Charmin ( / ˈ ʃ ɑːr m ɪ n / CHAR -min ) is an American brand of toilet paper that was launched in 1928, and it is currently owned by Procter & Gamble .
35-449: Our Man Flint is a 1966 American spy-fi comedy film that parodies the James Bond film series . The film was directed by Daniel Mann , written by Hal Fimberg and Ben Starr (from a story by Hal Fimberg), and starred James Coburn as master spy Derek Flint . A sequel, In Like Flint , was released the following year, with Coburn reprising his role. Spy extraordinaire Derek Flint
70-452: A Walther PPK and an attache case with a concealed throwing knife, with Flint dismissing both as "crude". During the French strip club sequence, Flint stages a mock brawl with a patron identified as Agent 0008, a British secret agent. Flint asks if SPECTRE (the criminal organization in the early Bond movies) is involved, to which Agent 0008 replies, "It's bigger than SPECTRE!" The actor playing
105-404: A spy . Usually, these adventures will revolve around defeating a rival superpower or singular enemy from achieving a nefarious aim. Content may include themes such as world domination , world destruction, futuristic weapons , and gadgets . Settings vary from outright fantasy, such as outer space or under the sea, to real but exotic locations. Spy-fi does not necessarily present espionage as it
140-545: A "nod and a wink" to the Flint films. Hanna-Barbara's 1966 animated film The Man Called Flintstone includes nods to the Our Man Flint, especially on the theatrical poster. A 1965 novelization of the film by Jack Pearl includes much material not seen on the screen that may have been taken from an earlier screenplay draft. The name Hans Gruber was reused in two later films, Re-Animator and Die Hard . Clips of audio from
175-400: A Pleasure Unit – a fate that has already befallen Flint's playmates. She then changes sides, slipping Flint his gadget-filled cigarette lighter before she is hauled away. With the help of the lighter, Flint again escapes, sabotages the machinery, rescues his playmates and Gila, and departs the island as it disintegrates. A waiting American warship picks up Flint and the women as they watch
210-441: A brawl to gain information from "famous" Agent 0008, which leads him to a narcotics trade which is financing Galaxy. Galaxy agent Hans Gruber is in the club enjoying his favorite soup while waiting to rendezvous with Gila. Instead, Gila sends Gruber to ambush Flint in the lavatory. Flint ends up killing Gruber in a toilet stall while Gila escapes, leaving behind a cold cream jar she has booby-trapped with explosives. Flint detects
245-537: A cycle which sees virtually every studio clambering aboard the espionage bandwagon, indications point to blockbusting biz if film is properly exploited." The movie in the top ten highest grossing movies at the North American box office in 1966 with rentals of $ 6.500,000. (It was beaten by Thunderball and The Silencers .) According to Fox records, the film needed to earn $ 7,700,000 to break even (after distribution and overhead costs were added) and made $ 12,950,000 at
280-581: A number of key supporting roles, particularly The Americanization of Emily and A High Wind in Jamaica but Our Man Flint was his first lead in a feature. His casting was announced in December 1964 and filming began in February 1965. David said Coburn "is undoubtedly one of the most interesting looking actors in the business today. I would describe him as a cross between Humphrey Bogart and Jean Paul Belmondo -
315-503: A preemptive assassination attempt by Galaxy's section head, Gila, who replaces a restaurant's harpist while Flint is dining with his four live-in "playmates" — Leslie, Anna, Gina, and Sakito. Gila uses a harp string as a bow to fire a poisoned dart, which misses Flint but hits his former boss, Cramden. Flint squeezes the poison out of the wound, saving Cramden's life. A chemical trace on the dart directs Flint to Marseille for bouillabaisse . In one of Marseille's lowest clubs, he stages
350-410: A true descendant of that bygone generation of character actors who became leading men by accident... Coburn has a fantastic effect on women filmgoers and I think it's because ladies go more for masculinity and charm than prettiness in a male star." Coburn later said, "I credit the producer, Saul David, for the Flint films. He was responsible for the whole thing. He also cast me in the role. Of course, it
385-417: A volcano erupt on the island. Gila presumably joins the other four women living with Flint. (In the sequel, when Flint is again called out of retirement for a mission, he lives with three women, saying that "five was just too many.") The last shot is of the "Anti-American Eagle" that attacked Flint at Rodney's behest earlier in the film flying over the smoking ruins of the island. The uncredited actor playing
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#1732858539812420-674: Is an ex-agent of Z.O.W.I.E. (Zonal Organization World Intelligence Espionage) who is brought out of retirement to deal with the threat of Galaxy , a worldwide organization led by a trio of mad scientists: Doctor Krupov, Doctor Wu, and Doctor Schneider. Impatient that the world's governments will never improve, the scientists demand that all nations capitulate to Galaxy. To enforce their demands, they initiate earthquakes, volcanoes, storms, and other natural disasters with their climate-control apparatus to force countries to dissolve their armed forces and stop using nuclear power to generate electricity. Initially reluctant, Flint decides to take them on after
455-570: Is bad for the environment. As of 2018, Charmin is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council and the Rainforest Alliance . The NRDC and stand.earth issued a report in 2019 saying that Charmin toilet paper was still being manufactured almost exclusively from forest fiber, much of it sourced from Canada's boreal forest. By November 2019, NRDC claimed that 201,000 people had signed its petition to Procter & Gamble asking
490-460: Is often associated with the Cold War . Features of spy-fi include the effects of technology on the espionage trade and the technological gadgets used by the characters, even though the technologies and gadgets portrayed are well beyond contemporary scientific reality. Spy-fi can be defined as media that centers around the adventures of a protagonist (or protagonists) working as a secret agent or
525-415: Is practiced in reality but rather glamorizes spy-craft through its focus on high-tech equipment, agencies, and organizations with nearly limitless resources and incredibly high-stakes adventures. The spy protagonist may discover in his or her investigation that a mad scientist or evil genius and his secret organization are using futuristic technology to further their schemes. Examples of these include
560-954: The James Bond film series, the use of advanced scientific technologies for global influence or domination in The Baroness spy novels, using space travel technology to destroy the world as in Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die , weather control in Our Man Flint , using a sonic weapon in Dick Barton Strikes Back , a death ray in Dick Barton at Bay , or replacing world leaders with evil twins in In Like Flint . Charmin The Charmin name
595-491: The "body", which they send to Cramden, then carry Flint back to headquarters on the submarine. Flint revives and sneaks into the Galaxy complex, but his infiltration is thwarted, and he is taken before Galaxy's trio of leaders. Offered a chance to join their new order, he refuses and is sentenced to death by disintegration. Gila's failure to eliminate Flint results in her being stripped of her leadership role and reassigned to become
630-703: The bears in the logo. The "Charmin Bears" is a collective family of parents and children. Initially there was just one family of brown bears, with Leonard the Bear accompanied by Molly, Bill, Amy and Dylan. This was later split into distinct families of bears: five blue ones called the "Charmin Ultra Soft Family" and five red ones called the "Charmin Ultra Strong Family". In February 2009, Greenpeace advised consumers not to use Charmin toilet paper, stating that it
665-437: The box office. In Like Flint (1967) was directed by Gordon Douglas and again starred James Coburn, with Cobb also reprising his role as Lloyd C. Cramden. In 1972, Harlan Ellison wrote a teleplay entitled Flintlock as a continuation of the films with Coburn intended to reprise his role. Still, studios have passed on what would have been a pilot for a proposed television series, and it went unproduced. A later attempt on
700-617: The company's safe, learning of Galaxy's location before being trapped by Gila's assistant, Malcolm Rodney. Malcolm and Gila assume that Flint will soon run out of air in the safe as they transport it to a waiting submarine. However, during the journey, Flint learns that his playmates have been kidnapped and taken to the headquarters on Galaxy Island in the Mediterranean Sea. He then uses his power of self-induced suspended animation to fool his captors into thinking they have successfully killed him. Gila and Rodney take an evidence photograph of
735-686: The film are sampled in The Desert Sessions song "Sugar Rush" on the album Volumes 3 & 4 . The film was premiered in St Ann's Bay in Jamaica in December 1965 but not officially released in the US until January 1966. Coburn and Mann did not attent the premiere but Cobb and David did. Our Man Flint generally received positive reviews, having a "Fresh" score of 76% on Rotten Tomatoes from 33 critics. Variety called it "a dazzling, action-jammed swashbuckling spoof of Ian Fleming’s valiant counterspy" where "in
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#1732858539812770-504: The overseer of the Pleasure Unit process is Dick Wilson , who later gained fame as "Mr. Whipple" in a long string of commercials for Charmin toilet paper. The voice of then-President Lyndon B. Johnson was provided by Van Williams , who provided the same voice-over effect later that year, in the film Batman: The Movie . Producer Saul David had just made Von Ryan's Express for Fox and Our Man Flint would be his second film for
805-462: The role is similar in appearance to Sean Connery . Later in the film, Gila is shown reading a 0008 novel, referencing the James Bond novels. 20th Century Fox's house composer Jerry Goldsmith composed the film's score. The film's original soundtrack LP was rerecorded slower arrangements of the score, and a DVD of the surviving elements of the two Flint films was later released. Herbie Mann covered
840-488: The same format resulted in Dead on Target (1976), a Canadian-filmed television pilot directed by Joseph L. Scanlan , starring Ray Danton as Flint, here depicted as a private investigator. This originally aired on ABC-TV on March 17, 1976. An Italian parody, Il vostro super agente Flit , was released in 1966. Spy-fi (subgenre) Spy-fi is a subgenre of spy fiction that includes elements of science fiction , and
875-401: The studio. David told the press that Flint would be "an entirely different cup of tea" to James Bond, "a sensitive and sensible individual, loyal to his own code instead of to an arbitrary entity which we might call 'our side'. His pleasures will be taken with verve and gusto a la Tom Jones and his heroics will be treated with wit and vitality, a la Douglas Fairbanks ." Coburn had appeared in
910-521: The title theme, "Our Man Flint", on his 1966 album, Our Mann Flute . Many other cover versions of the theme music were recorded during the mid-1960s, including Roland Shaw , Billy Strange and The Challengers with Hugo Montenegro 's version including the Presidential telephone's ringtone. Wall of Voodoo used the theme tune in the 2nd half of their version of " Ring of Fire ". The distinctive ringtone of Cramden's "presidential hotline" telephone
945-400: The trap and chases the bystanders from the club before detonating the bomb. The remains in the jar lead Flint to Rome . After investigating several cosmetic companies, Flint arrives at Exotica, where he meets Gila for the first time. Gila lets him come to her apartment for an exchange of information, and then a seduction. Following their encounter, he steals the keys to Exotica and breaks into
980-516: Was a minor hit for Charlie Walker in 1967, was inspired by the ad campaign for Charmin. In 1928, the logo mascot was a female silhouette, supplemented by a baby in 1953, replacing the woman by 1956. In advertisements, Mr. Whipple was eventually replaced with "The Charmin Bear", created by D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles in Britain and introduced to the United States in 2000. The original bear
1015-502: Was a spoof of the Bond and all the other spy films released at the time. What I liked about Flint was that he was his own man. He trained himself. We tried to work from that theme. It must have worked... after all, the film was a big hit." Fox were so happy with the film that head of production Richard Zanuck announced preparations for a sequel, F as in Flint , in November 1965, before the movie
1050-593: Was even released. (It was then retitled In Like Flint .) Flint's apartment is located in The San Remo in New York City. The skyline projected out the window of the apartment is of Central Park South on 59th Street . The interiors of Galaxy Island were filmed at the Scattergood Generating Station . The film's direct nods to James Bond in a comedic and outlandish style. Flint is initially offered
1085-714: Was first created on April 19, 1928, by the Hoberg Paper Company in Green Bay, Wisconsin . In 1950, Hoberg changed its name to Charmin Paper Company and continued to produce bath tissue, paper napkins, and other paper products. Procter & Gamble (P&G) acquired Charmin Paper Company in 1957. Charmin Ultra was originally called White Cloud until 1993. In 2008, P&G sold the European operations and product line to SCA , where it
Our Man Flint - Misplaced Pages Continue
1120-420: Was not 3D-animated and had a light brown/tan color. In 2001, three cubs were added to the family, and by 2007, a blue bear was introduced for the "soft" brand and a red bear for the "strong" brand. The bears later became part of the packaging, replacing the baby in 2004. The new animated advertising campaign was called "Call of Nature". In 2010, the company changed the logo to add flecks of toilet paper to
1155-523: Was re-used in the films Hudson Hawk , and in Seattle children's television program, The J.P. Patches Show . Popular Los Angeles KIIS-FM disc jockey Rick Dees used the sound effect as the "hotline" phone sound whenever the station manager would call and yell at him during his 1980s and 1990s shows. A similar ringtone was used in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery , clearly as
1190-508: Was renamed to Cushelle . Originally, the manufacturer wanted to emphasize the product's softness, but did not know how to convey the idea of that physical sensation on television. The company's advertising agency suggested that shoppers be encouraged to squeeze the product in stores like a grocery shopper would squeeze a tomato to assess its softness, but there was some concern that retailers would object to customers manhandling their merchandise and thus damaging it before purchase. The problem
1225-583: Was solved with the concept that the handling would be actively discouraged by a comic antagonistic retailer in the advertisements. In an advertising campaign that lasted over twenty years, American advertisements featured actor Dick Wilson , playing the fictional grocer Mr. George Whipple . Mr. Whipple told his customers: "Please don't squeeze the Charmin!", emphasizing its softness in more than 500 advertisements between 1964 and 1985, and later returning in 1999–2000. The country song "Don't Squeeze My Sharmon", which
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