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Zeta One
Zeta One
	Italian poster
Directed by	Michael Cort
Written by	Michael Cort; Alistair McKenzie;
Produced by	George Maynard ; Tony Tenser
Starring	James Robertson Justice ; Charles Hawtrey ; Dawn Addams
Cinematography	Jack Atchelor
Edited by	Jack T. Knight; Dennis Lanning;
Music by	Johnny Hawksworth
Production; company	Tigon British Film Productions
Distributed by	Tigon Film Distributors
Release date	October 1970;
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	£60,000

Zeta One, also known as The Love Slaves, Alien Women and The Love Factor, is a 1970 British comedy science fiction film directed by Michael Cort and starring James Robertson Justice, Charles Hawtrey and Dawn Addams.^[1] It was written by Cort and Alistair McKenzie, based on a comic strip short story in the magazine Zeta,^[2] and was produced by George Maynard and Tony Tenser for Tigon Films.

Plot

James Word is a spy for Section 5 who finds a secretary for the section waiting when he returns home. As they play strip poker, he tells about tailing Major Bourdon, who was conducting an investigation into the women from Angvia. The Angvians are led by Zeta, and are an all-women secret society. The Angvians regularly abducted other planet's women into their ranks where they were brainwashed to become operatives. Their next target is stripper "Ted" Strain and Section 5 uses her to set a trap for them. As Bourdon’s men take several of the Angvian agents prisoner, a final confrontation between the various parties occurs at his estate.

Cast

James Robertson Justice as Major Bourdon
Charles Hawtrey as Swyne
Robin Hawdon as James Word
Anna Gaël as Clotho
Dawn Addams as Zeta
Brigitte Skay as Lachesis
Valerie Leon as Atropos
Lionel Murton as W
Yutte Stensgaard as Ann Olsen
Wendy Lingham as Edwina "Ted" Strain
Carol Hawkins as Zara
Rita Webb as clippie
Steve Kirby as Sleth
Paul Baker as Bourdon's assistant
Angela Grant as Angvia girl
Kirsten Betts as Angvia girl

Production

Zeta One was the first film shot at Camden Studios, formerly a wallpaper factory in North London.^[2] Art director Christopher Neame designed the film's sets. Location shooting took place around the city.

Release

First screened to journalists in April 1969 to hostile reviews, the film sat on the shelf for 18 months before finally getting a UK release in October 1970, as the supporting feature to Kobi Jaegar's 1969 film Kama Sutra.^[3]

It was released in America by Film Ventures International, briefly in 1973 as The Love Slaves and then wider in 1974 under the titles Alien Women and The Love Factor.^[4] It was released as a Blu-ray DVD in 2013.^[5]

Critical reception

The film received negative reviews on its initial release.^[2]

In The Monthly Film Bulletin David McGillivray wrote: "The picture-stories for adults in the ill-fated magazine Zeta were an imaginative experiment, but this adaptation of one of them blunts its satire and magnifies its quite preposterous illogicality and silliness. In fact, the treatment would render the film suitable only for Saturday morning audiences were it not for the glut of stark and near-naked girls that cavort incessantly through the hurriedly improvised settings. It is difficult to understand how James Robertson Justice and Dawn Addams came to be involved in such a project unless they were unaware of the banal treatment in store for the script."^[6]

Kine Weekly wrote: "This is a light skit on special agents and science fiction that should please the undemanding. ... The plot is introduced very slowly with a lot of talk, but improves once it gets going in the fantastic world of the Angvians, who, judging by their costumes, enjoy perfect central heating. Probability is a scarcity in the story: the touches of humour are obvious but amusing and some of the sequences are more than a little silly; but, generally speaking, it is fairly entertaining nonsense on a small scale. Robin Hawdon is a bland James Word; James Robertson Justice gives his usual, large performance as the wicked Col. Bourdon, and the main Angyian seductions are represented by Anna Gael and Yutte Stensgaard, with guest star Dawn Addams appearing as the Angvian queen bee. "^[7]

Moria Reviews noted it is an odd mix of the James Bond type movies with a sex comedy.^[8]

References

^ "Zeta One". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c I.Q. Hunter, British Science Fiction Cinema, Routledge, 2001 p 69
^ Sheridan, Simon: Saucy 70s booklet, 88 Films, 2022, p.20.
^ Stanley, J. (2000) Creature Feature: Third Edition
^ "Zeta One Blu-ray (The Love Factor)". blu-ray.com. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
^ "Zeta One". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 38 (444): 62. 1971. ProQuest 1305829296 – via ProQuest.
^ "Zeta One". Kine Weekly. 633 (3262): 10. 18 April 1970. ProQuest 2600861610 – via ProQuest.
^ "Zeta One (1969)". Moria Reviews. 16 March 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2023.