''Atout cœur à Tokyo pour OSS 117'' (English: ''Trump-Card in the Heart of Tokyo for OSS 117'') is a

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

French

Eurospy Eurospy film, or Spaghetti spy film (when referring to Cinema of Italy, Italian-produced films in the genre), is a genre of spy films produced in Europe, especially in Italy, France, and Spain, that either sincerely imitated or else parodied the ...

spy-fi film. It was the fourth

OSS 117 OSS 117 is the codename for Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, a fictional secret agent created by French writer Jean Bruce (and continued by his widow Josette following Bruce's accidental death). Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath is described as being an Am ...

film of the 1960s, directed by

Michel Boisrond Michel Jacques Boisrond (9 October 1921 – 10 November 2002) was a French film director and screenwriter. His work spanned five decades, from the 1950s to the 1990s. Career A former apprentice of Jean Delannoy, Jean Cocteau, and René Clair ...

, presented by the director of the three previous 1960's OSS films,

André Hunebelle André Hunebelle (; 1 September 1896 – 27 November 1985) was a French maître verrier (master glassmaker) and film director. Master Glass Artist After attending polytechnic school for mathematics, he became a decorator, a designer, and then a m ...

and produced by Paul Cadéac.

Frederick Stafford Frederick Stafford (11 March 1928 – 28 July 1979) was a Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak-born actor. Born Friedrich Strobel von Stein, he spoke fluent Czech, German, English, French and Italian, and was a leading man in European spy-movies and in ...

makes his second and last appearance as

. The film was shot on Japanese locations and featured action scenes arranged by Hunebelle's

stunt coordinator A stunt coordinator, usually an experienced stunt performer, is hired by a TV, film or theatre director or production company for casting stunt performers. Their job is to arrange the casting (stunt players and stunt doubles) and performance of s ...

Claude Carliez Claude Carliez (January 10, 1925 – May 17, 2015) was a French master at arms in classical fencing who became a period and fencing advisor for French films. He then became a stunt performer, stunt coordinator, special effects person, and film d ...

with

production design In film industry, film and television, a production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and ...

Max Douy Max Douy (June 20, 1913 – July 2, 2007) was a French art director.Hayward p.245 Selected filmography * ''The Rules of the Game'' (1939) * ''There's No Tomorrow'' (1939) * '' The Trump Card'' (1942) * '' Goodbye Leonard'' (1943) * '' Paris Frill ...

. Though based on

Jean Bruce Jean Bruce (22 March 1921 – 26 March 1963), born Jean Brochet, was a prolific French popular writer. He also wrote under the pseudonyms of Jean Alexandre, Jean Alexandre Brochet, Jean-Martin Rouan, and Joyce Lindsay. He died in a car accident in ...

's character, the film features an original story by the first

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

director Terence Young. The film was released a year before the James Bond film '' You Only Live Twice'' and has some similarities to that film and the future James Bond film '' The Spy Who Loved Me'' as well as previous 007 films such as '' Thunderball''.

Plot

The film begins with a

pre-credit In film production, the pre-credit is the section of the film which is shown before the opening or closing credits are shown. Many films will by common convention have a short scene before the credits to introduce characters who may, or may not, ...

s sequence of Secret Agent OSS 117,

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath (

) chased by two cars containing enemy agents. OSS 117 manages to blow up both of the vehicles and escape by helicopter. He discovers that his unsuccessful assignment was to obtain information from an agent who had been killed providing information about a mysterious criminal organisation called "The Organisation". OSS 117's superior, Mr Smith briefs him that The Organisation has informed the

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...

that they have a missile that can strike its target undetected and demand $100 Million Dollars as

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

to not use the weapon. As undeniable proof on their intentions and capabilities, they have destroyed an American military base somewhere in Asia presumably with a nuclear weapon. OSS 117 attends a briefing of American Defence Chiefs who view

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

footage of the destruction of the base that show an American

F-107 The North American F-107 is a prototype aircraft that was North American Aviation's entry in a United States Air Force tactical fighter-bomber design competition of the 1950s, based on the F-100 Super Sabre. It incorporated many innovations and ...

in the vicinity that may have launched a missile that delivered the device that obliterated the installation. When the military personnel state that no F-107 was in the air or in the area at the time, OSS 117 speculates that it may have been a miniature replica of an F-107 that obliterated the base. Mr Smith tells OSS 117 that their man in Japan Mr Ralston has provided a report of miniature fighters being developed and to keep an eye on an American embassy employee named Eva Wilson (

Marina Vlady Marina Vlady (born 10 May 1938) is a French actress. Biography Vlady was born in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine to White Russian immigrant parents. Her father was an opera singer and her mother was a dancer. Her sisters, now all deceased, were the a ...

). Ralston has vanished but OSS 117 arranges to meet Eva posing as her husband John Wilson who is in Washington. Eva says that she has been blackmailed due to her being drugged and being photographed in bed with a man who was not her husband. Eva provided radio codes of the American base that had been destroyed that allowed The Organisation's secret weapon to destroy the installation. OSS 117 places a

covert listening device A covert listening device, more commonly known as a bug or a wire, is usually a combination of a miniature radio transmitter with a microphone. The use of bugs, called bugging, or wiretapping is a common technique in surveillance, espionage and ...

inside Eva's dress and arranges to monitor her when she meets her blackmail contact. He loses his reception with Eva when unknown to him Eva rips off her listening device. In attempting to follow her, OSS 117 ends up visiting a

strip club A strip club (also known as a strip joint, striptease bar, peeler bar, gentlemen's club, among others) is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease and other erotic dances including lap dances. St ...

, has a fight with a large martial arts expert and meets a Japanese

bar girl A bargirl is a woman who is paid to entertain patrons in a bar or nightclub. Variants on the term include "B-girl" and "juicy girl". Many bargirls work as a bar hostess, engaging individual customers in conversation. They may also provide them ...

. The latter two are agents of the Japanese Secret Service that team up with OSS 117 on the case. With no progress in the assignment, OSS 117 is told that the ransom will have to be paid, but he continues observing Eva on his own time. The real John Wilson ( Henri Serre) returns to Eva with OSS 117 following him to reveal that he is a member of The Organisation. Observing that Wilson and Eva going to sea on a small craft, he follows and observes the small craft from an airplane. He sees the craft enter the opening doors of a large cargo ship. OSS 117 parachutes into the water and climbs the side of the ship using a

grappling hook A grappling hook or grapnel is a device that typically has multiple hooks (known as ''claws'' or ''flukes'') attached to a rope or cable; it is thrown, dropped, sunk, projected, or fastened directly by hand to where at least one hook may cat ...

mounted on a spear gun. On board he discovers a control room that sends the miniature fighters (that are atomic weapons) to American military bases where due to their size they are undetected by radar. OSS 117 and Eva take on the Organisation...

Cast

as Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, alias OSS 117 *

as Eva Wilson * Henri Serre as John Wilson * Colin Drake as Babcock *

Jitsuko Yoshimura is a Japanese film and television actress. She was discovered by Shōhei Imamura as a newcomer and cast in the film '' Pigs and Battleships''. She went on to appear in films like Imamura's '' The Insect Woman'', Kaneto Shindō's '' Onibaba'', fo ...

as Tetsuko * Valéry Inkijinoff as Yekota * Jacques Legras as Mister Chan *

Billy Kearns Billy Kearns (17 February 1923 – 27 November 1992) was an American actor. Biography During World War II, Kearns fought in the Army's newly founded 10th Mountain Division created for fighting in mountainous areas. His acting career took place ...

as Mister Smith *

Mario Pisu Mario Pisu (21 May 1910 – 17 July 1976) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Biography Born in Montecchio Emilia, Pisu was considered to be one of the most elegant performers of the Italian cinema. He began his career on stage and screen ...

as Vargas * Hiroshi Nihonyanagi as Secret Service Chief * Hiroshi Minami as Martial Arts Expert

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atout coeur a Tokyo pour OSS 117 1966 films 1960s spy thriller films Films set in Japan Films shot in Japan 1960s French-language films French spy thriller films French sequel films Films about nuclear war and weapons Films directed by Michel Boisrond Japan in non-Japanese culture 1960s French films Films scored by Michel Magne OSS 117 films