Lightning Bolt (film)
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Italian film poster for Lightning Bolt
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| Directed by | Antonio Margheriti |
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| Music by | Riz Ortolani |
| Cinematography | Riccardo Pallottini |
| Edited by | Juan Oliver |
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94 minutes |
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Lightning Bolt (Italian: Operazione Goldman) is an Italian-Spanish international co-production spy-fi film shot in Techniscope in 1965 that was directed by Antonio Margheriti in his first entry into the Eurospy genre. The film was co-financed and released in the US by the Woolner Brothers who re-titled it Lightning Bolt with the tagline "strikes like a ball of thunder" . It was released as a double feature with Red Dragon in 1967 two years after the film had been shot. The film's star, Anthony Eisley commented that the film was released too late to take advantage of the James Bond craze.
Department "S" of the Federal Security Investigation Commission sends Harry Sennet, an international secret agent nicknamed "Goldman" due to his unlimited expense account to investigate suspected sabotage of US space program rocket launches. Sennet, who carries a chequebook instead of a weapon and his superior Captain Flanagan discover a Auric Goldfinger type beer baron named Rehte is destroying the rockets through laser beams fired at the rockets from Rehte's beer trucks parked outside the installation. Rehte's lair is a Dr. No type underwater city off the coast of Cape Canaveral where he plans to launch a rocket to the Moon carrying a laser cannon that can target cities on the Earth for destruction.
Sent to Italy by the Woolner Brothers, former Hawaiian Eye actor Anthony Eisley was told by director Antonio Margheriti that he looked "too Italian". Margheriti insisted Eisley's dark hair be dyed blonde; it came out red. Eisley recalled working on the film in Rome and Lazio where the production designer recreated Florida was one of the most fun experiences that he ever had. Other locations included an actual brewery and an underwater silo was a former Olympic swimming pool in Rome. The production also used a large amount of film footage of the NASA space program.
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