Código 117 - Sabotagem Atômica

After an American navy base is completely annihilated and a ransom message is sent to the United States, OSS agent 117 "Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath" (Frederick Stafford) is sent to Tokyo to investigate. Upon his arrival there his first order of business is to interview an intelligence clerk by the name of "Eva Wilson" (Marina Vlady) who is being blackmailed into disclosing top secret military information. After finding out as much as he can he then comes up with the idea of posing as her husband so that she can perhaps lead him toward this clandestine group. What he doesn't know, however, is that there are other parties interested in his presence with intentions which have yet to be ascertained. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a decent EuroSpy film which contained a good mixture of action and intrigue. In addition to that it also had a couple of attractive ladies like Jitsuko Yoshimura (as "Tetsuko") along with the aforementioned Marina Vlady to brighten the scenery as well. One drawback, however, was the English dubbing-particularly in the case of Tetsuko-which could have used a bit of improvement. Be that as it may, while not a great film by any means it was sufficient to pass the time and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

The fourth entry in the official French movie series of "OSS 117" movies, while a notch better than the previous entry ("OSS 117: Mission for a Killer"), still fails to engage viewers as much as even a second rate James Bond movie. There are a few things along the way to catch the eyes or ears of viewers momentarily. The location shooting in Tokyo, combined with an adequate budget, do provide a lot of pleasant eye candy. The musical score is also pleasant, sounding very much like the music found in a James Bond movie of the same era. And the action sequences are pretty well done. That is, when there IS action. There simply isn't enough action to be found in the 100 minute running time, which will leave viewers impatient for the movie to get down to business like James Bond. I think the lack of action can be blamed for a very slow-moving script. Surprisingly, James Bond veteran Terence Young had a hand with this movie's story, but you wouldn't know it. The story unfolds at a snail's pace, and another unfortunate consequence of this is that there is no feeling of tension, no feeling that people's lives are on the line. It doesn't take long for the movie to become quite frankly dull. "James Bland" is more like it.

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."

US 24, an American Navy base in a small island in the Pacific, is annihilated. Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, a French aristocrat that is also a secret agent, OSS 117, is sent to Tokyo to investigate who did it.

Soon, he finds out that a cypher girl in the American embassy had passed vital information to a Japanese gang. Eva Davidson confesses to him that she did that under coercion, and is now ready to cooperate.

OSS 117 will pretend to be Eva's husband, to better cover the contacts between her and the gang that is pursuing more information about a second naval base. Each step is a battle for his life, and he suspects that Eva may have not tell the whole truth. ..

Frederick Stafford returns as OSS 117 for another action packed spy adventure that has the usual intrigue, duplicity, and danger - starts with a nifty car chase before winding down to build a rather engaging story and interspersed between the espionage there's some really impressive and inventive fight scenes; the fight with the samurai, the one in the finale and sumo guy comes to mind. The finale action sequence with the hero clinging on the yacht via a harpoon is truly impressive. Dare I say the action is more impressive here than in some '60's Bond films. Top notch stuff.

Japan is the location and a year later 'you will Only Live Twice" will be set in the Land of the Rising sun, however in this OSS 117 entry Japan comes across less grand and is captured in a down to earth manner. Stafford makes a likeable and engaging agent who only uses violence in the last resort. Interesting that his agent doesn't smoke or drink. And unlike Connery in You will only live Twice he looks like he's enjoying himself and comes across focused. The only negative points are that some things happening appear vague and some tension is lacking, but nevertheless this is a very good spy thriller.

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!