LEX BARKER WITH VÉRONIQUE VENDELL IN 'CODE 7, VICTIM 5'

Title: CODE 7, VICTIM 5 Alternate Title: VICTIM FIVE Year: 1964 Rating: ***1/2

With a title that sounds more like the final score of a computer corporation's soccer match than a spy movie, CODE 7, VICTIM 5 takes the then-Sean Connery/James Bond blueprint into b-movie territory under flowing direction from Robert Lynn but more importantly with creatively maneuvered and vibrantly colored cinematography by future legendary auteur Nicolas Roeg, providing former Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller's  replacement) actor Lex Barker on a case to discover who murdered a millionaire's servant at a bizarre parade... 

But Barker's character Steve Martin (also Raymond Burr's name in GODZILLA before THE JERK comic became famous) is more busy with two lovely dames, equally alluring in their own right while following neo-noir cinema tropes...

 Ann Smyrner and Lex Barker in CODE 7, VICTIM 5

As in, there's a good girl and bad (i.e. naughty/flirtatious)... with the millionaire boss's professionally-pretty assistant Ann Smyrner, who our handsome hero instantly takes-to like they've been in a five-year relationship, and scene-stealing cherub-faced Véronique Vendell (who appeared with Peter O'Toole in BECKET and NIGHT OF THE GENERALS)... 

The latter is the big man's extremely progressive niece... and while it's predictable that Barker (partnered with quirky woman-loving British cop Ronald Fraser) was hired by a not-so-honest client, what's truly entertaining are the creative ways he gets in and out of trouble in the South African locations... from almost driving off a cliff to dodging bullets in an ancient cavern to dangerously snorkeling in a blue-green reef to avoiding an ostrich stampede... proving that the action/espionage genre's neglected vehicles can sometimes equal (or exceed) the blockbusters they're emulating.

 Ann Smyrner and Lex Barker in CODE 7, VICTIM 5

Lex Barker in CODE 7, VICTIM 5

Lex Barker in CODE 7, VICTIM 5

Véronique Vendell in CODE 7, VICTIM 5

 Ann Smyrner in CODE 7, VICTIM 5

Lex Barker in CODE 7, VICTIM 5

Lex Barker in CODE 7, VICTIM 5

Véronique Vendell in CODE 7, VICTIM 5

Véronique Vendell with Peter O'Toole in BECKET

Véronique Vendell with Peter O'Toole in Becket with Richard Burton

Véronique Vendell and Lex Barker in Code 7, Victim 5

Ronald Fraser and Lex Barker in Code 7, Victim 5

 Ann Smyrner and Lex Barker in CODE 7, VICTIM 5 with Walter Rilla

Nicolas (billed as Nicholas) shot and lit CODE 7, VICTIM 5

Nicolas (billed as Nicholas) shot and lit CODE 7, VICTIM 5

Lex Barker in CODE 7, VICTIM 5

Lex Barker in CODE 7, VICTIM 5

Lex Barker in CODE 7, VICTIM 5 with Ronald Fraser

Véronique Vendell in CODE 7, VICTIM 5

Véronique Vendell and Peter O'Toole in BECKET

Véronique Vendell and Peter O'Toole in The Night of the Generals

Véronique Vendell in BECKET

Véronique Vendell in CODE 7, VICTIM 5

 Ann Smyrner and Lex Barker in CODE 7, VICTIM 5