Mulheres e Espiões

A very young Lino Ventura, not in the lead but very good, most convincing of all, in a role of killer. Maurice Labro knows the craft but the film does not look like a spy alert movie, but as an old sentimental melodrama. The music of the film makes a great disservice, it is not at all appropriate. Henri Vidal is not at all fit for the role of Coplan. Dominique Paturel of "Coplan prend des risques"(1964) is the true Coplan. And Claudio Brook of "Coplan Saves His Skin"(1968) is much better. A pleasant surprise is Jess Hahn, who in films like "Topkapi" or "The Saint Lies in Wait"(1966) "Le Saint prend l'affût" original title, does not have very compelling roles in, here he is a very convincing villain boss.

Based on Paul Kenny's novel ,it features his secret agent ,Francis Coplan .In the wake of the success of James Bond,the director,Maurice Labro would continue in the sixties,with another Coplan ("Coplan Prend Des Risques " ),and two others ,a pleasant harmless "Corrida Pour Un Espion" and a dud "Casse-Tête Chinois Pour Le Judoka " which brought his career to an end.

Henri Vidal ,the most handsome actor of the fifties ,plays Coplan,but people might want to see this flick for Lino Ventura,in one of his rare parts of a villain (before he became famous ,he was given those roles). Nicole Maurey starred in Bresson's "Journal D'un Curé De Campagne" .It's a far cry from it.

If you're fond of 1950's US cars, women's clothes and hairdo's, mid century modern interiors and nice houses, don't miss this movie. Furthermore, the dialogs are quite funny, with a hint of Oscar Wilde here and there.... (Aaah, I'm a victim of my reputation. No,it's your reputation that makes victims....) Unfortunately enough, most of the jokes only work in French, and you'll need to master the subtleties of the French language to understand the comic angle: so keep in mind that 80 % of the power of the dialogs will be lost, when you're watching a translated or dubbed version.

I'm quite surprised that some of the commentators seem to have missed the point, that Action Immediate clearly aims at being a parody of spy/gangster movies, but even more of the French intellectual lover-boy. The first remark is the reason why the bad guys have to look as cheap imitations of tougher gangsters or spies. The second remark is why special agent Francis Coplan is quite different in this movie than he is in the books of Paul Kenny. Sure.... Henri Vidal clearly is no Jean Marais (Fantomas) nor an Alain Delon (Les Félins, Scorpio...) or one of their US counterparts. He has no square jawbone, piercing eyes, no highly muscular feline body... He's neither a smooth operator à la Cary Grant, when it comes to approach the ladies. His exuberant clumsiness rather reminds me of Jean-Paul Belmondo in the 1970's, not exactly France's most handsome actor either, but still popular with the ladies.

Could it be, than, that the underlying message this movie is sending out is that, well, some women rather fall for "cute" clumsiness in the Droopy-style, and appreciate some wisecracking communication much more than the ice-cold semi-god like types as often portrayed by Alain Delon or Clint Eastwood ? Aha ! Think that one over ! The makers of this movie clearly wanted to appeal to a larger crowd than the Francis Coplan fans. And frankly, the Paul Kenny character known to the readers of the Fleuve Noir-detective novels –editor of the Coplan books- would probably have been far too brutal for the average 1957 French or Belgian moviegoers. In the books there was more room for violence and 'sex', less for the wisecracks.

This deliberate choice for more innocence certainly will have disappointed a lot of Coplan-fans... But well, the quite funny dialogs surely pleased lots of others... And still appeal to me...But then again, I never quite liked the modern answer to these so-called old fashioned movies ... Dialogs with as much as possible "prohibited words" just for the fun to shock never quite appealed to me... Try "Doublecrossed" (1991) with Dennis Hopper as a mild introduction if you don't know what I mean...

Secret documents and a lump of experimental alloy have been stolen from the French government, and special agent Coplan (Henri Vidal) is dispatched to Zurich to recover them at all costs. If I mention that Coplan's contact in Zurich happens to be a gorgeous blonde (Barbara Laage) and that the woman he has to seduce to complete his mission is a ravishing brunette (Nicole Maurey) you'll understand that we're in Bond territory here - though in this case without the budget, the exotic locations or the talent.

Vidal was a matinée idol in his day, but his smarmy, wisecracking, ladykiller persona looks as dated as the blazer and cravat he wears through much of the film. You won't believe in the reality of this character for a moment, and the whimsical seduction scenes will make you want to throw a chair at him. The villains too (with one exception) are a bland bunch of stereotypes, barely more animated than the cheap-looking studio sets and the uninspired locations (please, not another shoot-out in a dockside warehouse!).

That exception I mentioned is Lino Ventura, who plays one of his most vicious screen characters here. The scene where he attempts to murder Barbara Laage is probably the highlight of the movie. Sadly he only gets about 10 minutes of screen time; it's a good performance, but to market this as a Ventura film, as the French DVD publisher is doing, is pushing it a bit.

Coplan as played by Henri Vidal is more ruthless than James Bond and any number of 007 clones. There is a scene at the beach where Coplan repeatedly and brutally submerges Nicole Maurey underwater by her hair. It is tough to watch because of the sheer savagery directed at this beautiful woman, done in a realistic way. He doesn't drown her because he needs information. The fight scenes also have a realistic, nasty edge unlike the Eddie Constantine movie fights that are comical in style and technique, like Popeye punching Bluto.