In France,Bernard Borderie remained famous for his "Angelique Marquise Des Anges ",which anyway was much better than its awful remake ;in the sixties,he was into the swashbuckler with such stuff as "Les Trois Mousquetaires" and "Pardaillan" .
On the other hand,the fifties were given over to gangsters movies (Lemmy Caution and Le Gorille series ),including spoofs on the genre ("Un Caid" ,and even spy thrillers ("Les Loups Chassent La Nuit")
Lemmy Caution is not present in this movie ,but he is mentioned twice -the second time ,at the very end of the movie ,is pretty smart.
The screenplay is rather poor, worthy of a second-rate comic strip ;the hero Burt Brickford is a former marine,some kind of cross between Caution and Hergé 's "captain Haddock ,without a beard but with a liking for whiskey.He is hired by a wealthy man on a boat en route to so called treasure hunting;but it is not so, and it seems that this business is a bit shady.Besides,the crew is sinister- looking;fortunately there are three gorgeous ladies who make Burt's task worthwhile.
The actors save the movie:Eddie Constantine has plenty of go and a big wide smile ,Robert Berri is quite credible as a south- American,and Lino Ventura (it's Borderie who launched his career with "Le Gorille") in a too small part is a plus.
A bit tongue in cheek,filmed in black and white (but wide screen),the movie might possess great appeal for Constantine's fans;the others can do without it.
