The Million Eyes of SumuruTheatrical release poster by Heywood BrownDirected byLindsay ShonteffScreenplay byKevin KanaghStory byPeter WelbeckBased onSumuruby Sax RohmerProduced byHarry Alan TowersStarringFrankie AvalonGeorge NaderShirley EatonWilfrid Hyde-WhiteKlaus KinskiMaria RohmCinematographyJohn Von KotzeEdited byAllan MorrisonMusic byJohnny ScottProductioncompanySumuru FilmsDistributed byAnglo-AmalgamatedWarner-PatheRelease dates 17 May 1967 (1967-05-17) (US) 3 December 1967 (1967-12-03) (UK) Running time95 minutesCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglish
The Million Eyes of Sumuru, also known as The Million Eyes of Su-muru and Sumuru, is a 1967 British-Hong Kong spy film directed by Lindsay Shonte and starring Frankie Avalon, George Nader and Shirley Eaton.[1] It was produced by Harry Alan Towers and filmed at the Shaw Brothers studios in Hong Kong. It was based on a series of novels by Sax Rohmer about a megalomaniacal femme fatale.[2] (Towers had just made a series of films about Rohmer's Fu Manchu.[3])
The film was released in the U.S. by American International Pictures on 17 May 1967. In the U.K., it was released through Warner-Pathé on 3 December, titled simply Sumuru.[4]
Plot[edit]Sumuru is a beautiful and evil woman who plans world domination by hing her sexy all-female army eliminate male leaders and replace them with her female agents.
The Chief of Security for President Boong of Sinonesia is killed. Two Americans in Hong Kong, Nick West and his friend Tommy Carter, are persuaded by the head of British intelligence, Colonel Baisbrook, to investigate. They discover the organisation headed by Sumuru, which claims to be interested in peaceful activities.
Nick is implicated in the murder of a girl after she winds up dead in his bed. Later, Nick and Tommy go to Hong Kong to stop an assassination.
Cast[edit] Frankie Avalon as Agent Tommy Carter George Nader as Agent Nick West Shirley Eaton as Sumuru Wilfrid Hyde-White as Colonel Sir Anthony Baisbrook Klaus Kinski as President Boong Maria Rohm as Helga Martin Patti Chandler as Louise Salli Sachse as Mikki Ursula Rank as Erno Krista Nell as Zoe Paul Chang Chungas as Inspector Koo Essie Lin Chia as Kitty (credited as Essie Huang) Jon Fong as Colonel Medika Denise Dreux as Sumuru guard Mary Cheng as Sumuru guard Jill Hamilton as Sumuru guard Lisa Gray as Sumuru guard Christine Lok as Sumuru guard Margaret Cheung as Sumuru guard Louise Lee as Sumuru guard Production[edit]Shirley Eaton had made Ten Little Indians for Harry Alan Towers.[5]
Reception[edit]Variety wrote "Nader delivers some unfunny comic lines in a way that they are not completely lost and Avalon poses, moves and talks like a nightclub entertainer."[6]
Filmink wrote the film "is never as much fun as you hope it’d be: George Nader seems to be sending up heterosexuality throughout the movie, but it must be admitted that he fits into the “world” of the movie more than Frankie Avalon, whose presence feels weird. Still, the movie is worth checking out for the locations and Eaton, who is hing a grand old time."[7]
Legacy[edit]Shirley Eaton reprised her role as Sumuru in Jess Franco's follow-up The Girl from Rio (1969). Eaton later said "I did enjoy being the wicked lady Sumuru in two rather bad films, which I had not had the chance to be before."[8] However, she retired from acting shortly afterwards.
The Million Eyes of Sumuru inspired riot grrrl musician Lois Maffeo to adopt Bikini Kill as a band name. She and her friend Margaret Doherty used the name for a one-off performance where they donned faux fur punk ce girl costumes. Tobi Vail liked the name and appropriated it for the iconic punk group after Maffeo settled on the band name Cradle Robbers.[9]
The film is featured in episode #18 of the KTMA season of Mystery Science Theater 3000 as well as in episode #09 of season 13.[10] It is also featured as a video on demand from its spiritual successor RiffTrax.[11]
References[edit] ^ "The Million Eyes of Sumuru". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 29 December 2023. ^ "SUMURU". Monthly Film Bulletin. 35 (408): 12. 1 January 1968. ProQuest 1305827409. ^ Vagg, Stephen (21 January 2025). "Forgotten British Moguls: Nat Cohen – Part Three (1962-68)". Filmink. Retrieved 21 January 2025. ^ Kinematograph Weekly vol. 605 no. 3137, 25 November 1967 ^ Vagg, Stephen (2 September 2025). "Not Quite Movie Stars: Shirley Eaton". Filmink. Retrieved 2 September 2025. ^ "The Million Eyes of Sumuru". Variety film reviews. 29 May 1967. p. 503. ^ Vagg, Stephen (28 December 2024). "The movie stardom of Frankie Avalon". Filmink. Retrieved 28 December 2024. ^ "Interview with Shirley Eaton". Classic Film TV Cafe. February 2014. ^ Marcus, Sara (2010). Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution (first ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. pp. 46–47. ISBN 978-0-06-180636-0. ^ Mystery Science Theater 3000 Reveals Season 13 Movies|Collider ^ RiffTrax External links[edit] The Million Eyes of Sumuru at IMDb MST3K's The Million Eyes of Sumuru at IMDb Episode guide: K18- The Million Eyes of Sumuru vteSumuru by Sax RohmerFilm adaptations The Million Eyes of Sumuru (1967) The Girl from Rio (1969) Sumuru (2003) vteFilms 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) vteFilms directed by Lindsay Shonteff Devil Doll (1964) Curse of Simba (1965) Licensed to Kill (1965) The Million Eyes of Sumuru (1967) Clegg (1970) Permissive (1970) The Yes Girls (1971) The Fast Kill (1972) Big Zapper (1973) The Swordsman (1974) Spy Story (1976) No. 1 of the Secret Service (1977) Licensed to Love and Kill (1979) How Sleep the Bre (1982)