OSS 117: Mission For A Killer

OSS 117: Mission for a Killer (Furia a Bahia Pour OSS 117) (1965)

Runtime: 100 minutes

Directed by: Andre Hunebelle

Starring: Frederick Stafford, Mylene Demongeot, Raymond Pellegrin, Perrette Pradier, Jacques Riberolles

From: A few different French & Italian companies

My plans for the next few days have changed but no regrets in renting this. Early in the evening yesterday I had the germ of an idea to watch a few films in a row made in the middle of the 1960’s and they’d even be thematically similar. A few hours later, that changed. Among other things, I’ll view something in tribute of Godzilla Day but that will be discussed about 24 hours from now. Between that time period, I purchased this for rental from Kino Now; from the two I’ve seen the assumption will be made that their prints for all the OSS 117 Eurospy films are of high quality due to restorations.

The lead is Frederick Stafford, who most people would know as the lead of Hitchcock’s Topaz. He plays a standard suave French spy named Hubert, which probably makes him the coolest person w/ that name! Hubert is sent to Brazil to investigate the political assassinations of key figures done by apparent average citizens. Turns out, they are controlled by a drug made by the native indigenous people of the area… don’t worry, they aren’t the ones behind that—plus, one of that drug’s ingredients is… peyote! The expected spy moments happen; unlike the Bond movies, the gadgets aren’t high-tech—instead they are such things as a cassette tape player and a simple wireless communicator which sends signals via a handheld device.

More than once the plot has a “hey, what a minute…” moment. That notwithstanding, I was still entertained by this pulpy entertainment. A key aspect is the Brazilian setting; besides all the footage filmed in Rio the setting shifts to the jungles in the state of Bahia, and what a gorgeous location they found for the final few minutes. Then there is the appropriate jazzy music that occasionally becomes bossa nova and it fits the setting. Much to my satisfaction, the action-when it appears-is rather delightful. Time is spent getting to know the characters, including the attractive women that Hubert interacts with. There’s judo & other martial arts, grenades, explosions, gunfire, brawls… then the finale hits which involves a few dozen people engaging in combat w/ each other in a unique setting and that’s all a lot of fun.

The Eurospy genre probably isn’t filled with movies like this that comparatively have a big budget yet it is still a universe I hope to explore more in the future.