Hot Enough for June
Encyclopedia
Hot Enough for June is a 1964
British spy comedy film
directed by Ralph Thomas
and featuring Dirk Bogarde
, Sylva Koscina
, Robert Morley
, Leo McKern
, John Le Mesurier
and Roger Delgado
. It was based on the 1960 novel "The Night of Wenceslas
" by Lionel Davidson
and directed by Ralph Thomas
. It was filmed in Padua
representing Prague
. The title refers to a password
used in a recognition code used throughout the film.
An unwitting Czech
-speaking writer Nicholas Whistler (Bogarde
) heads across the Iron Curtain
. It is only when he reaches Prague
that he realises he is now working for MI6.
The film was cut by twenty minutes and retitled Agent 8¾ for American release by the Walter Reade Organisation. The original promotional title was Agent 008¾.
The film features a reference to James Bond
as the film begins with an announcement of Agent 007 being killed. The art director
of the film was Syd Cain
who worked as an art director of the first two James Bond films. The leading lady Sylva Koscina
made her English film debut. She was one of the actresses considered for the role of Tatiana Romanova
in From Russia with Love
.
1964 in film
The year 1964 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 29 - The film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is released....
British spy comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Ralph Thomas
Ralph Thomas
Ralph Thomas was an English film director, born in Hull. He is perhaps best known for directing the Doctor series of films....
and featuring Dirk Bogarde
Dirk Bogarde
Sir Dirk Bogarde was an English actor and novelist. Initially a matinee idol in such films as Doctor in the House and other Rank Organisation pictures, Bogarde later acted in art-house films such as Death in Venice...
, Sylva Koscina
Sylva Koscina
Sylva Koscina was an Italian actress.-Biography:...
, Robert Morley
Robert Morley
Robert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE was an English actor who, often in supporting roles, was usually cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment...
, Leo McKern
Leo McKern
Reginald "Leo" McKern, AO was an Australian-born British actor who appeared in numerous British and Australian television programmes and movies, and more than 200 stage roles.-Early life:...
, John Le Mesurier
John Le Mesurier
John Le Mesurier was a BAFTA Award-winning English actor. He is most famous for his role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the popular 1970s BBC comedy Dad's Army.-Career:...
and Roger Delgado
Roger Delgado
Roger Caesar Marius Bernard de Delgado Torres Castillo Roberto was an English actor, best known for his role as the first Master in Doctor Who....
. It was based on the 1960 novel "The Night of Wenceslas
The Night of Wenceslas
The Night of Wenceslas is the debut novel of British thriller and crime writer Lionel Davidson. It describes the reluctant adventures of Nicolas Whistler, a dissolute young man of mixed English and Czech parentage who finds himself caught up against his will in Cold War espionage...
" by Lionel Davidson
Lionel Davidson
Lionel Davidson was an English novelist who wrote a number of acclaimed spy thrillers.-Life and career:Lionel Davidson was born in 1922 in Hull, Yorkshire, one of nine children of an immigrant Jewish tailor. He left school early and worked in the London offices of the Spectator magazine as an...
and directed by Ralph Thomas
Ralph Thomas
Ralph Thomas was an English film director, born in Hull. He is perhaps best known for directing the Doctor series of films....
. It was filmed in Padua
Padua
Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...
representing Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
. The title refers to a password
Password
A password is a secret word or string of characters that is used for authentication, to prove identity or gain access to a resource . The password should be kept secret from those not allowed access....
used in a recognition code used throughout the film.
An unwitting Czech
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
-speaking writer Nicholas Whistler (Bogarde
Dirk Bogarde
Sir Dirk Bogarde was an English actor and novelist. Initially a matinee idol in such films as Doctor in the House and other Rank Organisation pictures, Bogarde later acted in art-house films such as Death in Venice...
) heads across the Iron Curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
. It is only when he reaches Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
that he realises he is now working for MI6.
The film was cut by twenty minutes and retitled Agent 8¾ for American release by the Walter Reade Organisation. The original promotional title was Agent 008¾.
The film features a reference to James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
as the film begins with an announcement of Agent 007 being killed. The art director
Art director
The art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....
of the film was Syd Cain
Syd Cain
Sidney B. "Syd" Cain was a British production designer who worked on more than 30 films, including four in the James Bond series in the 1960s and 1970s....
who worked as an art director of the first two James Bond films. The leading lady Sylva Koscina
Sylva Koscina
Sylva Koscina was an Italian actress.-Biography:...
made her English film debut. She was one of the actresses considered for the role of Tatiana Romanova
Tatiana Romanova
Tatiana Romanova is a fictional character in the James Bond novel, film, and video game From Russia with Love. She is played by Daniela Bianchi in the movie. According to William F...
in From Russia with Love
From Russia with Love (film)
From Russia with Love is the second in the James Bond spy film series, and the second to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Released in 1963, the film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and directed by Terence Young. It is based on the 1957 novel of the...
.
Cast
- Dirk BogardeDirk BogardeSir Dirk Bogarde was an English actor and novelist. Initially a matinee idol in such films as Doctor in the House and other Rank Organisation pictures, Bogarde later acted in art-house films such as Death in Venice...
as Nicholas Whistler - Sylva KoscinaSylva KoscinaSylva Koscina was an Italian actress.-Biography:...
as Vlasta Simoneva - Robert MorleyRobert MorleyRobert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE was an English actor who, often in supporting roles, was usually cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment...
as Colonel Cunliffe - Leo McKernLeo McKernReginald "Leo" McKern, AO was an Australian-born British actor who appeared in numerous British and Australian television programmes and movies, and more than 200 stage roles.-Early life:...
as Simoneva - Roger DelgadoRoger DelgadoRoger Caesar Marius Bernard de Delgado Torres Castillo Roberto was an English actor, best known for his role as the first Master in Doctor Who....
as Josef - Derek FowldsDerek FowldsDerek Fowlds is an English actor, known for playing Bernard Woolley in popular British television comedies Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister and Oscar Blaketon in the long-running ITV police drama Heartbeat....
as Sun Bathing Man - Amanda Grinling as Cunliffe's secretary
- Noel HarrisonNoel HarrisonNoel Harrison is an English Olympic athlete, actor and singer. He is the son of British actor Sir Rex Harrison.-Early life:...
as Johnnie - Philo Hauser as Vlcek
- John JunkinJohn JunkinJohn Francis Junkin was an English radio, television and film performer and scriptwriter.In 1960 Junkin joined Joan Littlewood's Stratford East Theatre Workshop, and played the lead in the original production of Sparrows Can't Sing...
as Clerk in opening scene - Gertan KlauberGertan KlauberGeorge Gertan Klauber was a British character actor.He played small roles in many of the Carry On films, and appeared as mad king George III in Blackadder the Third....
as Technician in the Czech glass factory - John Le MesurierJohn Le MesurierJohn Le Mesurier was a BAFTA Award-winning English actor. He is most famous for his role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the popular 1970s BBC comedy Dad's Army.-Career:...
as Roger Allsop - Jill Melford as Lorna
- Derek NimmoDerek NimmoDerek Robert Nimmo was an English character actor. He was particularly associated with upper-class "silly-ass" roles, and clerical roles.-Career:...
as Fred - Richard PascoRichard PascoRichard Edward Pasco, CBE is a British stage, screen and TV actor.-Early life:Pasco was born in Barnes, London, the son of Phyllis Irene and Cecil George Pasco. He was educated at the King's College School, Wimbledon...
as Plakov - Eric PohlmannEric PohlmannEric Pohlmann was an Austrian theatre, film and television character actor.Born Erich Pollak in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, he was a classically trained actor who studied under the renowned director Max Reinhardt...
as Galushka - Alan TilvernAlan TilvernAlan Tilvern was a British film and television actor. He is best known for his role as R.K. Maroon in the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.-Television appearances:* Doctor Who serial, Planet of Giants...
as Simenova's assistant - Richard VernonRichard VernonRichard Vernon was a British actor. He appeared in many feature films and television programmes, often in aristocratic or supercilious roles...
as Roddinghead - Brook WilliamsBrook WilliamsBrook Richard Williams was an English stage actor who also made numerous film and television appearances in small roles....
as Leon - Norman BirdNorman BirdNorman Bird was a British character actor. Often sporting a moustache and an air of worried resignation, he seemed to specialise in downtrodden roles...
as Employment exchange clerk (uncredited) - Frank FinlayFrank FinlayFrancis Finlay, CBE is an English stage, film and television actor.-Personal life:Finlay was born in Farnworth, Lancashire, the son of Margaret and Josiah Finlay, a butcher. A devout Catholic, he belongs to the British Catholic Stage Guild. He was educated at St...
as British Embassy porter (uncredited) - William MervynWilliam MervynWilliam Mervyn was an English actor best known for his portrayal of the Bishop in the clerical comedy All Gas and Gaiters.-Life and career:...
as Passenger on the plane (uncredited) - Tiberio MitriTiberio MitriTiberio Mitri was an Italian boxer who fought from 1946 to 1957. During his career, Mitri was the Italian and European middleweight champion....
as The Milkman (uncredited) - George PravdaGeorge PravdaGeorge Pravda was a Czechoslovakian film and television actor.He began his career in Czechoslovakia, where he was credited as Jirí Pravda, and then emigrated to the United Kingdom....
as Pravelko (uncredited) - John StandingJohn StandingSir John Ronald Leon Standing, 4th Baronet is an English actor.-Early life:Standing was born John Ronald Leon in London, the son of Kay Hammond , an actress, and Sir Ronald George Leon, a stockbroker...
as Men's Room attendant/British agent (uncredited)