Michael_Elliott
The Million Eyes of Sumuru (1967) * 1/2 (out of 4) The evil and sadistic Sumuru (Shirley Eaton) builds a group of women who plan on killing all of the men that they can. Agent Nick West (George Nader) and his sidekick (Frankie Avalon) are thrown into the game to try and track her down.THE MILLION EYES OF SUMURU is based on the Sax Rohmer character and story but I must admit that I really didn't care for it. To be honest, I really don't care for any of the movies like this. It seems like after the success of James Bond we got all sorts of lower tier characters and spy stories that were usually pretty to look at but they contained very little else. Movies like this one of even the Dr. Goldfoot movies just never cut it for me.The biggest problem here, and with many of the films, is the fact that there's a lot of boring story that you have to sit through. Another major problem is that this film seems to have been aimed at children because there's certainly no drama or tension in any of the action. There's certainly not too much going on and I have to wonder if even the kids would be entertained by this thing. I'm sure teenagers might have been interested in the beautiful ladies but that's about it.Eaton is good in her role but sadly she just isn't given too much to do. Nader certainly doesn't add anything with his lifeless performance and it seems Avalon was only here to try and bring in whatever remaining fans he had at the time. Klaus Kinski appears towards the middle of the movie and gives it a boost but he's not enough to save the picture.
bkoganbing
Playing the lead role as Su-Muru is that golden Bond girl Shirley Eaton from Goldfinger. Shirley is a female version of Fu Manchu and I can just hear Great Britain's man in the east Nayland Smith referring to her as an Oriental She Devil.Wilfrid Hyde-White of British Intelligence has handed off the problem of Su-Muru and her thousands of bikini clad agents over to our CIA and its agents George Nader and Frankie Avalon. Like Fu Manchu her ambition is to rule the world. Can't say the girl doesn't have high goals.For Nader he was approaching a nadir of his career. He was one of those before Stonewall tragedies of a gay man who was getting very tired of living a double life. As for Avalon the Beach movies were coming to a halt and a new music scene took over with that quartet from Great Britain in the latter part of the Sixties. You take what work you can get.The comedy here falls embarrassingly flat and the players look like they're waiting for their checks to clear. Hope they did.
bensonmum2
Sumuru (Shirley Eaton) is a woman bent on world domination. Her plan is to have her army of women get close the world's most powerful men, kill them, and assume their power. But standing in her way are two secret agents Agents Tommy Carter (Frankie Avalon) and Nick West (George Nader). They convince a couple of Sumuru's followers to come over to their side before leading a raid on her island. But will they get Sumuru? The Million Eyes of Sumuru is just quirky enough for me to really enjoy it. It's the kind of movie you can't take seriously you have to go with it. I just love these 60s spy-type movies with their armies of scantily clad women, secret island liars, and groovy secret agents. What an awesome time it was! And, the fact that The Million Eyes of Sumuru was shot in China with a cast that includes Eaton, Avalon, Klaus Kinski, Maria Rohm, and Wilfrid Hyde-White (of all people) only adds to the already bizarre feel of the movie. Movies like this may not be for everyone (just take a look at the IMDb rating), but for me their just too much fun.I would love to see a cleaned-up, legitimate, Region 1 release of The Million Eyes of Sumuru. I'm convinced I would have rated the film higher than a 6/10 had I not been watching the MST3K version of the movie recorded off of Minneapolis public access television in the late 1980s. The Million Eyes of Sumuru deserves better than that.
dinky-4
Silly as this movie may be, it does evoke a certain aspect of 1960s culture, so if you're nostalgic for beehive hair-dos, go-go boots, narrow neckties, white lipstick, etc -- sit back and enjoy. The plot and acting here are beneath notice but the pace is snappy and it does have a few oddball moment of note. See Frankie Avalon acting tough and throwing a hand grenade! See Wilfred Hyde-White slumming it! See George Nader in chains being whipped by Shirley Eaton! This whipping scene, in fact, is the movie's highlight. Not only does a bare-chested Nader look pretty good for a man in his mid-40s, but note that his belt is unbuckled. Did the wicked Su-muru plan to pull down his pants after the whipping? Inquiring minds want to know!
AD
