''No. 1 of the Secret Service'' is a 1977 imitation

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

film starring Nicky Henson as British

secret agent Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

Charles Bind. It was directed and written by

Lindsay Shonteff Lindsay Craig Shonteff (5 November 1935 – 11 March 2006) was a Canadian born film director, film producer and screenwriter who achieved fame for low-budget films produced in the United Kingdom. Biography Lindsay Shonteff was born in Toronto ...

and produced by his wife Elizabeth Gray. The film had the

working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

of ''008 of the Secret Service''. It was released on VHS under the title ''Her Majesty’s Top Gun''.

Plot

Eccentric Arthur Loveday decides to do his bit for world peace by having influential financiers assassinated. With regular law enforcement agencies powerless to prevent their deaths,

Her Majesty's Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...

sends in their top agent Charles Bind who is licensed to kill. Loveday accomplishes his deeds through an organisation of mercenaries named K.R.A.S.H. (Killing Rape Arson Slaughter and Hit). Bind takes them on with his pair of

.357 Magnum The .357 Smith & Wesson Magnum, .357 S&W Magnum, .357 Magnum, or 9×33mmR as it is known in unofficial metric designation, is a smokeless powder cartridge with a bullet diameter. It was created by Elmer Keith, Phillip B. Sharpe, and Douglas B. ...

Smith & Wesson Model 66 The Smith & Wesson Model 19 is a revolver produced by Smith & Wesson that was introduced in 1957 on its K-frame. The Model 19 is chambered for .357 Magnum. The K-frame is somewhat smaller and lighter than the original N-frame .357, usually known ...

revolvers and a .50 calibre

M2 Browning The M2 machine gun or Browning .50 caliber machine gun (informally, "Ma Deuce") is a heavy machine gun that was designed towards the end of World War I by John Browning. Its design is similar to Browning's earlier M1919 Browning machine gun, ...

machine gun for crowds.

Cast

* Nicky Henson ... No. 1 / Charles Bind *

Richard Todd Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd (11 June 19193 December 2009) was an Irish-British actor known for his leading man roles of the 1950s. He received a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Male, and an Academy Award for Best Actor n ...

... Arthur Loveday *

Aimi MacDonald Aimi MacDonald (born 27 February 1942) is a Scottish actress and dancer. She is best known for her role as ''"The Lovely" Aimi MacDonald'' in the television sketch comedy show ''At Last the 1948 Show'' (Rediffusion, 1967). Background and ear ...

... Anna Hudson *

Geoffrey Keen Geoffrey Keen (21 August 1916 – 3 November 2005) was an English actor who appeared in supporting roles in many films. He is well known for playing British Defence Minister Sir Frederick Gray in the ''James Bond'' films. Biography Early lif ...

... Rockwell * Dudley Sutton ... K.R.A.S.H. Leader *

Sue Lloyd Sue or SUE may refer to: Music * Sue Records, an American record label * ''Sue'' (album), an album by Frazier Chorus * " Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)", a song by David Bowie Places * Sue Islet (Queensland), one of the Torres Straits isla ...

... Sister Jane * Jon Pertwee ... The Rev. Walter Braithwaite *

Milton Reid Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...

... Eye Patch * Jennifer Baker ... Loveday's Girl * Susan Baker ... Loveday's Girl * Fiona Curzon ... Bar Girl * Jenny Till ... Vampire Girl *

Katya Wyeth Katya Wyeth (born 1 January 1948) is a former model and actress notable for her roles in several classic horror films of the early 1970s. She was married to British actor Michael Bangerter, with whom she had two children. Credited early on as K ...

... Miss Martin *

Oliver MacGreevy Oliver John MacGreevy (25 July 1928 - October 1981) was an Irish actor who appeared in many British films and television series from the mid 1950s until he retired in 1980, often as brutish, shaven-headed villains. Among his roles he played Hou ...

... Simms

Production

In 1965, Canadian director

directed and co-wrote '' Licensed to Kill'', a low budget British made

imitation/parody

exploitation film An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become hi ...

. Produced by James Ward, it starred Tom Adams as

Charles Vine ''Licensed to Kill'' is an Eastmancolor 1965 superspy imitation James Bond film starring Tom Adams as British secret agent Charles Vine. It was directed and co-written by Lindsay Shonteff. Producer Joseph E. Levine picked it up for American an ...

imitating Sean Connery as James Bond. With the popularity of the mid-1960s

spy movie The spy film, also known as the spy thriller, is a genre of film that deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way (such as the adaptations of John le Carré) or as a basis for fantasy (such as many James Bond films) ...

craze, American producer

Joseph E. Levine Joseph Edward Levine (September 9, 1905 – July 31, 1987) was an American film distributor, financier and producer. At the time of his death, it was said he was involved in one or another capacity with 497 films. Levine was responsible for the ...

picked up the film for American and worldwide distribution. He retitled the film ''The Second Best Secret Agent in the Whole Wide World'' and added a new title song sung by Sammy Davis Jr. The international success of the film led to producer Ward and Tom Adams reprising Charles Vine in two sequels; ''

Where the Bullets Fly ''Where the Bullets Fly'' is a 1966 British comedy spy film directed by John Gilling and starring Tom Adams as Charles Vine and John Arnatt reprising their roles from '' Licensed to Kill''. It also stars Dawn Addams, Tim Barrett and Michael R ...

'' (1966) directed by

John Gilling John Gilling (29 May 1912 – 22 November 1984) was an English film director and screenwriter, born in London. He was known for his horror movies, especially those he made for Hammer Films, for whom he directed ''The Shadow of the Cat'' (1961) ...

and presented by Levine and the 1967 made in Spain film ''

Somebody's Stolen Our Russian Spy ''Somebody's Stolen Our Russian Spy'' or '' O.K. Yevtushenko'' (the film shot the same year as ''O.K. Connery'') is a 1967 Spanish/British international co-production Eurospy film shot in Spain and Portugal. The film was co-produced by James Ward ...

''/''O.K. Yevtushenko'' that languished in a vault until a release in the mid 1970s. Shonteff had nothing to do with those films. With the continued popularity of the James Bond films starring Roger Moore in the mid 1970s, talk of Sean Connery reprising his 007 role in the planned ''James Bond of the Secret Service'' and the delay in the production of

Eon Productions Eon Productions Ltd. is a British film production company that primarily produces the ''James Bond'' film series. The company is based in London's Piccadilly and also operates from Pinewood Studios in the UK. ''Bond'' films Eon was started ...

’ '' The Spy Who Loved Me'', Shonteff thought he would return to the imitation James Bond field with his own film. The original title of ''008 of the Secret Service'' was replaced by ''No. 1 of the Secret Service''. Perhaps to avoid rights difficulties with producer James Ward, Shonteff replaced the name of "Charles Vine" with "Charles Bind", that was also the name of one of the characters in ''

Carry On Spying ''Carry On Spying'' is a 1964 British spy comedy film, the ninth in the series of 31 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1992). It marks Barbara Windsor's first appearance in the series. Series regulars Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, and Jim Dal ...

'' (1964). Bind was played by a fair haired Roger Moore imitator, Nicky Henson. Bind's M type superior Rockwell who was previously played by

John Arnatt John Edwin Arnatt (9 May 1917 – 21 December 1999) was a British actor. Early life and education John Arnatt was born in Petrograd, Russia on 9 May 1917. His parents were Francis and Ethel Marion (née Jephcott) Arnatt. He attended Epworth ...

is now played by

who would later make appearances in several Bond films as the

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

. With production beginning in October 1976, a sequel was announced during production entitled ''An Orchid for No. 1''. The sequel was not released until 1979 under the title ''

Licensed to Love and Kill '' Licensed to Love and Kill'' is a 1979 imitation James Bond film starring Gareth Hunt as British secret agent Charles Bind. It was directed and written by Lindsay Shonteff and produced by his wife Elizabeth Gray. The film had the working title ...

'' with

Gareth Hunt Alan Leonard Hunt (7 February 1942 – 14 March 2007), known as Gareth Hunt, was a British actor best remembered for playing footman Frederick Norton in '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' and Mike Gambit in '' The New Avengers''. Early life Alan Leon ...

replacing Nicky Henson who had signed with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Soundtrack

Simon Bell wrote and performed the theme song ''Givin' It Plenty'' that was also used in the first sequel ''Licensed to Love and Kill'' and reused in '' Tintorera''.

Reception

Alan Burton in ''Historical Dictionary of British Spy Fiction'', which cites that "the cycle of spy films began to lose steam in the 1970s", and mentions ''No. 1 of the Secret Service'' and its sequel ''Licensed to Love and Kill'' as "the odd picture

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

turned up in the cinema schedules", refers to both films as "crude parodies".

Sequels

* ''

'' (1979) starring

* ''Number One Gun'' (1980) starring Michael Howe

References

External links

* {{Lindsay Shonteff 1977 films British parody films 1970s spy comedy films Parody films based on James Bond films Films directed by Lindsay Shonteff British spy films 1970s parody films 1977 comedy films 1970s English-language films