Atout coeur à Tokyo pour OSS 117

Polished but lacking some vital spark of energy, or perhaps it was just that I found it tiring having to read subtitles, as there doesn't appear to be a dubbed version available, unlike most of the Italian and German ones. I much prefer dubbing because it means I'm free to use my eyes for fully appreciating the visual aspects of the film. I'm just not much of a multi-tasker I guess.

However after a second viewing, I think I've put my finger on the problem, it's with the sound track. The on screen action is fine, but the music rarely provides any assistance to help generate suspense or tension. Even if most Eurospy themes are melodramatic and overwrought, they at least bring some energy and help set the appropriate mood, while the music in this one is either non-existent or more like travelogue music, lacking the punch and drama required (the scene where the Combi van is crashed being a classic example, with a cheerful tune played during what should be a moment of great peril.)

Japan provides suitable exotic locations (a year before "You Only Live Twice") and a somewhat stylish super-tanker makes for a decent villain's lair in the finale (although it only has a medium size door in the side, big enough for a launch size boat, rather than a ship swallowing front maw like the one in "The Spy Who Love Me"). There are several excellent fight scenes, the screenplay is good with a decent plot and adequate dialogue.

Frederick makes friends with a couple of attractive women. Marina Vlady brings the beautiful ice queen who eventually melts, and Jitsuko Yoshimura brings the cute and perky, yet sensual local flavour (as when she playfully bites Fred's finger while bidding him farewell).

Eventually, after all the usual spy shenanigans, being followed or chased, chasing or following, getting knocked out, escaping from traps and ambushes, Fred identifies the bad guys, locates the lair and saves the day in suitable fashion.

Overall a solid, if unexceptional, effort

Best quip Marina - "Have you ever been called a cad?" Fred - "No. I kill people before they have time to say it."

André Hunebelle was a good craftsman when it came to making popular swashbucklers whose hero was Jean Marais ("le Bossu" "le Miracle des loups" ).The spy thriller had the wind in its sails thanks to James Bond....

So Hunnebelle ditched his previous genre for the more lucrative spy stuff.It was his second OSS 117 effort(the first one featured Kervin -Simbad/Jack-Matthews ) and it's not really an improvement on the first one.There is a true actress here ,Marina Vlady (oddly,she plays on the boat almost the same part as Domino and her camera in "Thunderball" ).And Henri Serre,whose career ran into difficulties after "Jules et Jim".And Frederick Stafford future "Topaz " star. It's not much.

The French answer to James Bond is back. And this time he travels to Tokyo and battles international terrorists. This film does have some things going for it: Frederick Stafford is a good enough spy lead (I'll take his OSS 117 over Timothy Dalton's 007 any day!), the cast includes a French mega-babe (Marina Vlady) and a Japanese super-cutie (Jitsuko Yoshimura), there are some enjoyable fight scenes, and the Oriental setting actually predates Connery's "You Only Live Twice" by one year! Despite all that, however, the film is a bit of a bore. It is VERY slow-moving and lacks a strong central villain. The filmmakers probably stretched the budget as far as it could go, but in comparison to the Bond pictures of the time, they still came up short. They just about beat "Diamonds Are Forever", though. (**)

Yes, Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath is based on novels by Jean De Bruce. However, he is so similar to Ian Fleming's very well known English spy James Bond who is, by the way, funnier and more advanced.

In this Bond-ish movie, the action is not so good, it's average. The direction is not that well done; you'll watch the camera more than once (in the glass of some bus, and in the bathroom's mirror of the submarine..), plus the stunt man's face was visible too, and so on. The music isn't any fine. Frederick Stafford is trying to be, or forced to be, another Connery, and that dubbed voice was unfunny, but I think with some other director and writer, he would've done much better work.

You won't have a lot of exciting spying devices; only a little microphone and sunglasses which had a camera in it. And although it's French-Italian production, but it's not BIG one by all means, especially when all of the events take place just in Tokyo. The writing was mediocre, or maybe the surprises of 1966 are corny in 2007. For instance, someone shot Hubert in his bed to discover that it wasn't him; it was a doll under the blanket. Then, chasing Hubert to discover later that he was a harmless policeman.. etc.

The positive points were 2. The cinematography by Marcel Grignon, which was the classic rich shooting of the era. And Marina Vlady who stole the show despite not being the lead.

All in all, this movie is poor when you compare it to Bond movies. But if you measure it by its own desire to be amusing, then you'll find that it's a nice humble espionage movie, not too boring, silly or bad.

However, most of the global taste or mood will innately compare that French spy to the original English one, hence he'll be some sort of the fool cousin from France who imitates desperately his uncle's famous clever son!

Frederick Stafford's second and last adventure as Hubert Bonniseur de la Bath a.k.a. OSS 117 is a well made but ultimately disappointing feature. The film starts out with a nifty car chase but unfortunately that level of excitement is never regained and the result is a rather dull film. The self-assured Stafford is never allowed to showcase the talents he displayed in OSS 117 Mission For a Killer and even the lovely Marina Vlady isn't enough to perk things up.

Director Michel Boisrond does what he can with the material but the lack of a good story dooms this from the start. Michel Magne's score is appropriately flavored with Asian spice but is otherwise forgettable. You can skip this one as an also ran that doesn't measure up.