Passeport pour l'oubli

David Niven is well cast and plays a fine neophyte operative. The film lacks a steady dose of suspense, however. On a more mundane plane, there are varied misspellings of Russian, most obvious being the Russian for Aeroflot emblazoned across the jetliner (Niven's robe has it spelled correctly).

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.

Spy stories were all the rage in the 1960s and Ian Fleming had suggested David Niven to play James Bond, however Producer Albert Broccoli wisely chose Sean Connery instead. The idea that Niven would be a good choice to play a British spy persisted at MGM, but, here, he seems more facile than debonair as everything conveniently falls into place, including beautiful Francoise Dorleac, four features before her tragic death. Mindful of the strong box office of "Where the Boys Are" (1960), this title was chosen for this James Bond mimicry. It was of little help and any idea of a sequel was shelved.

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.