''Maroc 7'' is a 1967

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Gerry O'Hara Gerald O'Hara (born October 1924, Boston, Lincolnshire) is an English film and television director. O'Hara was an assistant director on Laurence Olivier's film, '' Richard III''; the Carol Reed film, '' Our Man in Havana'' and the Academy Award ...

and starring

Gene Barry Gene Barry (born Eugene Klass, June 14, 1919 – December 9, 2009) was an American stage, screen, and television actor and singer. Barry is best remembered for his leading roles in the films '' The Atomic City'' (1952) and ''The War of The Worl ...

Elsa Martinelli Elsa Martinelli (born Elisa Tia; 30 January 1935 – 8 July 2017) was an Italian actress and fashion model. Life and career Born Elisa Tia in Grosseto, Tuscany, she moved to Rome with her family. In 1953, she was discovered by Roberto Capu ...

Leslie Phillips Leslie Samuel Phillips (20 April 1924 – 7 November 2022) was an English actor, director, producer and author. He achieved prominence in the 1950s, playing smooth, upper-class comic roles utilising his "Ding dong" and "Hello" catchphrases. ...

and

Denholm Elliott Denholm Mitchell Elliott, (31 May 1922 – 6 October 1992) was an English actor, with more than 125 film and television credits. His well-known roles include the abortionist in '' Alfie'' (1966), Marcus Brody in ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' (19 ...

. The screenplay concerns an international jewel thief who hatches a plan to go to

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

and steal a valuable artifact. The theme song was an instrumental by

the Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...

: "Maroc 7" rose to No. 24 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in April 1967.

Production

The film was the fifth in a series of movies jointly financed by Rank and the NFFC. The sets were designed by the art directors

Seamus Flannery Seamus may refer to: * Séamus, a male first name of Gaelic origin Film and television * Seamus (''Family Guy''), a character on the television series ''Family Guy'' * Seamus, a pigeon in '' Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore'' * Seamus Mc ...

and Terry Pritchard. It was shot at Pinewood Studios and on location in

. Filming began 6 July 1966. The production went over budget.Petrie p 9

Plot

Louise Henderson is the editor of a respected fashion magazine, but she has a hidden career as mastermind of a ring of thieves. With their professional operation as a front, Louise uses one of her models, Claudia, and a photographer, Raymond Lowe, to steal precious artifacts and jewels. Law enforcement agencies have their suspicions about her, so undercover man Simon Grant is assigned the case. He pretends to be a safecracker to infiltrate Louise's gang, traveling to Morocco, where she intends to switch an imitation Arabian medallion for a priceless real one. Grant is given cooperation in Morocco by a chief of police, Barrada, and a woman named Michelle Craig who is the chief's top aide. Things go wrong when Grant needs to kill Lowe, who has followed him on his way to find the map to the location of the medallion. The theft goes on as planned, at least until Claudia dies while trying to take the medallion from Grant. To the surprise of cops and robbers alike, the precious medallion is stolen by the one person none of them suspected, Michelle, who escapes.

Cast

as Simon Grant *

as Claudia *

as Raymond Lowe *

Cyd Charisse Cyd Charisse (born Tula Ellice Finklea; March 8, 1922 – June 17, 2008) was an American actress and dancer. After recovering from polio as a child and studying ballet, Charisse entered films in the 1940s. Her roles usually featured her abilit ...

as Louise Henderson *

as Inspector Barrada * Alexandra Stewart as Michelle Craig *

Angela Douglas Angela Douglas (born 29 October 1940), born Angela McDonagh, is an English actress. Early life Douglas was born in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire. Career Douglas started acting as a teenager, joining the Worthing, West Sussex repertory comp ...

as Freddie *

Eric Barker Eric Leslie Barker (12 February 1912 – 1 June 1990) was an English comedy actor. He is most remembered for his roles in the popular British '' Carry On'' films, although he only appeared in the early films in the series, apart from returning ...

as Professor Bannen * Tracy Reed as Vivienne * Maggie London as Suzie *

Ann Norman Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

as Alexa *

Penny Riley A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is th ...

as Penny *

Lionel Blair Lionel Blair (born Henry Lionel Ogus; 12 December 1928 – 4 November 2021) was a Canadian-born British actor, choreographer, tap dancer, and television presenter. From the late 1960s until the early 1980s, he made regular appearances as a danc ...

as Hotel receptionist * Ricardo Montez as Pablo

Novelization

Concurrent with the release of the film, UK publisher

Pan Books Pan Books is a publishing imprint that first became active in the 1940s and is now part of the British-based Macmillan Publishers, owned by the Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group of Germany. Pan Books began as an independent publisher, es ...

released a novelization of the screenplay by the ubiquitous and prolific British tie-in author John Burke writing as "Martin Sands."

References

Notes

*{{cite magazine, last=Petrie, first= Duncan James , year=2016, title= Resisting Hollywood Dominance in Sixties British Cinema : The NFFC/Rank Joint Financing Initiative, magazine= Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, url=http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/94238/1/01439685_2E2015_2E1129708.pdf Ray Austin was the stunt coordinator and second unit director, uncredited. 1967 films British thriller films 1960s thriller films Films directed by Gerry O'Hara Films shot in Morocco 1960s English-language films 1960s British films