Directed by Lamberto V. Avellana
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Fox Movie Channel)
Two Interpol agents are assigned to infiltrate an opium ring. After some initial false starts, they make their way to a remote castle where a princess runs her "family business". Supposedly filmed in the Philippines, this looks more Middle Eastern than Far Eastern: a dry desert landscape populated with camels, the local signs in Arabic. Indeed the locations are the best part of the film, in particular the beautiful palace. Unfortunately, it gets bogged down in palace melodrama for long stretches. Leading man Dev Anand, born in India, makes the argument that this might be an Indian production. Here he plays a debonair James Bond-ish spy, completely out of place in his modern suits in the ethnic locations. Perhaps even more out of place is African-American Rod Perry as the other spy, at one point donning an Arabic head wrap. Finally, there is the intriguing Kieu Chinh, a Vietnamese beauty who plays the princess. The plot makes no secret of her lesbianism, though she also ends up sleeping with Dev.
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