The Million Eyes of Sumuru
| The Million Eyes of Sumuru | |
|---|---|
 Original film poster by Heywood Brown | |
| Directed by | Lindsay Shonteff |
| Produced by | Harry Alan Towers |
| Written by |
Kevin Kavanagh Sax Rohmer Harry Alan Towers |
| Starring | Frankie Avalon |
| Cinematography | John von Kotze |
| Edited by | Allan Morrison |
| Distributed by | American International Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 95 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The Million Eyes of Sumuru is a 1967 British spy film produced by Harry Alan Towers, directed by Lindsay Shonteff and filmed at the Shaw Brothers studios in Hong Kong. It stars Frankie Avalon and George Nader, with Shirley Eaton as the titular Sumuru.[1] It was based on a series of novels by Sax Rohmer about a megalomaniac femme fatale. The film was released in the USA by American International Pictures on 17 May 1967. In the UK it was released through Warner-Pathé on 3 December, titled simply Sumuru.[2] Shirley Eaton reprised her role as Sumuru in Jess Franco's The Girl from Rio (1970).
Plot summary
Sumuru is a beautiful but evil woman who plans world domination by having her sexy all-female army eliminate male leaders and replace them with her female agents.
Cast
- Frankie Avalon as Agent Tommy Carter
- George Nader as Agent Nick West
- Shirley Eaton as Sumuru
- Wilfrid Hyde-White as Colonel Sir Anthony Baisbrook
- Klaus Kinski as President Boong
- Patti Chandler as Louise
- Salli Sachse as Mikki
- Ursula Rank as Erno
- Krista Nell as Zoe
- Maria Rohm as Helga Martin
- Paul Chang Chung as Inspector Koo
- Essie Lin Chia (billed as Essie Huang) as Kitty
- Jon Fong as Colonel Medika
- Denise Davreux as Sumuru Guard
- Mary Cheng as Sumuru Guard
- Jill Hamilton as Sumuru Guard
- Lisa Gray as Sumuru Guard
- Christine Luk as Sumuru Guard (as Christine Lok)
- Margaret Cheung as Sumuru Guard
- Louise Lee as Sumuru Guard
In popular culture
The Million Eyes of Sumuru inspired riot grrrl musician Lois Maffeo to adopt Bikini Kill as a band name. She and her friend Margaret Doherty used the name for a one-off performance where they donned faux fur punk cave girl costumes. Tobi Vail liked the name and appropriated it for the iconic punk group after Maffeo settled on the band name Cradle Robbers.[3]
This film was featured in the KTMA season of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
References
- ↑ "New York Times: The-Million-Eyes-of-Su-Muru". NY Times. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
- ↑ Kinematograph Weekly vol 605 no 3137, 25 November 1967
- ↑ Marcus, Sara (2010). Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution (1st ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. pp. 46–47. ISBN 978-0-06-180636-0.
External links
- The Million Eyes of Sumuru at the Internet Movie Database
- "Mystery Science Theater 3000" The Million Eyes of Sumuru (TV episode 1989) at the Internet Movie Database
- Episode guide: K18- The Million Eyes of Sumuru