Passeport pour l'oubli

An amusing, tongue-in-cheek, British satire on the spy genre with David Niven at his debonair best. The comedy is dry and subtle, taking aim at the British and Russian spy-film caricatures. Niven plays the bumbling amateur who makes good but was recruited because all the other spies have been unfortunately lost - that's MI5. John Le Mesurier plays the part of the harassed, penny-pinching, civil servant with aplomb. His use of understatement in suggesting that the purpose of the visit was just to find Rosser and nothing more and his reference to the radio in a biscuit tin, exemplifies the absurdity that underpins the satire. Françoise Dorléac plays the sexy double agent with a light touch. A good support cast with Nigel Davenport excelling as the hard-drinking expatriate Brit. and Ronald Radd suitably menacing as the Russian spy master. In the 1960's the Lebanon was considered an exotic location, essential for this kind of film. As in the Bond films, the travelogue element with a "holiday" romance was an important part of the overall attraction.

Director Val Guest got his fame for directing horror/science-fiction movies in the '50's. His movies never have really been the greatest but they were decent enough genre pieces, that are also quite well known, all over the world. With comedies he just never received much fame or praise and for a good reason, also especially when you look at this film. Though the right intentions are definitely there, this just isn't a good enough genre movie.

The movie is obviously trying to be a light entertaining espionage movie, perhaps even a genre spoof- and cold war spoof at times. The movie as a whole just isn't light enough in its settings and events to consider this really an entertaining movie, that doesn't successfully parodies or even entertains enough. The movie works in parts as a comedy and entertainment, especially in the beginning but its many more weaker moments really downgrade the movie and in parts even makes it a totally unwatchable and bad one.

The movie has a main plot line but it almost seemed as if they simply shot the movie as it was on the call-sheets, without paying much attention to development. Because of that the movie also becomes mostly uninteresting to watch and the events in the movie almost impossible to follow or care for.

The movie its main problem is really how poorly developed it is. Also with its seemingly important characters in the movie, that come and go and never get properly introduced or developed.

The movie has further more a great cast, filled with mostly some of the best British actors from its period. It are the sort of actors you perhaps not know by name but definitely by face. Of course David Niven is well known and he carries the movie well with his role and he also proofs how well he can handle the comedy genre but no matter how great he is, he feels out of place nevertheless, mostly due to his age. He just doesn't seem believable enough as a spy who gets the girls and charms his way through things.

The movie is shot at some nice far off locations but still the movie feels very low-budget. This is also due to some incredibly lame and fake looking miniature effects. Pay especially attention toward the ending when a character is jumping from a riding plane.

Not a complete train-wreck but not exactly a movie worth searching out either.

5/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

I can absolutely not find a DVD or VHS to purchase of "Where the Spies Are". Please tell me where everyone is finding this film???? The reviews show it to be a fascinating time-capsule of 1960's Cold War craziness. The book is noteworthy. There are several different movie posters available which also suggest this was a hilarious film --even if paned by some noteworthy critics. Merely having David Nivin starring in any film should make it a gas.....so please tell me why is the dog-gone film so difficult to locate in cyberspace or real-world retail world??? I have searched Amazon, Netflix, eBay, and virtually every other vintage movie site. And now to add to my frustration, IMDb makes me write a minimum of 10 lines of absolute dribble when all I wanted to post was found in the first two lines. So I will keep adding to this silly comment until the minimum number of lines has been achieved. I need to know what site to visit to find this movie.

Something dreadful is about to happen in Lebanon, but John Meseurier doesn't have any agents he can send there, so he recruits doctor David Niven, who flies to Beirut, has an affair with Françoise Dorléac, and winds up being kidnapped and tortured.

MGM thought they had an answer to James Bond in the Jason Love novels of James Leasor, but the result is a peculiarly weightless movie. There's not much fun, except for Mlle Dorléac and a sequence in which Niven charms Lebanese auto mechanic Eric Pohlmann with tales of his Cord roadster. We are expected to believe that a random English doctor can scale buildings with the ease of a mountain climber, and even the torture scenes seem to be wasted; Niven has no information on the local espionage scene. The movie is competently handled by Val Guest, but the show didn't set any box office records and the series never happened.

Accurate in many respects as regards spycraft and the extensive MI6 registry card indices. Also that arabic scenario - set in Beirut which is where Kim Philby escaped to Russia.

David Niven plays a reluctantly doctor persuaded to spy in exchange for a '37 Chrysler LeBaron to replace his 1937 Cord Phaeton.

They even had a dig at the, then, new James Bond: Niven; "I hope you realise I'm not a superspy or an agent in black"; LeMesurier:"well that kind of exhibitionism always ends in disaster". The accurate view of MI6!

Notable for a poignant appearance of the beautiful but doomed Francoise D'Orleac.

The plot is undemanding: Who do I trust? is the pretty girl who seduced me a double agent? The baddies attempt to assassinate the friendly head of an oil state but it all goes wrong for them. can Niven escape the baddies? affable enough but not a masterpiece.