Among the better Eurospy B-grade James Bond knockoffs, and the best movie of Frederick Stafford's career as a secret agent, in my opinion (although the "OSS 117" films are more well-known and "Topaz", the film he did with A-list director Alfred Hitchcock remains the most prestigious artistic high point)
Briskly paced and played straight, yet with a liberal sprinkling of humorous one liners, well-choreographed action (although the execution is sometimes not quite as sharp), some decent gadgets, loads of pretty girls, including several who are not just there for decoration, modernist Beirut as an exotic location, and a sound track from the great Ennio Morricone.
This version of "Stafford-Bond" flirts with all the girls, but they don't always go for it, and when they don't he shrugs it off with good grace and moves on.
Another reviewer suggested there were no "good" gadgets". But there is the booby-trapped phone gun, the ice bullets, the gun in the light projector, the amphibious car, a large, stylish, silver rocket etc. Remember this is the 1960s, when helicopters, and even shots of airliners taking off and landing, were still considered novel and glamourous by most viewers.
One bit of unintentional humour is that, before his true identity is uncovered, one of the main villains is described as a man who has "only four fingers on one hand". As, in English, we don't regard the thumb as a finger, this clue doesn't appear to narrow down the field of suspects much!
Frederick Stafford is one of those actors that stumbled into the movie business by accident, rather like Errol Flynn, spotted incidentally by a producer rather than coming from an acting background. His looks and charm carried him to the brink of stardom, the lead role in "Topaz", but for various reasons (Hitch was off form, Fred's acting wasn't up to it) the film did not succeed and it was largely downhill from there. These days the industry doesn't seem to operate in such a haphazard way and we rarely see actors appear out of nowhere in this way. His potted background biography is colourful and varied, and I'm sure at least half of it is made up fantasy by the man himself...
"By some accounts, Stafford claimed to have played water polo at the 1948 Summer Olympics. He was the son of a Slovak factory owner. He studied chemistry and spent time in Switzerland. He was worried about the Russians taking over Czechoslovakia and in 1948 decided to leave.
He went to Australia in 1949 and changed his name to "Frederick Stafford". "I always liked the name," he later said. While there he worked as a taxi driver, a lumberjack and a businessman, until he qualified as a Doctor of Chemistry. He was fluent in five languages.
In the 1950s he held a series of positions in the pharmaceutical industry and by 1962 he was a regional manager for Bristol Meyers, headquartered in Hong Kong. He travelled for them in the Middle East and Far East. Two years later in Bangkok he met a German actress Marianne Hold and married her seven days later.
In 1964, while on holiday in Bangkok, Stafford met French director André Hunebelle at a hotel and he asked him "How would you like to make movies with me?" Stafford replied, "Why not?"
Or, according to another account Stafford claimed "I married an Austrian girl in Bangkok in 1964 and among the bouquets at the wedding was one from a French film producer. He said he wanted me to star in his films. That's how it all began. I was rushed off to Brazil to make my first film in Rio de Janeiro, and have been busy ever since."
In March 1970 Stafford claimed that Harry Saltzman wanted him to play James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service but he was unable to accept due to his commitment to make Topaz. He said "although at first I thought no one could take over from Sean. But after seeing the latest Bond film... I know I can." He added "I certainly didn't realise this film business would keep my interest like it has. It is a real change from chemistry, and at present I can't see myself going back to that."
Well, he was a true "International Man Of Mystery" after all!
