The Million Eyes of Sumuru
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 title character Sumuru /ˈsuːməruː/.[1] It was based on a series of novels by Sax Rohmer about a megalomaniacal femme fatale.[2]
| The Million Eyes of Sumuru | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster by Heywood Brown | |
| Directed by | Lindsay Shonteff |
| Produced by | Harry Alan Towers |
| Written by | Kevin Kavanagh |
| Based on | story by Peter Welbeck the Sumuru novels by Sax Rohmer |
| Starring | George Nader Frankie Avalon Shirley Eaton |
| Music by | John Scott |
| Cinematography | John von Kotze |
| Edited by | Allan Morrison |
Production company | Sumuru Films |
| Distributed by | American International Pictures (U.S.) Warner-Pathe (U.K.) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 95 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The film was released in the U.S. by American International Pictures on 17 May 1967. In the U.K., it was released through Warner-Pathé on 3 December, titled simply Sumuru.[3] Terry Bourke was production manager.
Plot
Sumuru is a beautiful and evil woman who plans world domination by having her sexy all-female army eliminate male leaders and replace them with her female agents.
The Chief of Security for President Boong of Sinonesia is killed. Two Americans in Hong Kong, Nick West and his friend Tommy Carter, are persuaded by the head of British intelligence, Colonel Baisbrook, to investigate. They discover the organisation headed by Sumuru, which claims to be interested in peaceful activities.
A dead girl winds up in Nick's bed and he ends up being framed for murder. They go to Hong Kong to stop an assassination.
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 Chungas as Inspector Koo
- Essie Lin Chia as Kitty (as Essie Huang)
- 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 Lok as Sumuru Guard
- Margaret Cheung as Sumuru Guard
- Louise Lee as Sumuru Guard
Follow-up
Shirley Eaton reprised her role as Sumuru in Jess Franco's The Girl from Rio (1969). Eaton later said "I did enjoy being the wicked lady Sumuru in two rather bad films, which I had not had the chance to be before."[4] However, she retired from acting shortly afterwards.
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.[5]
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. Archived from the original on 12 December 2008. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
- SUMURU. (1968, Monthly Film Bulletin, vol. 35, no. 12. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1305827409
- Kinematograph Weekly vol. 605 no. 3137, 25 November 1967
- "Interview with Shirley Eaton". Classic Film TV Cafe. February 2014.
- Marcus, Sara (2010). Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution (first ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. pp. 46–47. ISBN 978-0-06-180636-0.