Published via Ecency

(source: tmdb.org)

Feminists among film critics and scholars like to complain about the lack of action film heroines, at least those strong enough to carry their own franchises. Whatever the reason may be, it’s not for a lack of trying. Even the producers of the James Bond series were reportedly toying with the idea of creating spin-offs based on the characters of particularly strong and action-oriented Bond girls (Michelle Yeoh as Wai Lin in Tomorrow Never Dies and Halle Berry as Jinx Johnston in Die Another Day). Part of the reason why those films weren’t made might be found in the obscurity of S.H.E.: Security Hazards Expert, the 1980 film directed by Robert Michael Lewis, whose protagonist was advertised as the “female version of James Bond”.

The protagonist, played by Cornelia Sharpe, is Lavinia Kean, an elite US covert operative who brings criminals to justice and wrecks their schemes both by her formidable physical skills and her feminine charms. Her next mission is in Italy, where she begins to investigate Baron Cesare Magnasco (played by Omar Sharif), an aristocratic winemaker who is suspected of being involved in various spectacular heists. Using the false identity of a reporter, she “accidentally” meets him and is quickly invited to his compound, where her presence causes open hostility from Dr. Elsa Biebling (played by Anita Ekberg), the Baron’s old associate and a microbiologist in charge of protecting his vineyards from various parasites. Lavinia is undeterred, and she continues her investigation by flying to an island where Magnasco and his old friend Owen Hooper (played by Robert Lansing) have their own private army under the guise of a sports team. There she discovers that Magnasco and Biebling have developed a new strain of algae able to devour oil, and they are planning to infect the world’s oil facilities with it in order to blackmail governments.

S.H.E. was originally envisioned as a pilot episode for a TV series that ultimately wasn’t produced. Despite a relatively low budget, the film still has a strong “Bondian” feel, which could be explained by the Italian locations that are put to good use, as well as by having Bond veteran Richard Maibaum as the scriptwriter. Cornelia Sharpe, future wife of producer Martin Bregman and best known for her brief role in Serpico, is hardly the world’s best actress, but here she compensates for this not only with her superb physical looks (which can be observed in a couple of brief nude scenes) but with her martial arts skills and willingness to do stunts, making her more than adequate for the role. What is even more important, she has good chemistry with Sharif, who obviously had a good time playing a charming villain. The rest of the cast is also good, including Fabio Testi, star of Italian giallo classics, in this film’s equivalent of Moneypenny. The direction is also passable, especially during the action scenes that look more exciting and spectacular than the low budget might indicate, and they are well mixed with humour. What is the most surprising about S.H.E. is a script ahead of its time, at least in the subplot dealing with Fanya, one of Magnasco’s hench(wo)men, played by Isabella Rye, which became relevant in light of current debates about trans people in sport.

RATING: 6/10 (++)