The colourful espionage of the sixties appears close to Tarantino's cinephile universe. That proximity does not allow a set of essential titles to be attributed to him automatically.
An attractive label, but an attribution still pending
There is no accredited list of Quentin Tarantino's favourite eurospy films in the statements consulted for this piece. Presenting Danger: Diabolik and several Italian series as a selection expressly recommended by him would turn an aesthetic affinity into a documentary claim. The distinction is especially necessary in a genre whose colours, posters, music and outlandish agents fit easily into a general idea of his tastes.
Eurospy usually refers to the European popular espionage cycle of the 1960s, developed around the international success of James Bond. Its films feature agents with striking identities, criminal organisations, gadgets, travel and humour. The term does not make any Bond parody European, nor any protagonist who uses spectacular vehicles a spy. Country of production, central character and tone remain useful distinctions.
Danger: Diabolik, directed by Mario Bava in 1968, belongs more precisely to the adventures of a criminal from Italian comics. It can converse with eurospy through its design and its artifice, but Diabolik is not a government agent equivalent to Bond. That stylistic proximity explains its frequent appearance in broad surveys of popular cinema of the 1960s; it does not prove that Tarantino declared it one of his favourites.
The most visible reference is not, either, an outright endorsement
The Wrecking Crew, the Matt Helm comedy starring Dean Martin, appears in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Sharon Tate enters a cinema to watch herself perform, and Tarantino preserves images of the real actress. The sequence expresses admiration for Tate and attention to her comic work. It should not be turned into a favourable judgement on all the elements of the film being shown.
The 2019 conversation between Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson makes that separation explicit: Tarantino stated his dislike of the film and his appreciation of Tate in it. Besides, it is an American production within spy spoof, not an Italian example that can be placed uncritically under eurospy. A fond scene can celebrate a specific performance within a work the director judges negatively.
Rick Dalton's fictional Italian career adds another layer of confusion. His invented titles reconstruct a film market and an imaginary professional trajectory. They are not real films available to programme, nor a direct statement about the creator's preferences. Fiction serves to evoke an industry; recommendations require an additional source.
How to choose without attributing non-existent opinions
Anyone wanting to approach this territory can distinguish three interests: espionage, comic-book criminals and parody. Danger: Diabolik is relevant to the second; The Wrecking Crew, to studying the third and Tate's work. These are editorial pointers, not a list signed by Tarantino. Keeping that distinction makes it possible to discover films without turning his name into a seal of approval that is not documented.
Back to Tarantino recommendations by genre.