Film Fatales

Sean Connery began the sixties spy movie boom playing James Bond in Dr. No and From Russia with Love. Their success inspired every studio in Hollywood and Europe to release everything from serious knockoffs to spoofs on the genre featuring debonair men, futuristic gadgets, exotic locales, and some of the world’s most beautiful actresses whose roles ranged from the innocent caught up in a nefarious plot to the femme fatale.
Profiled herein are 107 dazzling women, well-known and unknown, who had film and television appearances in the spy genre. They include superstars Doris Day in Caprice, Raquel Welch in Fathom, and Ann-Margret in Murderer’s Row; international sex symbols Ursula Andress in Dr. No and Casino Royale, Elke Sommer in Deadlier Than the Male, and Senta Berger in The Spy with My Face; and forgotten lovelies Greta Chi in Fathom, Alizia Gur in From Russia with Love, and Maggie Thrett in Out of Sight. Each profile includes a filmography that lists the actresses’ more notable films. Some include the actresses’ candid comments and anecdotes about their films and television shows, the people they worked with, and their feelings about acting in the spy genre are offered throughout. A list of websites that provide further information on women in spy films and television is also included.

Tom Lisanti is the award-winning author of multiple books about 1960s and 1970s film and television history. He has appeared as a cohost on Turner Classic Movies and has written for Cinema Retro, Films of the Golden Age, Cinema of the ’70s, and Scary Monsters.
Louis Paul has contributed film reviews, interviews, biographies and articles to film-related publications including Chiller Theatre and European Trash Cinema. He published a genre film magazine in the 80s and 90s called Blood Times. Paul co-curated an exhibit at the New York Public Library celebrating 100 years of the horror film called “Screams on Screen.” He lives in New Jersey.

Tom Lisanti and Louis Paul
Foreword by Eileen O’Neill
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 352
Bibliographic Info: 120 photos, bibliography, filmographies, index
Copyright Date: 2016 [2002]
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6797-3
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3270-4
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments     ix

Foreword     1

Preface     5

Introduction     7

Profiles     31

Websites     319

Bibliography     321

Index     325

“Lisanti gives 1960s glamour girls something they never had before in film circles: respect. His approach is a mixture of fun with the seriousness of a film historian. The concoction is irresistible, and it’s fantastic that these gals get their turn to tell their stories and share their good and bad times in the movie world…valuable…highly recommended…Lisanti is the supreme chronicler of the ’60s era…geniune zeal…fascinating…entertaining…this well-done tome stands as the best of it’s kind…the [author] is the supreme chronicler of this era…simply amazing…excellent writer”—Classic Images; “damn near covers every one of the genre’s noted beauties…you’ll want to thumb through all the pages just for the photos alone”—Hitch; “damn near covers every one of the genre’s notable and/or nubile beauties…it’s the rare book that prompts the need of a cold shower”—Flick Attack; “this terrific hardcover profiles over 100 of these gorgeous actresses”—Shock Cinema; “recommended”—VideoScope; “fun…well-written…a good read”—Cult Movies; “interesting”—Communication Booknotes Quarterly; “pure, kitschy fun…a thrill”—Show Business Weekly; “this book will open the floodgates of happy nostalgia…plenty of camp and kitsch…perfect”—Gay City News; “provides long-overdue recognition of many actresses whose names have faded with time but whose work continues to entertain us”—Cinema Retro.