Furia à Bahia pour OSS 117

1965's French-Italian "OSS 117 Mission for a Killer" (Furia a Bahia pour OSS 117 or Fury in Bahia for OSS 117) finds the completely unknown, Czech-born Frederick Stafford replacing Hollywood's Kerwin Mathews in the role of Colonel Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, better known to international audiences as secret agent OSS 117, cast only after a chance meeting with director Andre Hunebelle on location in Bangkok for previous entry "Shadow of Evil" ("how would you like to make movies with me?" "why not!"). Stafford acquits himself well considering this was his screen debut, similar to George Lazenby when called upon to use his fists in various well choreographed encounters, shooting in both Rio de Janeiro and the neighboring state of Bahia (hence the original title). A series of suicide deaths by hand grenade are perpetrated against political figures by trusted associates of each victim, under the evil influence of some type of mind altering drug, putting Hubert on the trail of a Brazilian organization seeking world domination. There's no shortage of action or pretty girls, and its production values are on par with the early James Bond titles. One hair breadth escape finds Hubert fending off a lighted blowtorch, while locations like Sugarloaf Mountain and the Iguazu Falls foreshadow the 1979 "Moonraker." It may be the best of Hunebelle's three OSS 117 films thus far, though perhaps a bit too leisurely at 99 minutes. Stafford only completed one other OSS film ("OSS 117 Mission to Tokyo") before starring in Alfred Hitchcock's "Topaz," whose box office failure was typically placed at his feet.