Licensed to Kill (1965 film)

Licensed to Kill
original British film poster
Directed by	Lindsay Shonteff
Produced by	James Ward Alistair Films
Written by	Lindsay Shonteff Howard Griffiths
Starring	Tom Adams Karel Stepanek Veronica Hurst Peter Bull John Arnatt
Music by	Herbert Chappell
Cinematography	Terry Maher
Edited by	Ron Pope
Distributed by	Embassy Pictures
Release date	July 1965
Running time	96 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	$1.2 million (est. US/ Canada rentals)

Licensed to Kill is an Eastmancolor 1965 superspy imitation James Bond film starring Tom Adams as British secret agent Charles Vine. It was directed and co-written by Lindsay Shonteff. Producer Joseph E. Levine picked it up for American and worldwide distribution and reedited it under the title The Second Best Secret Agent in the Whole Wide World.

The theme song for the American version, composed by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen and performed by Sammy Davis, Jr., is used in the 2011 film drama Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Facing numerous assassination attempts, a Swedish scientist who has invented an anti-gravity device and his daughter seek to provide the invention to the United Kingdom. With James Bond unavailable, H.M. Government provides Agent Charles Vine (Tom Adams), a former mathematician, as a bodyguard and exterminator.

Based on the success of the film, Columbia Pictures offered director Shonteff a five-picture contract, but they disagreed over conditions.

Welsh Trinity College Oxford graduate and former RAF Intelligence Howard Griffiths emigrated to Australia where he wrote extensively for Australian television series such as the spy series Hunter (1967), and police shows Division 4, Homicide, and Blue Heelers.