June 28: Junesploitation’s topic of the day — as suggested by F This Movie— is Cannon!

I’ve watched 162/162 of all Cannon films — Golan and Globus era — as well as 56/56 of the Dewey/Friedland years, 106/246 of the Cannon Home Video releases, 6 out of the 12 movies Golan and Globus did before Cannon, 39 of the 39 movies that Golan made as 21st Century after Cannon, 111 of the 127 21st Century films under Tom Ward and Art Schweitzer version, 31 of the 69 Cannon theatrical releases they didn’t produce, all 8 of the Golan/Globus 1970s films, all 35 of the Assonitis-Globus-Pearce Cannon films and 2 of the 20 Pathé — Cannon’s sister company — releases, as well as 3 of the 23 movies Pathé released as Cannon and 22 of the 68 Pathé Cannon video releases.

There aren’t many Cannon movies left for me.

However, there is this film, which was directed and produced by Menahem Golan for American-International Pictures. Well, it was co-directed, as it’s said that Raphael Nussbaum assisted. You may know him from 1973’s Pets or the Frank Stallone movie Death Blow for Justice, AKA W.A.R.: Women Against Rape.

Starring Audie Murphy in his first non-Western since 1958, this has him playing Mike Merrick, a spy sent to Egypt to stop German scientist Professor Schlieben (George Sanders), who is developing a rocket that can be shot into the United States. Then, Muslims attack, wanting to destroy the rocket on their own and kill the American. So he runs, taking the scientist’s daughter (Marianne Koch, The Unnaturals) and tries to escape.

Written by Marc Bohm (who would also write X-Ray for Cannon) and Alexander Ramati (whose The Assisi Underground was a Cannon movie, too), this almost starred Stephen Boyd and Senta Berger.

Audie Murphy may have been a war hero, but he’s no James Bond. Also, there is so much day for night and night for day.