(Filmadora Universal, 1967) "César Santos Galindo and Felipe Mier Castillo present..." Prod: Felipe Mier Miranda; Dir: Fernando Cortés; Adapt: Pancho Córdoba [sic]; Story: Felipe Mier Miranda; Photo: José Ortiz Ramos (Mexico), Alex Phillips Jr. (Colombia); Music Dir: Manuel Esperón; Prod Chief: Enrique Morfín; Asst Dir: Américo Fernández (Mexico), Felipe Pacheco (Colombia); Film Ed: Carlos Savage; Art Dir: Javier Torres Torija; Lighting: Gabriel Castro (Mexico), Luis Ramos Urquidi (Colombia); Camera Op: Hugo Velazco; Makeup: Ana Ma. Soriano; Sound Supv: James L. Fields; Dialog Rec: Rodolfo Solís; Music/Re-rec: Galdino Samperio; Recordist: Roberto Camacho; Union: STPC; Eastmancolor

*[the title on the film itself is El Agente 00 Sexy, although other sources usually omit the "El," since the title refers to Amedee Chabot.]

CAST: Fernando Luján (Ernesto Romero; Luis Chapiro "El Sueco"), Amedée Chabot (Angora), Héctor Lechuga ("El Nervios"), Irma Lozano (Gloria), Miguel Angel Alvarez ("El Nazi"), Mike Laure (himself), Pancho Córdoba [sic] (Col. Gómez), Guillermo Rivas (Roberto Movidas), Martha Yolanda González, Ramiro Orcí (police agent), Antonio Bravo (Romano), Guillermo Gálvez (Colombian henchman), Guillermo Zuluaga "Montecristo" (himself), Alfredo Gutiérrez y su conjunto, Réne Barrera (Hawaiian gangster), Julién de Meriche (gang member), Los Isleños

NOTES: this is one of Amedee Chabot's best-known Mexican films, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the image of Chabot in her "cat girl" costume from this picture is quite well-known. The movie is a fairly funny comedy (although the on-screen deaths of a number of policemen are kind of a downer) with a good cast and production values.

Ernesto Romero takes a bus to Mexico City from his home in a small provincial town. With aspirations of becoming a singing star, he goes straight to Televicentro, but is first waylaid by a crooked "agent," Roberto Movidas, who collects his commission in advance and repeatedly demands more money for "public relations." Ernest has better luck when he bumps into Gloria (actually, she trips over him when he stoops to read the autographs on the tiles of the Televicentro entrance hall); she introduces him to Mike Laure (pronounced "Mickey Lowry"), a bandleader who agrees to get Ernesto an interview with Romano, the head of programming. In the meantime, Ernesto goes to work as the Laure band gofer.

His audition proves to everyone that Ernesto has no singing talent. Crushed by the rejection, he wanders out into the night, and blunders into a raging gun battle between a gang of bank robbers and the police. Clubbed on the head by a policeman, Ernesto is hustled into the robbers' getaway car. They take him to a luxury penthouse apartment, referring to him as "Jefe" (Chief). He's greeted by the beautiful blonde Angora, obviously the mistress of the real Jefe. Realizing his danger, Ernesto tries to sneak out, but is foiled at every turn by Angora, El Nervios, and El Nazi, members of the gang.

The next day, Ernesto has no choice but to board an airliner headed for Colombia, accompanied by Angora and El Nervios. When they arrive in Bogotá, Ernesto repeatedly tries to find someone to help him, to no avail (in one scene, he writes a note asking for help, wraps it around an ashtray, and tosses it out of his hotel room window, only to watch it strike a pedestrian on the head and knock him out!). After some tourist-type views of Colombia and a long sequence in a nightclub (two music numbers and a comedy routine by "Montecristo"), Ernesto learns that he is in Colombia to exchange money from the bank robbery for contraband emeralds. Montecristo turns out to be his contact; the emeralds are sewn into pockets in a suit of long underwear which Ernesto has to wear back to Mexico.

Back in Mexico, Gloria and Mike Laure wonder where Ernesto has gone. He disappeared with some checks belonging to the band, but they can't believe he stole the money.

When Angora, El Nervios, and Ernesto return to Mexico City, Ernesto is separated from the others and arrested (Montecristo had tipped off the Mexico police). Through a one-way glass, Col. Gómez shows Ernesto his exact double: gangster Luis Chapiro "El Sueco." The police haven't been able to find enough evidence to convict Luis and his gang, and they ask Ernesto to continue his impersonation. They give him a watch with a tape recorder inside, and a cigarette lighter/camera.

El Nazi and El Nervios are suspicious when Ernesto shows up at the apartment. They think he wants to keep all of the emeralds for himself. Ernesto convinces the gangsters to describe each of their crimes (while he records the confessions with his watch); El Nazi says his first murder was "the old lady I set on fire!" Ernesto decides to throw a costume party and invite all of Luis's gangster associates, and he tips off Gómez. He also makes a quick trip to Televicentro, returning Laure's money, giving him the tape for Gómez, and hiring his band to work at the party. Gloria sees Ernesto leave in a convertible driven by the "güerota grandota" (big blonde--and Amedee Chabot, in heels, is taller than most of the other actors in the movie).

The jealous Gloria, trying to spy on Ernesto, is picked up by the police. Gómez tells her Ernesto is working for them. Ernesto had been wearing a policeman's uniform (in preparation for the party) and Gloria asks "Why is he dressed like a policeman if he is such a good person?"

That night, Gloria (wearing a false moustache) comes to the party as a member of Laure's band. The police are outside, waiting for the signal that all of the gangsters are present. Meanwhile, Luis has escaped from police custody by causing the police car he is riding in to crash (he shoots one of his guards in cold blood) and shows up at the apartment. The two "Jefes" cause considerable confusion, and finally get in a battle to the death; they both fall off the balcony, but are rescued by Gloria and Angora. The police come in and arrest everyone. Angora reveals herself to be "Agente 00 Sexy" of the FBI. Ernesto and Gloria clinch at the fadeout.

Agente 00 Sexy benefits from a good performance by Luján as the bumbling, awkward and naive Ernesto. Héctor Lechuga is okay as El Nervios, but Miguel Angel Alvarez gives a one-note performance as the German-accented El Nazi (when El Nervios lusts after the sexy Angora, El Nazi reminds him "Fraulein verboten!"). Lozano, Rivas, Laure, Córdova, etc. are satisfactory in support.

Amedee Chabot doesn't appear until more than 20 minutes have passed, but from this point until the very final sequence she has the primary female role, since Irma Lozano effectively disappears. The Colombian section, which takes up most of the middle portion of the movie, gives Chabot the chance to appear in her most familiar costume--a bikini--and even dive into a swimming pool. She only wears the "cat girl" costume during the final scenes, but throughout the film Chabot is showcased in glamorous and sexy outfits. In one sequence, Angora takes a shower and invites Ernesto to join her (he refuses): her body can be seen through the frosted glass of the shower door, but it's obvious she's wearing some sort of bathing suit (the film was rated "B" but contains no nudity or gore).

"Angora" speaks accented Spanish and English throughout the movie (often saying something in English and then translating it in Spanish), and Chabot is dubbed throughout--except in one scene towards the end of the movie, in which several of her lines are dubbed but she speaks others--in acceptable Spanish--in her own voice. Chabot did speak Spanish after a fashion, but film producers preferred to have her dubbed (even though they often dubbed her speaking Spanish with a gringo accent!). In Agente 00 Sexy they even dubbed her when she is speaking English, I guess so her English and Spanish voices would match.

The music in Agente 00 Sexy bears a passing comment. Early in the movie, Ernesto blunders into a live broadcast of a "go go" TV show, with a decent (unidentified) band. The featured performers in the film are Mike Laure and his group, who perform a pleasant brand of cumbia-influenced "tropical" pop (when Ernesto comes back from Colombia, he brings Mike some cumbia albums). The musical numbers in Colombia are also entertaining: a trio and a larger combo perform in the nightclub sequence.

Agente 00 Sexy is an entertaining picture but it has a few flaws. The most irritating is a terrible split screen at the end, showing Ernesto and Luis side by side: the matte line is extremely obvious. Prior to this point, the "twins" illusion was accomplished by the use of doubles and through cutting, and it would have been better to continue this method instead of resorting to a poor optical effect. Another sticking point is the escape of Luis: Gómez has him locked in a jail cell, but arbitrarily orders him sent "out of the city" just before the party begins, giving the gangster the chance to escape. Certainly there could have been some better means of Luis making his getaway. There are also a couple of minor continuity flaws in the latter half of the film. For example, El Nervios and El Nazi are shown making plans to kill their boss "tomorrow" at the party, but this scene comes after scenes obviously set on the day of the party.

However, on balance Agente 00 Sexy is fun and worth watching.

Back to the Amedee Chabot Films Page.

Review posted 27 March 2000 by dw45@umail.umd.edu