OSS 117 UNLEASHED

Kerwin Mathews

OSS 117 UNLEASHED 

(aka OSS 117 se dechaine/1963) 

Director: Andre Hunebelle.

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

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. 

Verdict: Acceptable Eurospy film with handsome Mathews quite effective as the spy. **3/4. 

BATTLE BENEATH THE EARTH

Martin Benson as General Chan Lu

BATTLE BENEATH THE EARTH (1967). Director: Montgomery Tully.

Commander Jonathan Shaw (Kerwin Mathews), and his old Korean War buddy, scientist Arnold Kramer (Peter Arne), discover that the Chinese have come up with a horrendously diabolical plot. Using laser drills on tank-like vehicles, they have burrowed tunnels under U. S. space centers, military bases, and large population areas, and plan on using atomic bombs to wipe out the whole country. A geologist, Tila Yung (Vivienne Ventura), helps the others discover the tunnel under the sea where the Chinese forces have made their way to America. Can they stop their plan in time? Battle Beneath the Earth somewhat reminds one of Crack in the World in that its interesting (if absurd) situation is undermined by a very low-budget, although there is one marvelous shot showing the sea pouring into the Chinese tunnel. Another highlight is a suspenseful business involving the disarming of a bomb. Mathews has little opportunity to display the derring do of, say, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, but Peter Arne offers a flavorful performance as Kramer, Ventura is very pretty, and Martin Benson [The Cosmic Monsters] steals the show as General Chan Lu, the leader of the assault. Robert Ayres [Black Widow] makes a very intense Admiral Hillebrand. This is like a TV production, and might have been enlivened by the appearance of some underground man-eating monsters, but no such luck. Montgomery Tully directed several thrillers, such as Strange Awakening; this was his last credit.

Verdict: In some ways it's like a poor man's James Bond. ** out of 4.

THE VISCOUNT

Kerwin Mathews roughs up a bad guy

THE VISCOUNT aka Les viscomte regle ses comptes aka The Viscount Settles a Score/1967.) Director: Maurice Cloche.

A bank hold-up which employs special equipment such as a vaporizer begins this adventure in which agent Clint de la Roche, known popularly as the Viscount (Kerwin Mathews of Maniac), gets caught in a war between two hoodlums, Barone (Falco Lulli) and Demoygne (Fernando Rey of The French Connection). Clint meets a sexy stripper named Lili (Sylvia Sorrente) after the latter's roommate is blown up by Barone in her car; and also encounters an agent with the Bureau of Narcotics named Steve Heller (Luis Davila). Mathews does this spy stuff as well as anyone, but it's a shame that his very nice voice has been dubbed. There are the usual gun battles, scenes of capture and torture, but none of it amounts to very much.[NOTE: On imdb.com Edmund O'Brien is listed as playing "Ricco Barone" but this distinctive actor does not appear to be in the film; he may have been slated to play the part, then dropped out.] A France-Italy-Spain co-production.

Verdict: Standard Eurospy saga. **.

THE 3 WORLDS OF GULLIVER

Gulliver (Kerwin Mathews) spots some Lilliputians

THE 3 WORLDS OF GULLIVER (1960). Director: Jack Sher.

Dr. Lemuel Gulliver (Kerwin Mathews) wants to marry his feisty fiancee, Elizabeth (June Thorburn), but is making hardly any money. He decides to seek his fortune at sea, but when he argues with stowaway Elizabeth, he winds up falling overboard. First Gulliver winds up in the land of Lilliput, where he is a giant among little people who argue about which end of an egg to break open. The Lilliputians want Gulliver to kill everyone in the rival nation of Blefusco because they break open their eggs at the wrong end. Later Gulliver winds up in the land of Brobdingnab, where he discovers that he is like a Lilliputian among giants. His fiancee has also washed ashore, and the two are kept as pets by the royal family, who prove as dumb, stubborn and superstitious as the Lilliputians, albeit much bigger. Although this is primarily a family feature, it does get across some of the points in Jonathan Swift's satiric novel about the hypocrisies and idiocies of politics and shallow human nature, and the evils of ignorance, and there's some suggestive dialogue as well relating to horny Gulliver as he impatiently waits to be married by the giant king. Ray Harryhausen has provided a wide variety of effects in addition to his usual stop-motion, and they are excellent. The animated creatures include a squirrel and a gator that tries to make a snack out of Gulliver. Mathews is perfect as Gulliver, and he has a good supporting cast, especially Charles Lloyd Pack as outsized sorcerer Makovan, and Waveney Lee as his evil daughter, Shrike [she also had a small role in Konga and Pack has a long list of credits]. June Thorburn was also in tom thumb. The film was photographed by Wilkie Cooper and features an excellent score from Bernard Herrmann; both men worked on Mysterious Island and other Harryhausen features.

Verdict: Superior fantasy film with fine effects work and spirited performances. ***1/2

THE PIRATES OF BLOOD RIVER

THE PIRATES OF BLOOD RIVER (1962). Director: John Gilling.

"I'm not a man of action. Perhaps I think too much to be brave."

Jason Standing (Andrew Kier), a magistrate at a 17th century Huguenot settlement on the isle of Devon, sends his own son Jonathon (Kerwin Mathews) to a penal colony for the alleged crime of adultery. Jason manages to escape and falls in with a group of French pirates run by a Captain LaRoche (Christopher Lee). Being assured that the pirates represent no danger to his people, Jonathon leads them back to Devon, and discovers you can't quite trust the word of a pirate. Other characters caught up in the action include Jonathon's sister Bess (Marla Landi), and her fella, Henry (Glenn Corbett of Homicidal). Michael Ripper and Oliver Reed [Paranoiac] play other pirates. This is a very handsome non-horror Hammer production, with Lee, unfortunately, being more subdued than usual in trying to avoid the stereotype of the fire-breathing pirate chief. There is an unconvincing attack by piranha, but Gary Hughes' score is a plus, as is the photography of Arthur Grant [The Terror of the Tongs]. Andrew Kier offers the most memorable performance.

Verdict: Not bad Hammer historical melodrama with an interesting cast. **1/2.

THE DEVIL AT 4 O'CLOCK

Spencer Tracy

THE DEVIL AT 4 O'CLOCK (1961). Director: Mervyn LeRoy.

"I bet you were a sweet little altar boy." -- Father Doonan [Spencer Tracy].

"Weren't we all?" -- Harry [Frank Sinatra].

Three convicts -- Harry (Frank Sinatra), Marcel (Gregoire Aslan) and Charlie (Bernie Hamilton) -- on their way to a Tahitian prison, have to stop over on the island of Talua so their plane can drop off Father Perreau (Kerwin Mathews). Perreau is there to replace cantankerous, alcoholic Father Doonan (Spencer Tracy), who has angered the islanders by building a hospital for children with Hansen's disease (leprosy) in the mountains. When the island is threatened by earthquakes and an erupting volcano, Doonan takes the convicts with him to rescue the children and the hospital staff. From there they make a perilous journey down the mountain, past thickening lava flows, that not all of them will survive. The characters and situations are so interesting that it doesn't matter that the harrowing action doesn't occur until late in the movie, and the fine performances from most of the cast help as well. Columbia has put together such a first-rate remastered high-def DVD of this film that sometimes the FX seams [process work and matte paintings] show through, but there are still some stunning vistas. Unlike the more realistic hardened convicts you generally find in today's movies, Sinatra and company are men of some convenient strength and sensitivity. The piousness sometimes threatens to become cloying but never overwhelms the movie, and dissenting viewpoints are also presented. Tracy is superb, with fine support from Hamilton [who deserved a much bigger career], Aslan, Alexander Scourby as the governor, and Cathy Lewis as hospital worker Marguerite. Jean-Pierre Aumont and Tom Middleton are fine as the pilots, as is Barbara Luna as a blind girl at the hospital. Even in this, Sinatra, who isn't bad, gets the girl -- or does he? The film isn't entirely predictable in who will make it off the island or not.

Verdict: This movie is not a disaster. ***.

THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD

THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD (1958). Director: Nathan Juran.

In this marvelous fantasy film inspired by tales of the Arabian Knights, Sinbad (Kerwin Mathews) must battle a whole host of monsters on the island of Colossa in order to save his beloved, Princess Parisa (Kathryn Grant), who has been shrunken to doll size by the evil wizard, Sokurah (Torin Thatcher). There's a mean-tempered cyclops [who actually has a right to be mean as some of Sinbad's crew try to steal his treasure], a gigantic roc with huge flapping wings, and a fire-breathing dragon kept tethered in a cavern. In one of the best scenes, Sinbad has to battle a sword-wielding skeleton that has been animated by Sokurah [see video]. Actually the skeleton and everything else has been animated via stop-motion photography by the great FX wizard Ray Harryhausen, who offers superlative work in this picture. Mathews and Grant are acceptable in the leads, but the acting honors go to a really wonderful Thatcher, who seems to be having a ball enacting his villainy. {It's amusing that absolutely no one can figure out that it was Sokurah who shrunk the princess -- duh!] Nowadays fantasy films often feature computer effects of variable quality, but 7th Voyage with its stop-motion effects is the real deal. Mathews and Thatcher were reunited for Jack the Giant Killer, which featured stop-motion of inferior quality [not done by Harryhausen]. Thatcher had one of his best roles as the prosecutor in Witness for the Prosecution. 

Verdict: One of the all-time great fantasy films. ***1/2.

5 AGAINST THE HOUSE

5 AGAINST THE HOUSE (1955). Director: Phil Karlson.

Ex-G.I.s in college get the idea to rob a casino in Reno but actually plan on returning the money. Wealthy Ronnie (Kerwin Mathews) wants to accomplish something big -- he plans the whole caper -- and thinks this is it. But as the big day approaches Al (Guy Madison, pictured) who's planning to start married life with girlfriend Kay (Kim Novak), urges them to call off the robbery, but Brick (Brian Keith), who's a bit disturbed, pulls out a gun and insists they go through with it -- or else. And he intends to keep the money. Keith is excellent, the rest of the cast is good, but the movie takes a long time to get going and never really gets anywhere. Even the climactic robbery is slack. Alvy Moore is one of the "gang" and William Conrad is the casino employee they hold up.

Verdict: There are better capers than this. **.

THE GARMENT JUNGLE

THE GARMENT JUNGLE (1957). Director: Vincent Sherman.

Soon after the terrible death of his partner in a freight elevator "accident" -- a horrifying, well-handled sequence -- Walter Mitchell (Lee J. Cobb) welcomes his son Alan (Kerwin Mathews) into the garment business. Alan is disturbed to learn what a hold the mob has on the business with its protection racket, and how they've been terrorizing union organizers. This is basically a poor man's On the Waterfront, and not at all in the same league as that classic. However, there are several good scenes, and there's an interesting cast. Cobb is as good as ever, and Mathews gives it a good try, but his forte was swashbuckling costume heroes like in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, not realistic drama. Richard Boone is more on the mark as a mob boss, as is Robert Loggia as a union organizer and Joseph Wiseman (Dr. No) as one of the garment workers. Wesley Addy has an unusual role as a vicious associate of Boone's. Gia Scala and Valerie French are effective as the ladies involved with the garment workers.

Verdict: Overbaked melodrama. **.