Banco à Bangkok pour OSS 117

This movie was released in India as 'Panic in Bangkok' around the same time that Goldfinger became a raging hit. Panic in Bangkok was a big hit too and it launched a huge following for the OSS 117 franchise, which went on to star Fredrick Stafford. This movie was so popular that it was remade in Tamil as 'Vallavan Oruvan' which made actor Jaishankar a star. I loved this movie and although I was hooked to Sean Connery's Bond franchise, I found the OSS 117 series equally credible and most of them were good. Panic in Bangkok was the best and Kerwin Mathews was one of the popular stars of the time with his other movies like 'Viscount' also doing great business. I have been trying to get hold of DVD's of the OSS 117 films, which unfortunately are never played on TV in the US.

This French drama has aged quite well. I remember watching it in the wake of the Bond craze during the early 1960s and it did not fare very well with me, as I was comparing it to Sean Connery's adventures, surrounded by international locations, exotic women and decors. Dubbed in English, "Banco a Bangkok" had little chance against the 1964 entry of the Bond franchise, "Goldfinger", which is regarded as one of the best in the series.

But seeing it again in French, with no reference in mind, "Banco a Bangkok" is an action drama in which finesse, sexual tension and exoticism merge in a gentle way. Car and boat chases, killings or martial arts fights are not lacking, but violence and sadism are handled sparingly, while the usual story of world dominance is told.

The action takes place in Thailand, among colorful characters: an American colonel, Hubert Barton or OSS 117, a code name never used in the plot; mister and miss Sinn, two Caucasian brothers who are supposed to be Thais; Eva, a blonde secretary out of a Bond vehicle, many Thais as assistants of heroes and villains, a free-lance ex-Nazi hustler called Karloff (only in the final roll-up), and a sect of fascist survivalists called The Chosen People.

For Kerwin Mathews (as Barton) this was one of the first movies he made in the last phase of his career, that would evolve into grade-B movies in Europe and the USA. Here he is aging well, with gray hair highlighting his boyish charm, and he seems to be having a good time in a quality product. Robert Hossein plays his usually wicked, handsome villain, while Pier Angeli is the antithesis of the scantily clad, stereotyped Bond girl, properly dressed in Thai fashion.

Sensuality is a game all over (I even felt a homoerotic undercurrent), the tone is light, the humor is kept in check, and the use of Thailand locations is effectively handled by co-director Jacques Besnard. Order Thai food and beer, and enjoy.

Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, aka secret agent OSS 117, sets out to stop an evil scientist about to unleash a virulent biological strain on the world that he developed during experiments on rats ...

Kerwin Matthews plays OSS 117 and he does a very good job, coming across smooth with the ladies (Pier Angeli being the main squeeze) and quite adept in the action scenes. There's an energetic, though a little unpolished, fight scene in a hotel room which has plenty of judo throws. At one point I thought he was going to lose the fight. The plot is busy enough- there's shootouts, speedboat chase, kidnappings, double-crosses, a bit of romance, and some adventurous escapades ...

However, languidness lingers a little in the first half, but thanks to Matthews, Pier Angeli and the Thai scenery it keeps one's attention until the second half where things pick again, the pace increases, action infuses a shot of adrenaline much needed. Remember seeing this on LWT in 1991 ( UK TV)

1964's French-Italian "Shadow of Evil" (Banco a Bangkok pour OSS 117 or Panic in Bangkok for OSS 117) was the second OSS (Office of Strategic Services) title for director Andre Hunebelle (first in color, following "OSS 117 is Unleashed") in the long running series of films that kicked off in 1957 (five years before "Dr. No"). Hollywood leading man Kerwin Mathews returns for the second and last time in the title role of Hubert Barton, the subject of 88 published stories by French author Jean Bruce dating back to 1949, four years before Bond's 1953 debut in Ian Fleming's "Casino Royale." Barton is dispatched to Thailand to replace an assassinated operative on the trail of an organization called 'The People Elect,' elitists out to use a new plague virus in place of vaccines to orchestrate a vast takeover of the entire world, killing huge numbers of animals as well as 'inferior people.' The obsessed villain is established early on as Hindu seer Doctor Sinn (Robert Hossein), whose lovely sister Lila (Pier Angeli) is quick to switch sides when Barton is endangered. Structurally, it truly plays out like a Bond film with OSS 117 briefed by a supervisor before his assignment, then filming on location to ensure authenticity, but even on his second go round in the part one wishes for greater charisma out of Kerwin Mathews, already a Hammer veteran with Christopher Lee's "The Pirates of Blood River" and Jimmy Sangster's "Maniac" on his resume (one more reunion with Pier Angeli for her final movie role, 1971's hideously cheap "Octaman"). Alas, these henchmen prove a bit too easy to defeat, from an intruder who leaps to his death rather than be interrogated, to a scientist falling victim to his own truth serum, revealing all to Barton at roughly the halfway mark; it's still diverting enough and certainly benefits from a rat infested climax, Robert Hossein returning as a different villain in 1968's "OSS 117 Double Agent."

This film begins with an American spy being killed while attempting to piece together information related to a rise in the cases of bubonic plague in India following cholera vaccinations developed by one specific lab in Bangkok. Recognizing the importance of this information OSS Agent 117 "Hubert Barton" (Kerwin Mathews) is sent to try to piece together what he can to prevent a world-wide pandemic. What he doesn't know is how close a secret criminal organization called "the People Elect" are in accomplishing their diabolical plans. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that most of those who are familiar with the OSS 117 series will admit that it doesn't have the same level of intensity as those films found in the James Bond franchise. Along those same lines, most people will also admit that Kerwin Mathews doesn't have the same level of charisma as either Sean Connery or Roger Moore. Having said that, however, he still performs well enough to get the job done. Likewise, having two attractive actresses in Eva Davidson (as "Dominique Wilms") and Pier Angeli ("Lila Sinn") certainly didn't hurt in this particular case either. In short, while this certainly wasn't a great spy film by any means, it was sufficient to pass the time and I have rated it accordingly. Average.