HOT ENOUGH FOR JUNE is a British spy comedy directed by the popular Ralph Thoma. It begins as an open spoof of the Bond franchise, referencing the death of none other than 007 and casting Dirk Bogarde as the hapless writer who replaces him as a spy working for British intelligence. He's shipped off to Czechoslovakia in order to perform industrial espionage but while there he falls for the charms of a glamorous Czech agent.The comedy in this film is so subtle that it plays out as a straight spy film for much of the running time. It's not particularly exciting or funny, but the cast is good enough to do justice to the material, and there's a sense of realism that's missing from the Bond films. It's not quite THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD in terms of ice-cold grittiness, but tonally it's somewhere halfway between the two styles of filming. A great supporting cast includes Richard Pasco, Derek Nimmo, Derek Fowlds, Sylva Koscina, Robert Morley, Leo McKern, Roger Delgado, and John Junkin.

The most untalented Dirk Bogarde managed to ruin any film he was involved with, no exception in this one. The story is a rather predictable one and the film shows it's age very clearly. It could have been very much better though with a different leading actor. Bogarde seems always to be thinking something else from what is happening, constantly constipated. It was a different time of course, but the fact that this man made a career in the film industry never stops to amaze me. The rest of the crew performs within the standards of the era, no ups and downs really, the story in it's simplicity borrows elements from older similar ones, nothing bad with that. Sylva Koscina is an adequate actress and a great presence, Robert Morley is a delight as in all his performances, the rest just add up to an oldie that could be very different if the lead actor was anybody else. It's very interesting to observe the way the story telling evolved through the entire 20th century and even later on. Films like this show us very clearly the do's and don't's of film making in general. (Sounds like a museum item and it sure is.) Useful for a limited audience.

I did enjoy this film, but the reason for saying above 'if you don't think too hard' is that after watching it, the thing that stuck in my mind was that Nicholas (Dirk Bogarde) seemed to adapt to the situations he found himself as a spy rather too easily for someone who is supposed to be an unemployed writer. That aside the film is a little difficult to categorise, IMDb call this a comedy, and it starts out in the same vein as the "Doctor" films that Dirk Bogarde made, but it changes to what I would classify as 'Light Drama', and that makes it much more interesting.Overall the acting was good but not outstanding, and I would recommend it for an evenings entertainment, provided your idea of an evenings entertainment is something you don't have to think about too much, and you have had enough of sex, violence and obscenity.

I remember this film used to be shone on PBS, now and again, and I always looked forward to watching it.(this was before VCRs, so I caught it when it braodcasted) It was one of the better low key spy films to come out during the James Bond phenomena of the mid 60's, a light comedic film that turned into a good suspense thriller by the end. I hope somebody acquires a good print and puts it out on DVD.