S*H*E Explained

S*H*E*
Director:	Robert Michael Lewis
Producer:	Martin Bregman
Music:	Michael Kamen
Cinematography:	Jules Brenner
Editing:	Michael Economou
Distributor:	Nb productions
Runtime:	100 minutes
Country:	West Germany United States
Language:	English

S*H*E* or S+H+E: Security Hazards Expert is a 1980 spy film concerning a sexy undercover female espionage agent. Starring Cornelia Sharpe and Omar Sharif, it was written by Richard Maibaum and is a Martin Bregman production. The main title song was performed by Linda Gaines.

Cast

• Cornelia Sharpe - Lavinia Kean aka S*H*E*
• Omar Sharif - Baron Cesare Magnasco
• Robert Lansing - Owen Hooper aka Hunt
• Anita Ekberg - Dr. Elsa Biebling
• Fabio Testi - Rudolf Caserta
• William Traylor - Lacey
• Isabella Rye - Fanya
• Thom Christopher - Eddie Bronzi
• Mario Colli - Mucci
• Claudio Ruffini - La Rue
• Geoffrey Copleston - U.N. Speaker
• Fortunato Arena - Paesano
• Gino Marturano - Major Danilo
• Emilio Messina - Zec
• Rory Maclean
• Fritz Hammer

Production

Director Lewis says he did the film "because it was three months in Rome on someone else's money" but that he felt Maibaum's script "was awful and I think I almost had nothing to do with him. My ex wife did the rewrite and off we went.^[1]

Lewis says Ekberg was "very difficult" to work with but executive producer Martin Bergman refused to fire her. Lewis decided to fire her anyway but rehired her when she promised to behave which she did.^[1] He also said Cornelia Sharpe needed a lot of takes, which caused friction with Omar Sharif who did not.^[1]

Notes and References

1. Book: Taylor, Tadhg. 107. Masters of the Shoot-'Em-Up: Conversations with Directors, Actors and Writers of Vintage Action Movies and Television Shows. McFarland. 2015. 9780786494064.