Mission in Morocco

My review was written in August 1990 after watching the film on Republic Pictures video cassette.

A forgotten B movie from 1959, "Mission in Morocco" is a low-key but pleasurable forerunner of the more expansive James Bond films.

Lex Barker toplines as an oil company executive stationed in Morocco who's sent to Spanish Morocco to investigate the mysterious death of his colleague. It turns out that a missing piece of microfilm containing the whereabouts of a new oil find is being sought by evil Middle Eastern interests, who get a prince (Fernadno Rey) to help out.

Barker's beautiful fiancee Juli Reding gets caught up in the intrigue and turns out to be invaluable in the final reel. Though Barer is as suave as Sean Connery's early 007, Reding's integral role here is quite different from the Bond formula. Platinum blonde Reding went on to make Bert I. Gordon's "Tormented" and Roy Del Ruth's "Why Must I Die?".

Rey brings panache to his role, while the supporting cast in this British-Spanish coventure is adequately dubbed.

Film is an early scripting credit for Brian Clemens, who later became a top name in the suspense genre.

This British/Spanish co-production stars Lex Barker as an oil company executive working out of Spain who learns that one of his colleagues on a secret mission in Morocco is killed. The films starts off well with a number of children playing on the beach finding the body, and Barker and his fiancée Juli Reding (perhaps best known from TORMENTED). There is some nice location photography (in crisp B&W), and the minimal sets should not bother any low-budget film fan. The overall feel of the film is not unlike the "international co-production" crime-spy TV shows of the 1950s or the typical 1950s b&w Euro crime/mystery film with an American star such as George Raft or Lloyd Bridges or Cameron Mitchell. Barker is required to look handsome, act concerned, and win a few fights, all of which he does well, while Juli Reding (with her wide-set eyes, she's a very distinctive looking lady, vaguely reminiscent of Jayne Mansfield) does not get to show the dramatic range here that she did in TORMENTED--she's mostly playing the traditional "girlfriend of hero" role. The great Fernando Rey is also featured in a large supporting role. While this is no all-time classic, it certainly does not deserve the two-star rating it currently has here on the IMDb. The script does not contain any overly clever plot twists, but it's a competent piece of work that should hold its own alongside any of the TV episodes or Euro genres mentioned above. Barker is always worth watching to his fans, and he is well-presented here, and Ms. Reding's filmography is so small that any fan of TORMENTED will want to see her here. This was issued in the US in the early 90s on a Republic Pictures Video VHS tape that is widely available used and as a cutout for a few bucks. I paid $2 for mine, and it was a pleasant way to spend 85 minutes after a long week. And next to the crap at the local multiplex or reality-TV shows, Mission in Morocco looks pretty darn good!