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.

Based on Jean Bruce 's "Lila De Calcutta" ,which ,as the title reads ,took place in India ,the action was transposed to Thailand whilst keeping the subject :plague bacillus injected by "the chosen ones " to eliminate the shameful human race who destroys the world with their atomic bomb.

After exploiting the swashbucklers,in the wake of James Bond ,Hunebelle made his first (black and white) OSS 117 in 1963 ("OSS 117 Se Déchaine ",also starring Matthews as the lead).For his second effort in the field ,Prodis productions granted color , composer Michel Magne - less inspired than in the Angelique saga- and filming on location.In fact ,only 25% of the film was filmed in Thailand.Kerwin Matthews and Pier Angeli were able to combine business with pleasure ,but Robert Hossein and Dominique Wilms never left Paris where they did all their scenes in Boulogne-Billancourt studios.

This is the kind of movie in which the scenery ,at a time when people would not travel much, is the real star.Robert Hossein (who would also play a doctor in Hunebelle ' s last attempt "Pas De Roses Pour OSS 117"(1968)) gives a restrained performance as the villain doctor Sinn (sic),the best thing to do when a clever actor has to work with ,say, very average material.Kerwin Matthews lacks Connery's charisma and humor and Pier Angeli is pretty but bland .

Having said that,the best OSS 117 Hunebelle made was certainly his third one "Furia A Bahia Pour OSS 117",(1965)starring Frederick Stafford and Mylene Demongeot.

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."

Despite the bad rap this OSS 117 adventure has taken over the years, a recent reevaluation suggests that kinder words be spoken about it. The U.S. re-titling, Shadow of Evil, turns out to be quite appropriate for a low-key adventure that relies more on atmosphere than action. This is not to say that the film is a resounding success but neither is it one of the genre entries that should be passed by entirely.

Director Andre Hunebelle, credited on this print as Cyril Grize, made four OSS 117 movies in the sixties of which this is the second. One might argue that Hunebelle's familiarity with the character of Hubert Bonnisseur de la Bath aka OSS 117, lead to his experimenting with different approaches in filming his adventures.

Hunebelle takes a noir approach, at least visually, to large sections of the film. Much of the action takes place at night with plenty of shadows in which our characters can hover about. Contrary to what the film's detractors say, this is a good looking film even if experienced as a bad VHS dupe. The score by Michel Magne, credited here as Garry Sherman, uses eastern influences to good effect in creating soundscapes rather than themes, an unusual approach for the genre.

Shadow of Evil is not a failure but neither will it land at the top of most people's list. Make up your own mind.

This French drama has aged quite well. I remember watching it in the wake of the Bond craze during the early 1960s and it did not fare very well with me, as I was comparing it to Sean Connery's adventures, surrounded by international locations, exotic women and decors. Dubbed in English, "Banco a Bangkok" had little chance against the 1964 entry of the Bond franchise, "Goldfinger", which is regarded as one of the best in the series.

But seeing it again in French, with no reference in mind, "Banco a Bangkok" is an action drama in which finesse, sexual tension and exoticism merge in a gentle way. Car and boat chases, killings or martial arts fights are not lacking, but violence and sadism are handled sparingly, while the usual story of world dominance is told.

The action takes place in Thailand, among colorful characters: an American colonel, Hubert Barton or OSS 117, a code name never used in the plot; mister and miss Sinn, two Caucasian brothers who are supposed to be Thais; Eva, a blonde secretary out of a Bond vehicle, many Thais as assistants of heroes and villains, a free-lance ex-Nazi hustler called Karloff (only in the final roll-up), and a sect of fascist survivalists called The Chosen People.

For Kerwin Mathews (as Barton) this was one of the first movies he made in the last phase of his career, that would evolve into grade-B movies in Europe and the USA. Here he is aging well, with gray hair highlighting his boyish charm, and he seems to be having a good time in a quality product. Robert Hossein plays his usually wicked, handsome villain, while Pier Angeli is the antithesis of the scantily clad, stereotyped Bond girl, properly dressed in Thai fashion.

Sensuality is a game all over (I even felt a homoerotic undercurrent), the tone is light, the humor is kept in check, and the use of Thailand locations is effectively handled by co-director Jacques Besnard. Order Thai food and beer, and enjoy.