When a Cape Kennedy space mission is interrupted by terrorists, Senator Stockwell (John Carter) turns to a massive computer for an analyzed report of which secret agents to trust with the case. The electronic brain suggests the Doll Squad, a crack team of highly trained female spies who are as beautiful as they are deadly. Their leader, Sabrina Kincaid (Francine York), is sent to round up the girls, but there's a mole in the Senator's organization, and the first two agents she contacts are murdered. Intelligence reports reveal that the head of the terrorist operation is Eamon O'Reilly (Michael Ansara), an ex-government agent and Sabrina's former lover. O'Reilly sends a carrier pigeon to the Senator with instructions to send back secret nuclear weapon plans, and threatens national disaster if he refuses. The mole is rooted out and the location of O'Reilly's secret island hideout is discovered, so Sabrina rounds up the rest of the Doll Squad and the ladies charter a boat. Once on shore, the girls are kidnapped, and O'Reilly explains his nefarious plans to Sabrina: He is going to spread bubonic plague across the civilized world and rule what is left with supreme power. But if she so desires, he'll inoculate her with the antidote and she will reign by his side as Queen. The Doll Squad fights back, using an arsenal of secret weapons, plastic explosives, and their own seductive charms to defeat O'Reilly's henchmen and save the world. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
Review
Director Ted V. Mikels has claimed that the concept for the Charlie's Angels television series was unfairly appropriated from this 1973 espionage thriller. While it wouldn't be the first incident of intellectual theft in Hollywood, mixing beautiful ladies with crime-fighting and ass-kicking is a no-brainer, an idea no one needs to steal. Regardless, The Doll Squad is a rollicking, perfectly stupid action ride that delivers loads of violence and ridiculous dialogue ("Will you rule the world with me, or shall I kill you?"). The Dolls are equipped with impossible spy gadgets like flamethrower cigarette lighters, rings full of mace, and a special explosive powder that blows up the victim from the inside. Michael Ansara is smooth and urbane as the psychopathic Eamon O'Reilly, a cartoon supervillain in slacks and a sport shirt. The viewer is introduced to him with a line cut directly from comic book cloth: "Do they really think the Doll Squad can stop me?" He continues in this vein until he's dispatched in a playful death scene that involves a pitcher of martinis. Tura Satana appears as a go-go dancer/electronics specialist, though she expresses little of the intense personality she wields in her signature film, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! The rest of the cast is serviceable, and Mikels crafts an energetic low-budget picture that doesn't look any cheaper than the average TV movie of the day. The optical-effect explosions look phony and a lot of the plot makes no sense, but the buxom gals are given sleek, sexy uniforms and shoot dozens of men through the head, so who's complaining? The Doll Squad entertains in a sleazy, simple-minded fashion, whether Aaron Spelling is guilty of plagiarism or not. Then again, both properties do have characters named "Sabrina." ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
