Deadlier Than the Male is a 1967 British crime and mystery film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Richard Johnson and Elke Sommer.
Drummond, updated to a suave Korean War veteran, trails a pair of sexy assassins who kill for sport and profit.
Glamorous assassin Irma Eckman, disguised as an air stewardess, kills oil tycoon Henry Keller with a booby-trapped cigar aboard his private jet, parachuting away before the plane explodes.
A representative of an unknown party had approached Phoenecian and offered to overcome Keller's opposition to a merger with Phoenician within six months for one million pounds.
Brenda, a girl Drummond's nephew Robert has brought back to the flat, narrowly escapes the same fate as Keller.
After meeting and warning King Fedra, he is invited to a castle owned by the wealthy Carl Petersen, the genius behind the assassinations.
While playing chess against Petersen with giant motorized pieces, Drummond learns that Grace is unwittingly carrying the bomb intended for the King.
When Irma and Penelope refuse to tell him where the bomb is hidden, Drummond searches Grace for the explosive, finally stripping her naked and throwing her overboard.
[7]: 197 "Deadlier Than the Male", the song featured in the film's opening credit sequence, was performed by the Walker Brothers.
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Bulldog Drummond is here resurrected for the screen in a form to meet the demands of contemporary folklore, and comes off rather the worse for it.
His adversaries have changed too: Carl Petersen duly makes his appearance towards the end in a preposterous game of chess with lifesize, electronically operated chessmen, but most of Drummond's attention is engaged by two sinisterly seductive females who deal out torture and time-bombs with sadistic glee.
Worse, the film has been dolled up with a glossy veneer (exploding cigars, a luxury yacht) which succeeds only in giving it the look of a poor imitation.
Richard Johnson performs adequately enough in the face of the script's parade of well-worn clichés, but Elke Sommer and Sylva Koscina have little more to do than look voluptuously villainous.