Faites vos jeux, mesdames

Eddie Constantine who might have had a career in the USA playing the same kind of tough guy parts plays an American secret agent (CIA?) in this humorous spy thriller put out by the French. Constantine's assignment is to get a scientist back and pay a ransom in jewels for this guy who has invented a paralysis device embedded in a ring. Dean Martin used something similar in one of the Matt Helm films only it was in a coin and getting stuck with it was instantly fatal.

I was struck by the fact that Constantine's voice and this was the first time I'd ever seen any of his work was remarkably similar to Ben Gazzara. Constantine decided to work in Europe, France in particular where he perfected a Mickey Spillane type private eye Lemmy Caution. He was wildly popular on the continent and his character of Lemmy seems to have been worked into Fire At Will. At least he came off like Mickey Spillane as opposed to James Bond.

Fire At Will was a production of cheap values so it can't rate high. It looked like something Monogram might have done in America. But it did have its humorous aspects and it's a good introduction to Eddie Constantine.

Director Marcel Ophuls (The Sorrow and the Pity) doesn't seem to care about the material at hand and this film will pass before your eyes without making much of an impression. Eddie Constantine, he of the slew of 60's spy flicks, is his usual winning self but even he doesn't invest much in his role as FBI (CIA?) agent Mike Warner. Eddie's on the trail of a kidnapped scientist and uncovers the gang of high-class dames responsible led by the gypsy Soledad (Nelly Benedetti). These gals want 20 million dollars worth of. uncut diamonds and fur coats ransom! Women!

This uninspired (and overlong) exercise substitutes lethargic fights and boring comic antics for the action it desperately needs. The bland big band jazz score by Ward Swingle doesn't do much to improve the goings on either.

Only for Constantine completists, this one can be skipped by the casual genre explorer. When Eddie says at one point `Those bad old spies hurtcha, baby?' the answer is definitely yes.