The Nude Bomb
Encyclopedia
The Nude Bomb is a 1980 comedy film
based on the television series Get Smart
. It starred Don Adams
as Maxwell Smart, Agent 86, and was directed
by Clive Donner
. It was retitled The Return of Maxwell Smart for television
so as to avoid any trouble with the censors
.
Adams' cousin Robert Karvelas
(Larrabee) is the only other cast member from the television series to return for this film. Dana Elcar
plays the Chief in this film (as Edward Platt
had died in 1974); no reference is made to Barbara Feldon's character from the TV series, Agent 99, or even her marriage to Smart. Sylvia Kristel
, at the time well-known for her appearances in the Emmanuelle
film series, makes a brief appearance as Agent 34, with actress Andrea Howard
playing as Agent 22 (Agent 99-type role) and Vittorio Gassman
playing the Blofeld
-like villain. Agent 13 was recast as Joey Forman
, who played Harry Hoo in the TV series. Pamela Hensley
, who was by now well known to science fiction fans for playing Princess Ardala in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
, appeared as Agent 36.
Smart's agency, called CONTROL
in the TV series, was called PITS in this film, an acronym standing for Provisional Intelligence Tactical Service.
In spite of the title, the film was given a PG rating because there was no frontal nudity in the film. There are five times in the film where the bomb is detonated, but in each case the actors cover up their private areas with strategically placed briefcases or guns (Buckingham palace guards) or are shown only from the waist up. In one case members of a football team are in a huddle when a bomb detonates, revealing bare behinds of some of the players. In the final scene, the three stars of the film are rendered nude by fallout from the destruction of all the bombs at the enemy headquarters, but are seen from the backsides from a distance, and then with a "the end" caption covering each of their backsides.
. Get Smart, Again!
would feature most of the surviving original cast members and ignored the events that took place in The Nude Bomb for continuity
purposes. This was followed by a short-lived revival TV series for Fox. A feature film remake of the series
was a box office success in 2008, called Get Smart
which grossed $230,685,453 worldwide.
, the original network on which the TV series had aired before going to CBS
in its final season. Currently, both NBC and the film's producer, Universal Studios
, are owned by NBC Universal
.
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
based on the television series Get Smart
Get Smart
Get Smart is an American comedy television series that satirizes the secret agent genre. Created by Mel Brooks with Buck Henry, the show starred Don Adams , Barbara Feldon , and Edward Platt...
. It starred Don Adams
Don Adams
Don Adams was an American actor, comedian and director. In his five decades on television, he was best known as Maxwell Smart in the television situation comedy Get Smart , which he also sometimes directed and wrote. Adams won three consecutive Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Smart...
as Maxwell Smart, Agent 86, and was directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by Clive Donner
Clive Donner
Clive Stanley Donner was a British film director who was a defining part of the British New Wave, directing films such as The Caretaker, Nothing But the Best, Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush and What's New Pussycat?...
. It was retitled The Return of Maxwell Smart for television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
so as to avoid any trouble with the censors
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
.
Overview
In the film, Smart is called back into service in order to stop a nefarious KAOS terrorist plan from exploding a bomb that destroys only clothing, so as to leave KAOS as the only supplier of clothes to the entire world.Adams' cousin Robert Karvelas
Robert Karvelas
Robert Karvelas was an American actor who was notable for his role as the Chief's dense assistant, Larrabee, on the 1960s sitcom Get Smart. He was Don Adams' cousin....
(Larrabee) is the only other cast member from the television series to return for this film. Dana Elcar
Dana Elcar
Dana Elcar was an American television and movie character actor. Although he appeared in about 40 films, his most memorable role was on the 1980s and 1990s television series MacGyver as Peter Thornton, an administrator working for the Phoenix Foundation...
plays the Chief in this film (as Edward Platt
Edward Platt
Edward Cuthbert Platt was an American actor best known for his portrayal of "The Chief" in the 1965-70 NBC/CBS television series Get Smart...
had died in 1974); no reference is made to Barbara Feldon's character from the TV series, Agent 99, or even her marriage to Smart. Sylvia Kristel
Sylvia Kristel
Sylvia Kristel is a Dutch actress, model and singer. Her most famous role is in the French film Emmanuelle.- Early life :...
, at the time well-known for her appearances in the Emmanuelle
Emmanuelle
Emmanuelle is the lead character in a series of French softcore erotic movies based on a character created by Emmanuelle Arsan in the novel Emmanuelle...
film series, makes a brief appearance as Agent 34, with actress Andrea Howard
Andrea Howard
Andrea Howard is an American actress who worked mostly on television in the 1970s and 80s, most notably in the films The Nude Bomb as Agent 22 , and Thank God It's Friday as Sue . She also appeared in the American daytime soap opera Santa Barbara as Veronica Gayley in and the comedy series Holmes...
playing as Agent 22 (Agent 99-type role) and Vittorio Gassman
Vittorio Gassman
Vittorio Gassman Knight Grand Cross OMRI , popularly known as Il Mattatore, was an Italian theatre and film actor and director...
playing the Blofeld
Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Ernst Stavro Blofeld is a fictional character and a supervillain from the James Bond series of novels and films, who was created by Ian Fleming and Kevin McClory. An evil genius with aspirations of world domination, he is the archenemy of the British Secret Service agent James Bond and is arguably...
-like villain. Agent 13 was recast as Joey Forman
Joey Forman
Joey Forman was an American comedian and comic actor. He first attracted attention in Las Vegas as the opening act for Mickey Rooney...
, who played Harry Hoo in the TV series. Pamela Hensley
Pamela Hensley
Pamela Gail Hensley is an American actress. She is best known for playing Princess Ardala on the 1979-1981 television series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and C.J...
, who was by now well known to science fiction fans for playing Princess Ardala in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (TV series)
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century is an American science fiction adventure television series produced by Universal Studios. The series ran for two seasons between 1979–1981, and the feature-length pilot episode for the series was released as a theatrical film several months before the series aired....
, appeared as Agent 36.
Smart's agency, called CONTROL
Control
Control is the ability to purposefully direct, or suppress, change.Control can also refer to:-Literature:*Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, "Control" was the head of the Circus, a stand-in for MI-6, in the 1974 British spy novel by John le Carré...
in the TV series, was called PITS in this film, an acronym standing for Provisional Intelligence Tactical Service.
In spite of the title, the film was given a PG rating because there was no frontal nudity in the film. There are five times in the film where the bomb is detonated, but in each case the actors cover up their private areas with strategically placed briefcases or guns (Buckingham palace guards) or are shown only from the waist up. In one case members of a football team are in a huddle when a bomb detonates, revealing bare behinds of some of the players. In the final scene, the three stars of the film are rendered nude by fallout from the destruction of all the bombs at the enemy headquarters, but are seen from the backsides from a distance, and then with a "the end" caption covering each of their backsides.
Reception
The film was a box office disappointment. Nearly a decade later another revival film was produced, this time for TV, on ABCAmerican 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...
. Get Smart, Again!
Get Smart, Again!
Get Smart, Again! is a made-for-TV movie based on the 1965-1970 NBC/CBS television series, Get Smart!, which originally aired February 26, 1989 on ABC . It has subsequently been released twice on DVD by different publishers...
would feature most of the surviving original cast members and ignored the events that took place in The Nude Bomb for continuity
Continuity (fiction)
In fiction, continuity is consistency of the characteristics of persons, plot, objects, places and events seen by the reader or viewer over some period of time...
purposes. This was followed by a short-lived revival TV series for Fox. A feature film remake of the series
Get Smart (film)
Get Smart is a 2008 American spy-fi comedy film based on Mel Brooks and Buck Henry's 1960s spy parody television series of the same name. The film stars Steve Carell as Maxwell Smart and Anne Hathaway as Agent 99...
was a box office success in 2008, called Get Smart
Get Smart
Get Smart is an American comedy television series that satirizes the secret agent genre. Created by Mel Brooks with Buck Henry, the show starred Don Adams , Barbara Feldon , and Edward Platt...
which grossed $230,685,453 worldwide.
TV broadcast premiere
In 1982, the film aired on broadcast television for the first time (with the aforementioned new title). The network which aired the film was NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, the original network on which the TV series had aired before going to CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
in its final season. Currently, both NBC and the film's producer, Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
, are owned by NBC Universal
NBC Universal
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is a media and entertainment company engaged in the production and marketing of entertainment, news, and information products and services to a global customer base...
.
PITS (Provisional Intelligence Tactical Service)
- Maxwell Smart, Agent 86 - Don AdamsDon AdamsDon Adams was an American actor, comedian and director. In his five decades on television, he was best known as Maxwell Smart in the television situation comedy Get Smart , which he also sometimes directed and wrote. Adams won three consecutive Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Smart...
- The Chief - Dana ElcarDana ElcarDana Elcar was an American television and movie character actor. Although he appeared in about 40 films, his most memorable role was on the 1980s and 1990s television series MacGyver as Peter Thornton, an administrator working for the Phoenix Foundation...
- Larabee - Robert KarvelasRobert KarvelasRobert Karvelas was an American actor who was notable for his role as the Chief's dense assistant, Larrabee, on the 1960s sitcom Get Smart. He was Don Adams' cousin....
- Carruthers - Norman LloydNorman LloydNorman Lloyd is an American actor, producer, and director with a career in entertainment spanning more than seven decades. Lloyd, who currently resides in Los Angeles, has appeared in over sixty films and television shows....
- Agent 36 - Pamela HensleyPamela HensleyPamela Gail Hensley is an American actress. She is best known for playing Princess Ardala on the 1979-1981 television series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and C.J...
- Dr. Jerry Krovney - Gary ImhoffGary ImhoffGary Imhoff is an American actor. He was a teacher at Milton Katselas' Beverly Hills Playhouse. He teaches The Professional Artists Workshop and The Musical Artists Workshop in Los Angeles...
- Dr. Pam Krovney - Sarah RushSarah RushSarah Rush is an American actress, best known in television for her work in the original Battlestar Galactica. She narrated and starred in the 2005 documentary The Bituminous Coal Queens of Pennsylvania produced by Patricia Heaton and directed by David Hunt, which won the 2006 Heartland Film...
- Agent 22 - Andrea HowardAndrea HowardAndrea Howard is an American actress who worked mostly on television in the 1970s and 80s, most notably in the films The Nude Bomb as Agent 22 , and Thank God It's Friday as Sue . She also appeared in the American daytime soap opera Santa Barbara as Veronica Gayley in and the comedy series Holmes...
- Agent 13 - Joey FormanJoey FormanJoey Forman was an American comedian and comic actor. He first attracted attention in Las Vegas as the opening act for Mickey Rooney...
- Agent 34 - Sylvia KristelSylvia KristelSylvia Kristel is a Dutch actress, model and singer. Her most famous role is in the French film Emmanuelle.- Early life :...
- Harrington - Robert Ball
KAOS
- Norman Saint Sauvage - Vittorio GassmanVittorio GassmanVittorio Gassman Knight Grand Cross OMRI , popularly known as Il Mattatore, was an Italian theatre and film actor and director...
- Nino Salvatori Sebastiani - Vittorio Gassman
- Madame Rose
United Nations
- American Ambassador - Walter BrookeWalter BrookeWalter Brooke was an American actor. Brooke is best known for playing Mr. McGuire in The Graduate, where he said his famous line, "Plastics"....
- French Delegate - Patrick Gorman
- Jamaican Delegate - Earl MaynardEarl MaynardEarl Maynard is a bodybuilder and professional wrestler as well as a film actor, producer and director from Barbados.-Bodybuilding:Maynard won the 1964 Universe - Pro - NABBA bodybuilding competition - part of the Universe Championships, the 1965 Universe - IFBB - now the World Amateur Bodybuilding...
- Russian Delegate - Alex Rodine
- German Delegate - Richard Sanders
- Italian Delegate - Vito ScottiVito ScottiVito Scotti was a veteran character actor who played many roles, primarily from the late-1940s to the mid-1990s. He was known as a man of a thousand faces, for his ability to assume so many divergent roles in more than 200 screen roles, in a nearly 50 year career. He was known for his resourceful...
- English Delegate - Byron WebsterByron WebsterByron Clark Webster is an English footballer who plays for Northampton Town as a defender.-Career:Born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, Webster made his debut for York City against Burton Albion in the Conference National on 29 December 2004. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–2 draw against...
- Polish Delegate - Ross Evans
- Nigerian Delegate - Lawrie Osag
- Philippine Delegate - Ferdinand MarcosFerdinand MarcosFerdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, Sr. was a Filipino leader and an authoritarian President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives and a member of the Philippine Senate...
Others
- Jonathon Levinson Seigle - Bill Dana
- Dolly Francine Winston
- Edith Von Secondberg - Rhonda FlemingRhonda FlemingRhonda Fleming , is an American film and television actress.She acted in more than 40 films, mostly in the 1940s and 1950s, and became renowned as one of the most beautiful and glamorous actresses of her day...
- President - Thomas HillThomas Hill (actor)Thomas Hill was an actor and director on stage for decades before starting in film in the mid 1960s and on television in the 1980s....
- Landlady - Ceil Cabot
- Doctor - David Adnopoz
Awards and nominations
- 1st Golden Raspberry Award
- Nominated: Worst PictureRazzie Award for Worst PictureThe Razzie Award for Worst Picture is an award given out at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst film of the past year. Following is a list of nominees and recipients of that award, including each film's distribution company and producer.-1980s:...