The Death Ray Of Dr. Mabuse (1964)

A British secret agent (Peter Van Eyck) is sent to the island of Malta to protect the inventor (O.E. Hasse) of a death ray weapon after it is discovered that the diabolical criminal mastermind Dr. Mabuse has designs on the weapon too. Directed by Hugo Fregonese (MAN IN THE ATTIC), this was the last entry in a series of four films made in the 1960s which revived the Dr. Mabuse character. Unfortunately, its plot is nearly incoherent to the point that it's almost impossible to decipher what's going on and who is who! After awhile, I stopped trying although I did check the film's running time to see if I was watching the complete film (I was) and not some edited version. This entry seems heavily influenced by the Bond films of which two (DR. NO, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE) had been released. Filmed in B&W, the addition of color would have helped the film somewhat to emphasize the handsome Malta and Italian locations. The international cast includes Yvonne Furneaux, Leo Genn, Yoko Tani, Robert Beatty, Gustavo Rojo, Wolfgang Preiss, Walter Rilla and Rika Dialina.