach, co-written by Mike Myers and screenwriter...
, the main character Austin Powers (while being on honeymoon with his new wife Vanessa Kensington
Vanessa Kensington
Vanessa Kensington is a fictional character in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery and, briefly, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. She was played by actress and model, Elizabeth Hurley.-Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery:...
) switches on the TV to a scene from In Like Flint. He mentions to Vanessa that it is his favorite movie.