Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs

Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs is a 1966 American International Pictures comedy film, made in Technicolor, directed by Mario Bava. A spy-spoof, and the sequel to the 1965 hit Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, it stars Vincent Price, Fabian, Francesco Mulé, Laura Antonelli, and the Italian comedy team Franco Franchi and Ciccio Ingrassia.^[1]

The film was shot in Italy by cinematographer Antonio Rinaldi, and released in both English and Italian versions. The Italian release is reportedly very different to the English-language edition, with more screen time spent on the antics of the Italian stars, Franco and Ciccio, and less on Vincent Price and the other American cast members. Additionally, the Italian title of the film is entirely different: Le spie vengono dal semifreddo ("The Spy Who Came in from the Semi-cold"), spoofing the 1965 movie The Spy Who Came In From The Cold.

The Dr. Goldfoot in the title of the English-language release is very obviously a parody of two James Bond villains, Dr. No (1962) and Goldfinger (1964); the eponymous 1964 film was highly successful, and still fresh in the public consciousness at the time the previous film in the series, Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, was made in 1965.

Furthermore, the film has a plot (concerning Dr Goldfoot dropping an atomic bomb on Moscow) which is very reminiscent (or, depending on your point of view, a very strong parody) of Stanley Kubrick's 1964 film comedy Dr. Strangelove. Hence, much more so than the 1965 film (which was entirely a spoof of the James Bond movies), the 1966 sequel essentially re-invents Dr Goldfoot as a spoof of Peter Sellers' character, Dr Strangelove, in place of Ian Fleming's Dr No.

Plot

Price plays the titular mad scientist who is working with the Chinese government to use exploding female robots to disrupt a scheduled NATO war-game by blowing up the various generals involved in the exercise (one of whom looks exactly like Goldfoot, and whom Goldfoot later impersonates). Fabian is the hero who works to thwart the plot, when he isn't busy chasing women such as Laura Antonelli's character. The film ends with an extended frantic chase through the streets of Rome, and Goldfoot attempting to start World War III between Russia and the United States by dropping a nuclear bomb on Moscow.

Cast

• Vincent Price as Dr. Goldfoot
• Fabian as Bill Dexter
• Franco Franchi as Franco
• Ciccio Ingrassia as Ciccio
• Laura Antonelli as Rosanna
• Moana Tahi as Goldfoot's assistant
• Francesco Mulé as Colonel U.K. Doug Benson
• Gianfranco Funari as official U.S.Army

Production

Fulvio Lucisano, the head of Italian International Pictures, originally envisioned the film as a sequel to the Franco and Ciccio film, Due mafiosi contro Goldginger. AIP agreed to co-finance, provided it could be turned into a sequel to Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine. The Italian version of the film would emphasise Franco and Ciccio, while the American one would put forward Vincent Price's Goldfoot.^[2]

Mario Bava was signed to direct. He did not want the job but Lucisano had him under contract.^[2]

Frankie Avalon was originally announced for the sequel^[3] but he pulled out due to the impending birth of his third child and his part ended up being taken by Fabian.^[4] At one stage the movie was known as Dr Goldfoot and the Love Bomb^[5] (which took the title much closer to the strap-line of the 1964 Peter Sellers movie: 'How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb' ), and Dr Goldfoot and the S Bomb^[6] (taking it very close to being Dr Goldfoot and the Sex Bomb).

Filming started in April 1966 and took place in Rome, mostly at Cinecitta Studios but also such locations as Parco di Principe, the Rome Cavalieri Hilton, and Luna Park.^[4]

Louis Heyward estimates the script was rewritten about nine times just prior to production and says there were difficulties satisfying the Italian and American backers; some different scenes were shot for each country, including emphasising brunettes in the Italian version and blondes in the American version.^[7]

Reception

Two versions of the film were made, Italian and American. The American version was re-written, re-scored and re-edited without the participation of Bava.^[2]

The film was not particularly successful, and is considered by many critics to be director Bava's worst movie,^[8] yet it was his commercially most successful movie in Italy. Vincent Price's Goldfoot is the only character who appears in both movies.

Samuel Z. Arkoff said the film's commercial reception was hurt by the refusal of female lead Laura Antonelli to take her clothes off. Arkoff claims she was originally willing to, but then his nephew, Ted Rusoff, who was sent to supervise the film, developed a crush on her and persuaded her not to do it.^[9]

Vincent Price later called the film "the most dreadful movie I've ever been in. Just about everything that could go wrong, did."^[10]

Bibliography

• Blake, Matt; Deal, David (2004). The Eurospy Guide. Baltimore: Luminary Press. ISBN 1-887664-52-1. 

References

External links

• Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs on IMDb
• Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs at AllMovie
• Dr Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs at Mario Bava site
• Dr Goldfoot at the Girl Bombs at TCMDB
• Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs at the American Film Institute Catalog