telegrafic James Bond style film made in Europe -that is professionally made but without the Hollywood touch that gave James Bond series or -in a minor way- Matt Helm ones their lust. Maybe John Gavin was not the best choice for the role -even him seems to think he is miscast- and his acting is unconvincing. Curd Jürgens is totally wasted as the villain with only a couple of scenes and not much to do with them. Margaret Lee with her limited acting abilities does not convince as the lady in distress. The film also lacks of some humoresque touches and when -scarcely- they do appear seem to be out of place.Fight scenes are rather bad (maybe with the exception of the last one on the mansion roof). They could have got the most out of the poison/antidot matter: it is supposed that a so experienced secret agent would surely expect some trick about it and consequently had a better plan far than expecting a last minute antidot that could finally not be such so. Plot is rather poor and characters too plain to succeed. Maybe a better script and dialogues and a more talented director's work would have made a better film but that's something we will never know. By the way, the blu ray edition is really nice: bright colors emphasizing fab. locations and high definition image that sometimes give the impresion of watching a 3D movie. The OSS117 series had two enjoyable same style remake versions in 2006 (OSS117: Le Caire nid d'espions) & 2009( OSS117: Rio ne répond plus), both directed by Michel Hazanavizius with Jean DuJardin as Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath -same team that did The Artist.

dbdumonteil ....So OSS 117 has nothing to complain about.Director André Hunebelle ,who used to direct Jean Marais in watchable swashbucklers had become a spy thriller drudge. It's his fourth Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath (OSS 's real name ,for those who care) .He used first Kerwin Matthews ,then Frederick Stafford .The cast of "Pas de Roses..." is by far the most interesting: gathering one of his talented compatriots (Robert Hossein) earnest German thespian Jürgens,an ex-James Bond Girl (Luciana Paluzzi,remember Fiona Volpe?)and John Gavin ,the hero of Douglas Sirk's last great works ("Imitation of life" (1959) and " a time to love and a time to die") not to mention "psycho" where he was completely overshadowed by Perkins anyway.The story is routine itself but there are some good ideas ,such as the poison .More somber than "furia à Bahia" but,unlike the precedent 0SS, humorless.Like this?Try these (James Bond " A La Française")"OSS 117 se déchaine" Hunebelle 1963"Banco à Bangkok pour 0SS 117" Hunebelle 1965"Furia à Bahia pour 0SS 117 " Hunebelle 1965"Atout coeur à Tokyo pour OSS 117" Boisrond 1966

dinky-4 Yet another of those made-in-Europe "spy thrillers" inspired by the success of the James Bond movies, "Murder for Sale" will evaporate from your memory even as you watch it.John Gavin lacks the roguish charm, cynical edge, and tough-guy assurance needed to bring off this kind of part. He seems, as always, sincere and dutiful and anxious to please and one can't but help feel a bit sorry for him. But, hey, what other actor can claim to have been directed by Douglas Sirk, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, and Peter Ustinov?The best scene comes early in the movie when the police come to arrest Gavin who's sleeping in a hotel room. Gavin jumps out of bed and, as music from "Carmen" plays on the soundtrack, fends off the cops by using his bedsheet the way a matador uses his scarlet cape. Gavin apparently sleeps "in the raw" and this scene gives him a chance to show off his bare and oh-so-beautiful chest.

John Seal James Bond rip-offs were all the rage in mid-60s cinema, and here's a fairly good one. John Gavin is OSS 117, America's greatest secret agent, who must foil the attempted assassination of a peace broker. Apparently, 'billions' of dollars of arms sales are at risk, even though the warring 'tribes' apparently consist of about two dozen besworded Arabs. Nonetheless, Gavin is off on a mid-East jaunt, where he is pitted against...not much in the way of villains, really. He meets the beautiful daughter of a local mucky-muck, played by a most attractive Margaret Lee, and in between wooing her and killing the odd bad guy he manages to save the day. This review is based on the Media Home Entertainment video of almost 20 years ago, and as would be expected, the print quality is fair to poor. Obvious screen compression ruins a number of shots and we can only look forward to the day when Anchor Bay chooses to restore this film to all its widescreen splendour.