Review of Espionage in Tangiers

Writer & director Gregg G. Tallas' fast-moving but frivolous "Espionage in Tangiers" combines violence with wisecracking humor as our hero clashes with the villains over a gun that emits a deadly, disintegrating ray. A brain trust of scientists led by Professor Greff (Tomás Blanco of "The Castilian") create this weapon in their lab and test it on a car left parked in an alley just outside the lab. The automobile disappears without a trace when the professor aims its destructive ray at it. Tallas and a quintet of co-scenarists Herbert Curiel, José Luis Martínez Mollá, Bautista Lacasa, Remigio Del Grosso, José Luis Jerez Aloza concocted this convoluted thriller that combines sci-fi action with international intrigue. As for espionage, the film has nothing to do with either America or the Soviet Union. Mind you, there is no shortage of action with careening car chases and hard-hitting fisticuffs as our stalwart hero, Mike Murphy, Agent 077 (Luis Dávila of "Dynamite Jim") contends both with vile villains and lovely ladies to recover the weapon. Predictably, Professor Greff's ray gun is a doomsday weapon that if used responsibly could maintain the status quo forever until somebody perfected an alternative. Basically, this 96-minute spy thriller unfolds like a chase. Of course, it isn't all fun and games for Murphy. He finds himself trapped in a room that fills with water and the suspense builds as the water reaches his armpits, but the villains refuse to kill him because he is worth more to them alive than dead. At one point, Murphy turns the tables on one of the villains and uses a blow torch to curl his toes for information. The ending is a complete letdown because the professor falls overboard during a fight on a yacht with our hero and takes his marvelous weapon to the bottom. The dire lack of exposition with regard to the fabled ray gun and its strengths and weaknesses is a flaw in an otherwise action-packed epic shot largely on location in real buildings, rooms, and boats. There is no nudity, but José Greci and Perla Cristal are a treat for the eyes. Benedetto Ghiglia's orchestral soundtrack mixes up jazz with contemporary music. Actually, Tallas could have made a sequel after the mad scientist falls overboard with the weapon. The fight scenes are done with a modicum of flair.