''Furia à Bahia pour OSS 117'' (released in the United States as ''OSS 117–Mission for a Killer'') is a 1965 French/Italian

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture between two or more different production companies for the purpose of film production, television production, video game development, and so on. In the case of an international co-production, production companies ...

Eurospy Eurospy film, or Spaghetti spy film (when referring to 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 British James Bo ...

spy-fi film. It was the third

OSS 117 OSS 117 is the codename for Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, a fictional secret agent created by French writer Jean Bruce. Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath is described as being an American Colonel from Louisiana of French descent. After service in the Off ...

film directed by

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 mas ...

and produced by

Paul Cadéac Paul Cadéac (1918–2004) was a French film producer active in the post-Second World War era. He also directed the 1954 crime film ''Quay of Blondes''.Kermabon p.461 He frequently collaborated with the director André Hunebelle. Selected filmog ...

Frederick Stafford Frederick Stafford (11 March 1928 – 28 July 1979) was a 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. Biography Early life ...

made his film debut taking over the role of OSS 117 from

Kerwin Mathews Kerwin Mathews (January 8, 1926 – July 5, 2007) was an American actor best known for playing the titular heroes in ''The 7th Voyage of Sinbad'' (1958), ''The Three Worlds of Gulliver'' (1960) and '' Jack the Giant Killer'' (1962). Early lif ...

. The film was shot on Brazilian 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 stunt casting. Their job is to arrange the casting (stunt players and stunt doubles) and performance of stunts for ...

Claude Carliez Claude Carliez (10 January 1925 – 17 May 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 dire ...

with

production design In film and television, the 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 feelings. Wor ...

Paul-Louis Boutié Paul-Louis Boutié (1910-2004) was a French art directorCoates-Smith & McGee p.96 who designed the sets for many film productions in postwar France cinema. Selected filmography * '' Beautiful Star'' (1938) * '' The Acrobat'' (1941) * '' Gringal ...

. It was 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 1955 novel ''Dernier quart d'heure'' his 44th OSS 117 book that was published in English in 1965 under the title ''Live Wire'' (UK) and ''The Last Quarter Hour'' (USA). The American edition featured commentary by

Pierre Salinger Pierre Emil George Salinger (June 14, 1925 – October 16, 2004) was an American journalist, author and politician. He served as the ninth press secretary for United States Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Salinger served a ...

, who was acquainted with Josette Bruce, Jean Bruce's widow. Josette would take up writing OSS 117 novels in 1966.

Plot

Secret Agent OSS 117,

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military 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 colonel was typically in charge of ...

Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath (

) has his Alpine ski holiday interrupted to receive a briefing on a series of

suicide attack A suicide attack is any violent Strike (attack), attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has suicide, accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have oc ...

s performed by trusted assistants of their targets that they blow up with themselves. Using the cover of a journalist named Hubert Delacroix, de La Bath flies to Brazil to meet his contact Thomas Ellis (

) who believes the killers have been drugged and hypnotised to perform their assassinations. At

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, de La Bath is paged over the airport loudspeaker system by a woman who identifies herself as Consuela Moroni (

Perrette Pradier Perrette Pradier (born Perrette Marie Mathilde Chevau; 17 April 1938 – 16 January 2013) was a French actress and dubbing director. She is best known for her work as a voice actress which earned her the nickname of "Queen" or "High Prie ...

), Ellis's assistant. Noticing his being watched by two men who photograph him and Consuela's paging of him over the loudspeaker as a serious breach of secret agent protocol, de La Bath is suspicious. As Consuela takes him to a

dockyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

to meet Ellis, de La Bath takes the keys out of the car and leaves Consuela inside. His instincts are proved correct when he's attacked by three thugs, one who uses

bolas Bolas or bolases (singular bola; from Spanish and Portuguese ''bola'', "ball", also known as a ''boleadora'' or ''boleadeira'') is a type of throwing weapon made of weights on the ends of interconnected cords, used to capture animals by entang ...

as a weapon against him. De La Bath defeats the assassins with martial arts and their own bolas. Seeing the same two men from the airport watching him from a car, he uses a

forklift truck A forklift (also called lift truck, jitney, hi-lo, fork truck, fork hoist, and forklift truck) is a powered industrial truck used to lift and move materials over short distances. The forklift was developed in the early 20th century by various c ...

to lift their car into the air. Consuela has vanished, but de La Bath has her car and drives to his hotel. On a car radio he hears that Ellis has been in a serious car accident and hospitalised. As he visits the hospital to see Ellis, he meets Anna-Maria (

Mylène Demongeot Mylène Demongeot (born Marie-Hélène Demongeot; 29 September 1935 – 1 December 2022) was a French film, television and theatre actress and author with a career spanning seven decades and more than 100 credits in French, Italian, English an ...

). She flew Ellis to the hospital after his automobile accident outside her ranch in

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...

. An assassin disguised as a Doctor shoots Ellis on the operating table as well as some of the medical staff before OSS 117 throws him out of a window. Anna-Maria gives OSS 117 Ellis's wallet that contains his address as well as a key ring. He takes Anna-Maria to her house in Rio where she is being watched. Visiting Ellis's address he meets the real Consuela (Annie Anderson) who knows little except that she fears for her life and doesn't have the key to Ellis's safe, however she arranges a meeting the next day with Ellis's associate in Rio near the

Christ the Redeemer of the Andes ''Christ the Redeemer of the Andes'' ( es, Cristo Redentor de los Andes) is a monument high in the Principal Cordillera of the Andes at 3,832 metres (12,572 ft) above mean sea level on the border between Argentina and Chile. It was unveil ...

statue. Returning to his hotel room the false Consuela/phony Moroni is in de La Bath's room and spends the night with him. Still suspicious, de La Bath leaves Consuela in bed as he goes to the toilet, playing a tape recording of him whistling and using the bathroom as he dresses and leaves out the window to reenter the room after the false Conseula has let two thugs in who attempt to kill de La Bath in his bath. De La Bath captures them and leaves all three bound and gagged on his bed. They remain like that until the water from de La Bath's bathtub that is still running floods the bathroom causing a guest below to complain to the management of his being soaked. The three are arrested by the Rio police. Prior to meeting Ellis's associate Carlos (

François Maistre François Maistre (14 May 1925 – 16 May 2016) was a French film, television and theatre actor. Born in Demigny, Saône-et-Loire, France, he appeared in nearly 100 films between 1960 and 2003. His father was singer and actor A.-M. Julien. Se ...

), de la Bath visits Anna-Maria who has been drugged with the suicide attack formula. She attempts to blow them both up with a

hand grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade genera ...

that de la Bath uses to dispatch the two thugs who drugged her. Carlos has the key to the safe and reveals that what caused Ellis's car "accident" was a friend in the front seat attempting to assassinate him with a hand grenade. Carlos accompanies OSS 117 back to Ellis's apartment where he waits outside to give warning. In the apartment the real Consuela has been murdered by the same two thugs at the airport and dockyard who are attempting to open the safe with an

acetylene torch Principle of burn cutting Oxy-fuel welding (commonly called oxyacetylene welding, oxy welding, or gas welding in the United States) and oxy-fuel cutting are processes that use fuel gases (or liquid fuels such as gasoline or petrol, diesel, ...

. They use it as a

flamethrower A flamethrower is a ranged incendiary device designed to project a controllable jet of fire. First deployed by the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century AD, flamethrowers saw use in modern times during World War I, and more widely in World ...

to kill de la Bath but he kills them with it. Warned by Carlos of another group of assassins entering the building, de la Bath leaves the torch running filling the room with gas. He ignites it from a window as the group of assassins enter the room. Finding flowers in Ellis's safe that Ellis discovered to have been used to create the drug, de la Bath and Anne-Marie drive to her home in

where another assassination attempt takes place by setting the road they are driving on aflame. Arriving at Anne-Marie's ranch courtesy of the unsuccessful assassin's vehicle, her friend Leandro (

Raymond Pellegrin Raymond Pellegrin (1 January 1925 – 14 October 2007) was a French actor. Born in Nice, Pellegrin made his screen debut in the 1945 French feature '' Naïs''. He was also famous in France for dubbing Jean Marais for the voice of Fantômas i ...

) flies them to the remote region of the Indians who harvest the flowers. They discover the locale is the headquarters of a secret neofascist organisation who wish to take over South America.

Cast

: Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, aka 0SS 177 *

: Anna-Maria Sulza *

: Carlos *

: Leandro *

Jacques Riberolles Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

: Miguel Sulza *

: Consuela Moroni I *

Guy Delorme Guy Delorme (23 May 1929 – 26 December 2005) was a French actor. He appeared in more than seventy films from 1951 to 1984. Filmography References External links * 1929 births 2005 deaths French male film actors {{France-fil ...

: Karl *

Annie Anderson Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress * Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer The ...

: Consuela Moroni II *

Jean-Pierre Janic Jean-Pierre or Jean Pierre may refer to: People * Karine Jean-Pierre b.1977, White House Deputy Press Secretary for President Joe Biden 2021- * Jean-Pierre, Count of Montalivet (1766–1823), French statesman and Peer of France * Eugenia Pierre ...

: Ludwig *

Michel Thomass Michel may refer to: * Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name) * Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers) * Míchel (footballer, born 1963), ...

: Russian client * Richard Saint-Bris : Hotel manager * Eric Vasberg : Henchman *

Henri Attal Henri Attal (1936 in Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely popula ...

: Killer #1 *

Dominique Zardi Dominique Zardi (born Emile Jean Cohen-Zardi; 2 March 1930 – 13 December 2009) was a French actor from Paris. He acted in more than 200 feature films, including ''Fantômas'' with Louis De Funès and Jean Marais. He died of cancer at the age of ...

: Killer #2

Reception

The film was the 11th biggest hit of the year in France with admissions of 2,686,432.

Notes

External links

* * Original French trailer http://www.cinemovies.fr/bande-annonce-9946-30135.html {{OSS 117 1965 films 1960s spy thriller films Films directed by André Hunebelle Films set in Rio de Janeiro (city) Films shot in Rio de Janeiro (city) 1960s French-language films French spy thriller films French sequel films 1960s French films