Interpol 009 (1967)

Ching Tang is Chen Tien Hung, agent 009! Yes, even Shaw Brothers tried their luck in the spy-business in the sixties, inspired by the James Bond franchise of course. The Italians did hundreds of them, Turkey had their The Golden Boy series and even in Sweden we were treated to Åsa-Nisse i Agentform which managed to do the fire truck-scene from View to a Kill twenty years before Roger Moore did it. Still a shit movie, even if it was predecessor! But back to Interpol 009, a good-looking but not too exciting adventure…

Agent 009 is having the time of his life with a couple of bikini-dressed women on a beach somewhere when he gets the call that they found two dead bodies in the water. One of them is Chinese and he’s sent on a mission to Hong Kong to investigate an organisation that produces counterfeit money. But the bad guys are on his tail and he’s forced to pick a fight with the police to be able to find a secure place for a while. There he meets a pick-pocket that becomes his friend and companion in solving the mystery!

First of all, Margaret Tu Chuan is a fantastic choice as the main baddie. She had that psychotic look, extremely good actress and a very beautiful. Two years later she committed suicide together with her lover and it’s a damn pity. Ching Tang is good as 009, but feels even more lightweight than Roger Moore in the role as a super agent, but his charm and wits make up for it. There’s actually not much action in Interpol 009, and the big action scene comes towards the end, a good and massive shoot-out in a big house + a nice chase during the final minutes, but other than that it’s very little in the action department.

What Interpol 009 is about is nice locations, beautiful people, gadgets and some broad comedy between 009 and his comic sidekick, the pick-pocket. I wonder what would have happen if Shaw Brothers fused Bond with kung fu, for real, not just like a small detail. That would have been very interesting. Because I really miss the action and the muddled plot made it easy to go out in the kitchen and grab something to eat without really missing something important.

In the end I liked Interpol 009, mostly for the style and atmosphere, which can make a boring movie worth watching. This is not a boring movie, but the lack of action made it less exciting than it should have been. I still recommend it to spy aficionados and collectors of the wonderful world of the weird.