Pânico em Bangkok

Those are both just alternative titles I made up. The original French title is "Banco a Bangkok pour" and looking up the different possible contextually dependant meanings of the word "banco" I decided on the one above. On the other hand "Dr Sinn" is the name of the main villain and could have been used as the title, in imitation of "Dr No". "Cardinal Sinn" would have been even better, but as he actually existed in the real World (representing the Phillippines) that would be inappropriate.

OSS-117 takes the form of Kerwin Mathews in this one, the first to be shot in colour.

Bangkok is the first exotic location for OSS-117 outside of France, an indication of increasing popularity reflected in the budget? No shortage of colourful locations to choose from here. One thing that struck me as a bit odd though, was the lack of traffic on the city streets, the Bangkok I have visited was always bustling and crowded with traffic, shoulder to shoulder and bumper to bumper. Perhaps that wasn't the image the local government wanted to present to the outside World back then?

The Villain and his followers feel that mankind is destroying the planet with nuclear energy, pollution etc. And the only way to stop them is to wipe them all out, using bubonic plague, apart from a worthy few (selected by themselves of course) who will get the antidote. An evil scheme which still resonates today, possibly more so?

OSS-117 is always cool, calm and collected, with a dash of dry wit, and Kerwin plays this aspect of the character very well, probably better than Fred Stafford. The screenplay does a good job of allowing him to demonstrate his "trade craft" and careful, calculating nature.

Perhaps a bit too calculating in one early scene? Kerwin jumps in a taxi and some of the villains henchmen follow, with the idea of strafing the taxi with machine gun fire. Kerwin spots them and decides to lose them by jumping out of the taxi after it goes around a corner. But before doing that he gives the driver some extra money and instructs him to drive on as fast as he can after Kerwin decamps. Kerwin roles out the door and takes cover. The baddies drive past, continue their pursuit, strafe the vehicle, killing the driver and crashing the car. Kerwin then catches lift with a passing truck, and as they pass the site of the crash they stop and look at the wreck, where locals are standing around (and there is no sign that the driver has survived). Kerwin smirks at his own cleverness in eluding assassination, no sympathy shown for the fate of the innocent taxi driver. Now that is some cold-blooded merde!

As usual the soundtrack is often inappropriate, playing cheerful ersatz Asian flavoured Bosa-Nova jazz, which does little to generate suspense or tension during what should be exciting dramatic scenes.

The fights are well choreographed, but rather poorly executed (they would be performed much more convincingly in the Fred Stafford films that followed). Overall the film could do with some editing, with several car and boat rides going on far too long.

Robert Hossein looks the part as "Dr Sinn" and has a suitable "Ken Adam-esque" underground lair beneath a crumbling temple ruin. The elfin Pier Angeli plays his misguided sister, who eventually sees the light and falls for Kerwin, and Domenique Wilms is the villain's faithful mistress, who also eventually has a change of heart and pays the ultimate price.

After this one Kerwin decided to jump off the OSS-117 train to become "The Viscount", but the transfusion didn't take and his Eurospy career was over.

1964's French-Italian "Shadow of Evil" (Banco a Bangkok pour OSS 117 or Panic in Bangkok for OSS 117) was the second OSS (Office of Strategic Services) title for director Andre Hunebelle (first in color, following "OSS 117 is Unleashed") in the long running series of films that kicked off in 1957 (five years before "Dr. No"). Hollywood leading man Kerwin Mathews returns for the second and last time in the title role of Hubert Barton, the subject of 88 published stories by French author Jean Bruce dating back to 1949, four years before Bond's 1953 debut in Ian Fleming's "Casino Royale." Barton is dispatched to Thailand to replace an assassinated operative on the trail of an organization called 'The People Elect,' elitists out to use a new plague virus in place of vaccines to orchestrate a vast takeover of the entire world, killing huge numbers of animals as well as 'inferior people.' The obsessed villain is established early on as Hindu seer Doctor Sinn (Robert Hossein), whose lovely sister Lila (Pier Angeli) is quick to switch sides when Barton is endangered. Structurally, it truly plays out like a Bond film with OSS 117 briefed by a supervisor before his assignment, then filming on location to ensure authenticity, but even on his second go round in the part one wishes for greater charisma out of Kerwin Mathews, already a Hammer veteran with Christopher Lee's "The Pirates of Blood River" and Jimmy Sangster's "Maniac" on his resume (one more reunion with Pier Angeli for her final movie role, 1971's hideously cheap "Octaman"). Alas, these henchmen prove a bit too easy to defeat, from an intruder who leaps to his death rather than be interrogated, to a scientist falling victim to his own truth serum, revealing all to Barton at roughly the halfway mark; it's still diverting enough and certainly benefits from a rat infested climax, Robert Hossein returning as a different villain in 1968's "OSS 117 Double Agent."

Very sympathetic piece of French "cinéma-bis" as well as French "popular cinema of quality". The color photography of Bangkok using FranScope - equivalent of the CinemaScope - is wonderful and one is always surprised to check how this city has changed since 1964 : amazing shots of Shilom, and of the first "car behind car" streets in the center. Hunnebelle shots all the aspects of Thailand with a sure sense of good filmaker : jungle, city, lost temple. As for the genre, it is a subtle mixing of spy movie, horror movie (Robert "LE VAMPIRE DE DUSSELDORF" Hossein is amazing in mad doctor), erotic movie (Pier Angeli & Dominique Wilms are beautiful). Kerwin Matthews is "honorable" though maybe a little less "à l'aise" than Frederick Stafford in the leading role. Recently released on French cable in beautiful new prints respecting the original size, this full serie of O.S.S. 117 "made in France" but "shot outdoors" between in the 60's is quite refreshing and keeps an unaltered charm so far... Whit not a DVD release in a collector coffret including all the movies of the serie, somme commentaries and some original poster and lobby cards reproductions ?

This film begins with an American spy being killed while attempting to piece together information related to a rise in the cases of bubonic plague in India following cholera vaccinations developed by one specific lab in Bangkok. Recognizing the importance of this information OSS Agent 117 "Hubert Barton" (Kerwin Mathews) is sent to try to piece together what he can to prevent a world-wide pandemic. What he doesn't know is how close a secret criminal organization called "the People Elect" are in accomplishing their diabolical plans. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that most of those who are familiar with the OSS 117 series will admit that it doesn't have the same level of intensity as those films found in the James Bond franchise. Along those same lines, most people will also admit that Kerwin Mathews doesn't have the same level of charisma as either Sean Connery or Roger Moore. Having said that, however, he still performs well enough to get the job done. Likewise, having two attractive actresses in Eva Davidson (as "Dominique Wilms") and Pier Angeli ("Lila Sinn") certainly didn't hurt in this particular case either. In short, while this certainly wasn't a great spy film by any means, it was sufficient to pass the time and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

This movie was released in India as 'Panic in Bangkok' around the same time that Goldfinger became a raging hit. Panic in Bangkok was a big hit too and it launched a huge following for the OSS 117 franchise, which went on to star Fredrick Stafford. This movie was so popular that it was remade in Tamil as 'Vallavan Oruvan' which made actor Jaishankar a star. I loved this movie and although I was hooked to Sean Connery's Bond franchise, I found the OSS 117 series equally credible and most of them were good. Panic in Bangkok was the best and Kerwin Mathews was one of the popular stars of the time with his other movies like 'Viscount' also doing great business. I have been trying to get hold of DVD's of the OSS 117 films, which unfortunately are never played on TV in the US.