''OSS 117 – Double Agent'' (also known as ''OSS 117: Murder for Sale'' or ''No Roses for OSS 117'' (''Pas de Roses pour OSS 117'')) is a 1968

Eurospy film 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 ...

about agent

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 ...

, starring

John Gavin John Gavin (born Juan Vincent Apablasa; April 8, 1931 – February 9, 2018) was an American actor and diplomat who was the president of the Screen Actors Guild (1971–1973), and the United States Ambassador to Mexico (1981–1986). Among the fil ...

Plot

Cast

Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath 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 ...

, alias

, alias William Chandler * Margaret Lee as Aïcha Melik *

Curd Jürgens Curd Gustav Andreas Gottlieb Franz Jürgens (13 December 191518 June 1982) was a German-Austrian stage and film actor. He was usually billed in English-speaking films as Curt Jurgens. He was well known for playing Ernst Udet in ''Des Teufels Gener ...

as the Major * Luciana Paluzzi as Maud the doctor *

Robert Hossein Robert Hossein (30 December 1927 – 31 December 2020) was a French film actor, director, and writer. He directed Les Misérables (1982 film), the 1982 adaptation of ''Les Misérables'' and appeared in ''Vice and Virtue'', ''Le Casse'', ''Les U ...

as Dr Saadi *

Rosalba Neri Rosalba Neri (born 19 June 1938) is a retired Italian actress. Early life Born in Forlì, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, Neri was regarded for her beauty even in youth, winning a beauty pageant when she was still young. Eventually pursuing an acting ...

as Conchita *

George Eastman George Eastman (July 12, 1854March 14, 1932) was an American entrepreneur who founded the Kodak, Eastman Kodak Company and helped to bring the photographic use of roll film into the mainstream. After a decade of experiments in photography, he ...

as Karas *

Guido Alberti Guido Alberti (20 April 1909 Birth name: Guido Renato Vittorio Alberti. – 3 August 1996) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 60 films between 1963 and 1993. Selected filmography * ''Wild Love'' (1956) – Sor Alberto (uncredited) ...

as Farouk Melik *

Piero Lulli Piero Lulli (1 February 1923 – 23 June 1991) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 111 films between 1942 and 1977. He was the younger brother of actor Folco Lulli. Selected filmography * '' A Pilot Returns'' (1942) - De Santis * '' ...

as Heinrich Van Dyck *

Renato Baldini Renato Baldini (18 December 1921 – 5 July 1995) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 87 films between 1950 and 1983. He was born in Rome, Italy. Selected filmography * ''It's Forever Springtime'' (1950) - Un carabiniere al processo ...

as MacLeod *

Luciano Bonanni Luciano is an Italian, Spanish and Portuguese given name and surname. It is derived from Latin ''Lucianus'', patronymic of ''Lucius'' ("Light"). The French form is '' Lucien'', while the Basque form is '' Luken''. Single name * Luciano (rapp ...

as a policeman

Production

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 ...

did not reprise his role as he was filming

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

's ''

Topaz Topaz is a silicate mineral made of aluminium, aluminum and fluorine with the chemical formula aluminium, Alsilicon, Sioxygen, O(fluorine, F, hydroxide, OH). It is used as a gemstone in jewelry and other adornments. Common topaz in its natural ...

'' and was replaced by John Gavin.Philippe Lombard, "No Roses for OSS11" Production information
at Historie de Tournages The film used an idea of having the hero undergo plastic surgery to fool his enemies, an idea discarded by the film '' On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' (1969) that was being filmed at the same time. The film was shot in Rome and Tunisia. It was known during production as ''No Roses for Robert''.

Reception

The film was only a moderate success at the box office in France – the 40th most popular film of the year. It was not released in the US despite Gavin's presence in the lead role. However the film did help Gavin be cast, briefly, as

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 ...

in '' Diamonds Are Forever'' (1971).

References

External links

*
Review of film
at ''The Lucid Nightmare''

at Double O blogsite 1968 films 1968 action films 1960s spy thriller films French spy thriller films English-language French films Italian spy thriller films English-language Italian films Films shot in Rome Films shot in Tunisia Films scored by Piero Piccioni French sequel films 1960s English-language films 1960s Italian films 1960s French films English-language action films English-language spy thriller films OSS 117 films {{action-film-stub