Victim Five

1964 British crime film by Robert Lynn

Victim Five

US film poster

Directed by| Robert Lynn
Screenplay by| Peter Yeldham
Story by| Peter Welbeck
Produced by| Arthur "Skip" Steloff
Starring|

* Lex Barker
* Ronald Fraser
* Walter Rilla
* Dietmar Schönherr
* Ann Smyrner
* Véronique Vendell

Cinematography| Nicolas Roeg
Edited by| John Trumper
Music by| Johnny Douglas

Production
company

Towers of London Productions

Distributed by| British Lion Films

Release dates

* 10 July 1964 (1964-07-10) (West Germany)
* 19 May 1965 (1965-05-19) (United States)

Running time

| 88 minutes
Country| United Kingdom
Language| English

Victim Five (also known as Code 7, Victim 5! and Code Seven, Victim Five),[1] is a 1964 British crime film directed by Robert Lynn and starring Lex Barker, Ronald Fraser, Ann Smyrner, and Walter Rilla.[2][3] It was produced by Harry Alan Towers and US television producer Arthur "Skip" Steloff[4] and was shot in Cape Town in Technicolor and Techniscope. The cinematographer was Nicolas Roeg.

## Plot

[edit]

New York City private detective Steve Martin is hired for protection by Wexler, a wealthy German living in Cape Town. After Wexler's butler is murdered and an assassination attempt is made on Martin and Wexler's secretary Helga, Martin discovers a photograph of four people, including Wexler and his butler, that indicates that all those in the picture are marked for death and there will be five victims.

## Cast

[edit]

* Lex Barker as Steve Martin
* Ronald Fraser as Inspector Dickie Lean
* Ann Smyrner as Helga Swenson
* Véronique Vendell as Gina
* Walter Rilla as Wexler
* Dietmar Schönherr as Dr. Paul Bryson
* Percy Sieff as George Anderson
* Gustel Gundelach as Hans Kramer
* Gert Van den Bergh as Vanberger
* Howard Davis as Rawlings
* Sophia Kammara as Leila

## Critical reception

[edit]

The New York Times praised "fine views of Cape Town" but thought the film was not "necessary".[5]

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The basic narrative is one of the classic old-style murder thrillers of the kind perfected by Edgar Wallace and Philip Macdonald, and is efficiently worked out. Most of the acting is unremarkable, but what undoubtedly heightens the film's interest is the large variety of South African locations, often spectacular, and well integrated into the story."[6]

Variety wrote: "Poor man's James Bond has plenty of action but little wit. Still another "takeoff" on the successful James Bond films, this British-produced but South African-filmed variation has enough action and scenic beauty to enable it to do well in the thriller market. These assets aren't enough, however, to expect much more than routine success by today's more demanding standards. Originally titled Table Bay, a reference to its scenic Capetown background, producer Harry Alan Towers and director Robert Lynn have attempted to pad out a weak script with much emphasis on violence, sex and comedy. The photogenic backdrop, which includes sidetrips into a fantastic cavern, ostrich farms, big game country and beaucoup bathing beaches, is film's chief asset, helped by a good comedy performamce by Ronald Fraser. ... Nicholas Roeg and Egil S. Woxholt's color camerawork is very complimentary to the country."[7]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ p. 237 Armes, Roy Dictionary of African Filmmakers Indiana University Press (July 11, 2008)
2. ^ "Victim Five". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
3. ^ "Victim Five (1964)". BFI. Archived from the original on 7 February 2009.
4. ^ p. 28 Kane, Arnold My Meteoric Rise To Obscurity We Publish Books (August 14, 2008)
5. ^ "Stars in British-Made 'Die! Die! My Darling!'" By A.H. Weiler. New York Times 20 May 1965: 52.
6. ^ "Victim Five". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 32 (372): 60. 1 January 1965. ProQuest 1305833378.
7. ^ "Victim Five". Variety. 236 (13): 6. 18 November 1964. ProQuest 962968970.

## External links

[edit]

* Victim Five at IMDb
* Code 7 Victim 5 at Letterbox DVD

* v
* t
* e

Films produced by Harry Alan Towers

* Death Drums Along the River (1963)
* Victim Five (1964)
* Coast of Skeletons (1965)
* Sandy the Seal (1965)
* Mozambique (1965)
* 24 Hours to Kill (1965)
* The Face of Fu Manchu (1965)
* Ten Little Indians (1965)
* Our Man in Marrakesh (1966)
* Circus of Fear (1966)
* The Brides of Fu Manchu (1966)
* The Million Eyes of Sumuru (1967)
* The Vengeance of Fu Manchu (1967)
* Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon (1967)
* Five Golden Dragons (1967)
* The House of 1,000 Dolls (1967)
* Eve (1968)
* The Blood of Fu Manchu (1968)
* 99 Women (1969)
* The Girl from Rio (1969)
* Marquis de Sade: Justine (1969)
* The Castle of Fu Manchu (1969)
* Venus in Furs (1969)
* Eugenie… The Story of Her Journey into Perversion (1970)
* The Bloody Judge (1970)
* Count Dracula (1970)
* Dorian Gray (1970)
* Black Beauty (1971)
* Treasure Island (1972)
* The Call of the Wild (1972)
* White Fang (1973)
* And Then There Were None (1974)
* Blue Belle (1976)
* H. G. Wells' The Shape of Things to Come (1979)
* King Solomon's Treasure (1979)
* Klondike Fever (1980)
* Black Venus (1983)
* Fanny Hill (1983)
* Lady Libertine (1984)
* Christina (1984)
* Black Arrow (1985)
* Lightning, the White Stallion (1986)
* Skeleton Coast (1987)
* Gor (1987)
* Platoon Leader (1988)
* Howling IV: The Original Nightmare (1988)
* Outlaw of Gor (1988)
* Edge of Sanity (1989)
* American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt (1989)
* River of Death (1989)
* Ten Little Indians (1989)
* The Phantom of the Opera (1989)
* Buried Alive (1990)
* Oddball Hall (1990)
* Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady (1991)
* Incident at Victoria Falls (1992)
* The Lost World (1992)
* Return to the Lost World (1992)
* Dance Macabre (1992)
* Night Terrors (1993)
* The Mangler (1995)
* Bullet to Beijing (1995)
* Cry, the Beloved Country (1995)
* Midnight in Saint Petersburg (1996)
* Owd Bob (1998)
* Treasure Island (1999)
* Death, Deceit and Destiny Aboard the Orient Express (2000)
* Sumuru (2003)
* Pact with the Devil (2004)

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