International super thief Modesty Blaise (Monica Vitti) and her sidekick Willy Garvin (Terence Stamp) become mixed up in government conspiracy, diamond smuggling and a plot to capture criminal mastermind Gabriel (Dirk Bogarde).
Scriptwriter Evan Jones adapted the pulp fiction heroine's outlandish adventures for the screen, and who did they choose to direct it? Richard Lester? Mario Bava? No, Joseph Losey, of course! Here we see Losey mixing the wacky irreverence of Accident and the pop art pastiche of The Servant... erm, well, no, not really.
Modesty Blaise employs a cool, devil may care attitude that begins to look like general apathy as it wears on. The plot hardly seems to matter as one kitschy set piece follows another, with casual cruelty and tongue in cheek humour carrying most of the action. Dirk Bogarde's wry, effete performance is the real highlight: silver-haired Gabriel must be the laziest master criminal ever, spending most of his time lounging around in the sun, eating rich food and drinking exotic cocktails.
In fact, the incidentals are what keep you watching, because the story isn't really worth following. James Bond-style weapons range from a umbrella gun to a laser-firing missile. Then there's the goldfish in Gabriel's drink, the silent mime who is kidnapped and gagged, the ingenious way Modesty's radio equipment is hidden about Garvin's person, and the way her hair continually changes colour, at times within the space of one scene.
There are even a couple of instances of Vitti and Stamp breaking into song, which will make you glad this film wasn't a musical. The overall impression is one of a bunch of grown-ups playing at being spies and not being particularly bothered if you're not having as much fun as they are. You're probably better off watching an episode of The Avengers. Music by Johnny Dankworth, including the catchy theme.
Cerebral, at times pretentious, American director, from the theatre. His American career (The Boy with Green Hair, a remake of M, The Prowler) was short-lived due to the Hollywood anti-Communist blacklist, and Losey escaped to Britain.
Almost a decade of uninspiring work followed, but come the sixties he produced a series of challenging films: The Criminal, Eva, King and Country, The Romantic Englishwoman and Mr Klein, and Harold Pinter collaborations The Servant, Accident and The Go-Between. He even directed science fiction like The Damned and Modesty Blaise. Not always successful - he also has turkeys like Boom and The Assassination of Trotsky among his credits - but his best films have a cult following with a particularly European flavour.
