OSS 117: MISSION FOR A KILLER

Frederick Stafford

OSS 117: MISSION FOR A KILLER (aka Furia a Bahia pour OSS 117/1965.) Director: Andre Hunebelle. 

After a series of suicide bombings which seem to be committed by solid citizens who have been drugged, Agent 117 (Frederick Stafford) is sent down to Rio to investigate. There he meets two lovely ladies: supposed secretary Consuela (Perrette Predier), who's in league with the bad guys, and Ana-Maria (Mylene Demongeot), who is being targeted by them because she knows too much. Ana-Maria and her brother Miguel (Jacques Riberolles) are friends with a man named Leandro (Raymond Pellegrin) who may or may not be in league with Carlos (Francois Maistre), who wants to bring about a New World Order from his base in the jungles of Brazil. 

Stafford, Demongeot, Riberolles

After Kerwin Mathews finished two OSS 117 films for director Andre Hunebelle, the latter discovered Czech actor Stafford and cast him as the secret agent in his first movie. Like Mathews, Stafford plays a super-cool, seemingly unflappable and mostly unemotional  spy. While he isn't better in the role than Mathews, he does seem a touch more likable. In addition to widescreen photography and color, the film greatly benefits from intriguing and colorful locales and some spectacular scenery. 

Spectacular scenery

Mission for a Killer has several memorable scenes: a gunman opens fire in an operating theater, killing the patient, shooting doctors and nurses, and nearly killing 117 and Ana-Maria. There's a terrific sequence in which a felon uses a flame thrower on 117 and doesn't care if he burns up his own partner or the entire house. Then there's a lively battle on a plane over the Amazon where the balance of power quickly shifts from one side to the other and back again. A climax on a waterfall boasts a truly spectacular setting. While Mission for a Killer isn't quite up to the level of the best of the Bonds, it is still a superior eurospy movie. Stafford later starred in Alfred Hitchcock's Topaz. Followed by OSS 117: Mission to Tokyo. In French, with English sub-titles.

Verdict: Smooth, fast-paced entertaining spy stuff. ***.