Tintin et le mystère de la Toison d'Or

Don't judge the book by the cover, for all its B-movie look, this is A-entertainment.

"Tintin and the Mystery of the Golden Fleece" is a product of its era: released in 1961, it carries the old-fashioned allure of 50's adventurous pictures and let's say the more sophisticated tone of the 60's, yet not devoid of the same obsolescent charm that makes a James Bond girl "innocent" by our modern day's standards. The film has the thrills, the fun and the escapism magnificently rendered by the Turkish countryside, with the exotic little tune to enhance the feeling that we're enjoying a nice little vacation with Tintin and Captain Haddock.

Because that's what it's all about, it's a Tintin adventure and yet the enjoyment doesn't only depend on the appeal of the comic-books, in its own right, this is a good movie.

Now, some history… Tintin had already come to maturity in the early 60's but the big screen has always been a hit-or-miss, it was probably a credit to Herge's uniqueness of style and his trademark clear line to have created a world so naturally proficient in thrills and so emotionally engaging that even the camera of the 60's couldn't capture. Yes, even Steven Spielberg could only make a CGI version of the "Unicorn", perhaps one of the less 'cinematic' of all Tintin's books. That's how difficult the transition from book to screen is, and maybe the safest and wisest choice was to have an original story and compensate the 'newness' of the material with actors who'd look like shoot- outs of the original characters.

The originality of the story is the first masterstroke, it's an interesting whodunit set in Turkey and centering on a mysterious ship named "Golden Fleece" that Haddock inherited from a long-time friend. And despite the little predictable plot elements such as the evil businessman who seems to have a personal reason to buy the ship, the sneaky tourist guide, the colorful encounters, a talking parrot, a black cook, the story works not to mention that it also features two nice cameos from Charles Vanel and Dario Moreno. And we forgive the flaw because there's a sort of realism in the relationship between good old Tintin and Captain Haddock, both played by Jean- Pierre Talbot and George Wilson. Tintin leads the action with the impatience and curiosity of youth and Haddock is the eternal follower.

And that's it, the characters are alive again.

Herge said it himself, Tintin was some kind of a joke, he needed the blandest and most neutral looking hero, so he made a round, two dots for the eyes, and no hair color (meaning he was blonde) then just to give him a little edge with the little tuft. A legend was born, a perfect hero who was courageous, brave and embodied youth's thirst of adventure but with a sense of righteousness. The challenge to turn Tintin into a real character was twice, finding someone who'd match the facial features and making the hero heroic without being unrealistic. Needless to say that Talbot did a great job, but as he stated himself, he didn't have to try, he channeled Tintin naturally and you can tell when you see him that he was born to be Tintin.

Talbot was approached for his his physical abilities, he was such a complete athlete, he provided almost all the stunts (with a few exceptions) and you can see in his eyes during the fight scenes how focused he is, it's very interesting that his skills look less fake than many other actors who'd play James Bond. But if he's no Sean Connery, Talbot makes his Tintin believable and appealing and the cute Belgian accent reminds us where Tintin came from. Talbot didn't have to play Tintin, he happened to be like Tintin and that was the film's greatest blessing. He admitted later that Tintin was a good influence on his life, and always try to adopt a righteous approach in general and in his job, as a teacher.

Naturally, the film would have worked only half if Haddock didn't have a great actor to play Captain Haddock and it was George Wilson (from the French Academy), the father of actor Lambert, who played the iconic seaman. He chews the script enough to match the Captain's histrionic tantrums but in the quieter moments when he contemplates the death of his friend, gazing at his picture, there's a sort of poignancy that makes you forget you're watching a Tintin movie, it becomes the story of two friends caught in an adventure. There are also Thompson and Thompson and Calculus but really, this is a Tintin and Haddock (and Snowy) picture.

The film is far from being flawless but these supposedly flaws hold up quite well, and have aged better than many superior movies, there's nothing calculated in this film, it's innocent, non-cynical and ultimately, fun to watch, it's not an equivalent to Tintin comic but, it does justice to the legacy of the legendary Belgian reporter. And the two actors are too likable not to like this film.

This relatively little known French live action film from 1961 was the first time that Tintin (the famous boy reporter created by Belgian cartoonist Herge) was brought to the silver screen. It is also probably the best, certainly capturing better Tintin's spirit than the recent Spielberg film. It obviously helped that Herge has creative input in this, unlike with other movies based on Tintin (though this was not based on any particular book but was rather an original story for the screen). The story has Captain Haddock unexpectedly inheriting a boat in Istanbul. When he goes there with Tintin to retrieve the boat, not only it turns out to be a rotting barge, but also there are a lot of baddies trying to pursue them and the boat. It soon becomes clear that the boat is involved with some treasure. Jean Pierre Talbot and Georges Wilson are perfect as Tintin and Haddock. And the attractive locations (Istanbul, Athens, Meteora in Greece) filmed with lush color certainly help a lot.

A so-so storyline (not based on one of the Herge comic books) is the only thing that spoils this otherwise enthralling live-action adaptation of the TINTIN comics. It's probably the best-realised live-action version of any comic book I've seen, with characters who truly look the part and scenery and backdrops which could have come straight from Herge's pen.

The meandering storyline involves Tintin, Snowy, and Captain Haddock finding themselves in possession of a rusting and seemingly worthless old hulk. When a gang of criminals begin hunting them down, they soon realise the battered old ship has more to it than meets the eye, and to solve the mystery they embark on a globe-trotting adventure. The comedic parts of the narrative are the best bits while the rest of it can be a little stagey at times.

TINTIN AND THE GOLDEN FLEECE is delightfully old-fashioned in its approach and definitely tongue in cheek to boot. Jean-Pierre Talbot is pitch perfect as the titular character and Georges Loriot simply sublime as Professor Calculus. Georges Wilson is less assured as Captain Haddock - he looks and feels more like Popeye's Bluto - but at least he gives it his all. A bumbling cameo from the Thompson Twins is much welcome, but the real delight here is the dog playing Snowy. A more perfectly-trained and characterful creature you couldn't find, and the bit with him and the dynamite is the highlight of the entire movie.

The adventures of Tintin and Milou(Tin Tin and snowy) are now part of European culture.Their impact is so awesome that they are the subject of many university thesis;there are more books about Hergé than about the other European cartoonists put together.Although overshadowed by Asterix in terms of sales,Tintin remains the intellectuals' favorite ,who particularly relish with Hergé's most modern album "les bijoux de la Castafiore".

What they're doing with Asterix now (Asterix:mission Cleopatre),they did it with Tintin forty years ago.It was an impossible task.All the characters of the albums get lost on the screen:George Wilson is physically captain Haddock but he is far from his model;the same goes for Professeur Tournesol (Calculus) and the Dupondt (Thompson twins).As for Milou(Snowy) ,the dog which plays the part is completely insignificant ,except for the dynamite scene.Jean-Pierre Talbot resembles Tin Tin but finding the right actor was impossible cause Tin Tin is neither an adolescent nor a young adult.Hergé used to say his hero was some kind of neutral creature,with which the reader could identify himself.

The film is watchable ,because the screenplay is OK,even if it's a million miles away from Hergé's remarkable stories:there are villains,beautiful landscapes(Istambul,The Greek Meteors) a cameo of Charles Vanel at his shrewdest .

The second attempt,"Tintin et les oranges bleues" ,was a complete disaster and unlike this one, has nothing to commend it.

I had never heard of this 1961 film before seeing it at the 2016 Edinburgh International Film Festival. It is not based on one of Hergé's books, but the storyline - involving a trip to İstanbul, a dilapidated boat, a South American revolution and hidden treasure - contains elements that will be familiar to anyone who has read a couple of them. It also has a definite 'feel' of 1960s films about it.

With any comic book adaptation the main issue, of course, is how close to the source material are the characters? As everyone's favourite boy reporter (sorry, Jimmy Olsen!), Jean-Pierre Talbot is game as tuppence, leaping about rocks and boats like a mountain goat, acquiting himself well in two choreographed fight scenes (even if he does seem to enjoy them more than Tintin should) and, in stripping down to a pair of tiny blue swimming shorts, showing far more skin than his pen-and-ink counterpart ever did. As Captain Haddock, Georges Wilson I found less impressive - although that may be because whenever I read one of the books Haddock always sounds, in my mind, like human foghorn Brian Blessed. Other characters appearing from the books include Professor Calculus, ineffectual policemen Thompson & Thomson (with a 'p' and without), Nestor the butler and, of course, Snowy the dog (who spends lots of his time being cradled in Tintin's arms then suddenly dropped on the floor, poor animal). Barring Tintin's blond (instead of ginger) hair, they are all styled to look very much like Hergé's illustrations - and that creates an unexpected problem, because when only they are on screen the viewer does not notice anything unusual about them, but when sharing space with characters created especially for the film, who have not been so styled, they look by comparison cartoony and unreal.

Still, this is an enjoyable film - enjoyable enough, indeed, that I shall forgive the glaring continuity error where, early in the film, Tintin says he never touches alcohol, then at the end of the adventure is seen knocking back a glass of champagne...