 |
| Kerwin Mathews |
(aka OSS 117 se dechaine/1963)
Director: Andre Hunebelle.
OSS 117 was introduced in a series of French novels and made his first film appearance in 1957 where the character had a different name and was a French agent. When Dr. No became a sensation in 1962 filmmakers in France decided to revive the character and make him more like James Bond. Hence Mathews' adroit performance is clearly cut from the same cloth: a man with an eye for the ladies, callous and ruthless, and not at all bothered by the death of anyone, good guy or bad. The movie is fast-paced and suspenseful, with some colorful supporting characters. It cries out for a much better score, however, and the pop song that opens the film is especially bad. Followed by Panic in Bangkok. In French with subtitles. Director Hunebelle directed most of the succeeding 117 films in the sixties as well as Fantomas. 117 still appears in movies made in the 21st century.
An American agent with the Office of Strategic Services is searching for the prototype of a device that can detect atomic submarines and thinks he's found it in a grotto when he is killed. Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, also known as OSS 117 (Kerwin Mathews of The Viscount), is sent to replace the dead man, and investigates a scuba instructor, Renotte (Henri-Jacques Huet), and his girlfriend, Brigitta (Nadia Sanders), who is keeping secrets. A nasty character named Mayan (Roger Dutoit) is out to keep 117 from finding the detector and employs various unsavory agents, male and female, to stop him. The climax takes place at a spooky estate located above the grotto where 117 will either destroy the device or die trying.
 |
| Irina Demick holds a rifle on 117 |
Verdict: Acceptable Eurospy film with handsome Mathews quite effective as the spy. **3/4.
Unfortunately, I've never been able to get into either Gavin's or Kerwin Matthews' versions of OSS 117, but I love the first two of the newer OSS films with Jean Du Jardin. The first one, OSS 117: CAIRO, NEST OF SPIES replicates the look of the classic early Bond films so successfully, and Du Jardin looks so much like Sean Connery in it, it's almost scary. Of course, it and the sequel, 0SS 117: LOST IN RIO are played for broad, unsubtle laughs (as only the French can), but somehow it works--at least for me. Du Jardin plays OSS as a clueless oaf who accomplishes his missions through sheer good luck and boundless machismo. The constant joke is, he's so non-PC it hurts, and everyone around him is left slack-jawed in horror at his misogynistic antics. I thought the first one was hilarious, the second one a little less so, but it still had its moments. There's a third one out now that I haven't seen, OSS 117: FROM AFRICA WITH LOVE, and I'm looking forward to it. I do fear that the joke may be wearing kinda thin by now, though.
ReplyDelete--Mark
Yeah, I've avoided these because I heard they were basically comedies or parodies but I may give the first one a try one of these days. Roger Moore played a somewhat comical Bond and it worked for awhile until everyone got tired of it. As you say, that might happen with 117.
ReplyDelete