Opération Marrakech

`I think there's been some foul play' says Tony Randall upon discovering a dead body with a knife in its back stashed in the closet of his hotel room. Comedy is hard and although this one spends too much time as a chase movie, it is still largely successful thanks to a great cast and good script.

Director Don Sharp, in his only spy outing, has crafted an enjoyable and funny film that doesn't resort too often to slapstick or other forms of cheap laughs. It manages to tread the line between humor and danger keeping the viewer interested enough to evoke plenty of hearty chuckles. A light and entertaining spy comedy, this is one of the best of the bunch.

In the 1940s, Bob Hope did some films where he was the innocent guy caught up in a spy mystery, along with a beautiful woman. Those films combined a spy theme with humor. This film offers a similar role for Tony Randall, who is perfect in the part. His great comic timing and abundant energy are a huge plus here. And the script is very good--lots of sharp lines and good byplay between Tony and Senta Berger. For people who gave this movie a low rating, I totally disagree.

In this kind of film, the trick is to combine some good action and suspense with humor. This feat is very, very hard to pull off well, but this film does it--hence I rate it a "10." The outstanding cast gives A-1 support. Also, the many interesting Morocco locations add interest. If you want to see a very well-done 1960s lighthearted spy film with good romance, humor and action, you can't go wrong with this film. I recommend it highly. And--Senta Berger never looked better, or Margaret Lee, too!

One of the better Harry Alan Towers travelogues, probably because after this they just kept getting worse and worse (Towers should have retained Don Sharp to direct and commissioned half decent scripts).

Even here one's attention tends to wander during the endless scampering about exotic locations that passes for a plot. But at least it's largely played for laughs, Tony Randall & Senta Berger are attractive leads, Herbert Lom an excellent villain and even Margaret Lee (who gets an "introducing" credit despite having been busy in movies for several years, admittedly not ones anybody was likely to remember her from) is slightly more animated than in her later films.

And of course there's Terry-Thomas's amusing late guest appearance as El Caid, AKA "the oily cad".

This was much to my surprise quite entertaining.Maybe its the cast.As usual a real mix of nationalities,to satisfy the distributors in each country.Much of the film shot on location including echoing hotel bedrooms.

British-made film (released under a variety of different titles around the world) concerns an American hotel-builder, newly-arrived in Morocco, who becomes involved in a $2M plot to change votes at the United Nations. Despite poster art designed to look like a spy spoof (with Randall an unlikely substitute for James Bond), this minor, droll offering is more in keeping with the latter-day Hitchcock films ("North by Northwest", in particular), with the dryly-resolved star getting deeper into hot water with every plot turn. Senta Berger is a very attractive mystery woman, and she matches up surprisingly well with Randall (grounded and more affable than usual), but the supporting cast of old pros is never given anything especially exciting to do. Director Don Sharp, working from a wayward, rudderless screenplay by Peter Yeldham, does decent work, yet the finale is confusing instead of suspenseful, and the overall air of familiarity is wearing. ** from ****