Modesty Blaise

In her first English-speaking role, Vitti, one of Italy's finest actresses, plays the popular British comic strip detective Modesty Blaise. She is a superagent (a la James Bond) who is called upon by the British Secret Service to keep an eye on a Mid-East-bound diamond shipment. Bogarde, in an unlikely, but effective, piece of casting, plays her archrival, who she mistakenly thought was dead. He's very much alive and, with his gang of sadistic thugs, pursues her and the gems. Eventually, she is captured by Bogarde, who forces her assistant, Stamp, to steal the jewels. Vitti escapes (disguised as a monk) and safely delivers the diamonds to their rightful owner, who,...