OSS 117 Murder for Sale (1968) User Reviews

Above-average spy thriller

[gridoon2024 · 6/10 · 6 January 2010]

This is one of the later entries in the Eurospy, and more specifically in the OSS 117, cycle, and it's probably one of the better ones as well. The two main reasons for that are: 1) The cast. John Gavin is one of the most capable "pseudo-Bonds" of the era, with a good comic flair; you can see why he actually came very close to being the REAL Bond once, in 1971, before Sean Connery changed his mind and came back for "Diamonds Are Forever", Margaret Lee is playfully attractive, Curt Jurgens makes a suitable villain (just like he would a decade later in "The Spy Who Loved Me"), Robert Hossein plays another soft-spoken evil doctor (just like he did in "OSS 117: Panic In Bangkok"), and even the luscious Luciana Paluzzi of "Thunderball" fame is around, though only for about 10 minutes and then she vanishes. 2) Unlike many Eurospy films, this one is not driven by fight scenes at every opportunity. There are some fights, to be sure, and they're pretty good, but most of the time the film is just trying to tell a story. Admittedly the climactic fall of the criminal "Organization" should have been more spectacular - maybe the producers ran out of budget by that point? **1/2 out of 4.

Our valiant , easy-going agent 0SS117 , John Gavin , takes on a powerful criminal organization commanded by Curd Jurgens

[ma-cortes · 5/10 · 5 July 2018]

Not as entertaining as the first in the series , but stiil amusing entry in Oss 117 series with John Gavin as absolute starring . While I didn't enjoy as much as the first in the series this Oss 117 installment results to be an acceptable film into the Eurospy subgenre , whose origin was the James Bond movies and especially : James Bond against Dr. No and From Russia with love by Terence Young . In this one, our starring is posing as a ruthless crook to penetrate into a terrorist organization led by a nasty boss , Curd Jurgens who played the main villiain in Guy Hamilton's The spy who loved me , and his cohorts , Doctor Saadi : Robert Hossein and a tall henchman : George Eastman . Along the way Gavin runs into a pack of baddies who intent on stopping him .Meanwhile , John Gavin falls for 3 beautiful damsels : The Bond girl Luciana Paluzzi , Rosalba Neri , and Margaret Lee .

Typical Euro spy movie with ordinary ingredients : thrills , noisy action , fights, fantastic gadgets along with strange artifacts , simple helicopters and explosive women . It has some flaws and gaps , as it does tend to get a bit old , including repetitive nature of some fight scenes , but it has big fun , so it cares . John Gavin gives a passable acting as a brave secret agent who infiltrates an criminal organization that especializes in political assassinations by assuming the identity of one of its top killers . Gavin has an easy going air about him that makes him great to see . Gavin starred two classics for Douglas Sirk : Imitation to life and A time to love and a time to die . However , he followed to play secondary roles in Spartacus , Throughly Modern Millie and Pycho , TV series , until his death at 86 . He is well accompanied by a brilliant enemy , Curd Jurgens , and a suitable villain doctor , Robert Hossein. Along with a plethora of Italian secondaries , usual in Spaghetti and Peplum , such as the hunk George Eastman , Renato Baldini , Emilio Messina , Roberto Messina and the always present Piero Lulli . And 3 luscious , bombshell girls : Luciana Paluzzi , Margaret Lee , Rosalba Neri.

It packs a cololorful and evocative cinematography in terrific locations from Tonino Delli Colli, Pasolini' s ordinary cameraman . And atmospheric musical score in jazzy style of the sixties and seventies by Piero Piccioni . This motion picture titled OSS 117 murder for sale or No flowers for OSS 117 (or one of the other half dozen names this movie goes by) was regular but professionally directed by Andre Hunebelle , and it definitively worth checking out if you are a fan of Euro spy genre . Andre was a craftsman who used to direct to Kerwin Matthews , Jean Marais and Louis De Funes in various films ; as he made several watchable pictures of all kinds of genres as drama , comedies such as : Casino de Paris , Massacre Dentellos ; adventures , Swashbucklers , many of them starred by Jean Marais : 3 musketeers , Return 3 Musketeers , Mysteries Paris , The hunchback , The captain , Les Charlots mousquetaires , Adventures Cadet Rouselle , Mission Tanger , and especially known for Fantomas Trilogy : Fantomas , Fantomas returns and Fantomas vs Scotland Yard .

The series based on novels written by Jean Bruce begin with "0SS is not dead"1955 by Jean Sacha with Ivan Desny , Magali Noel. " 0ss 117 unleashed" by Andre Hunebelle with Kerwin Matthews, Irina Demick . " Panic in Bangkok" 1964 by Andre Hunebelle with Kerwin Matthews , Robert Hossein , Pier Angeli. "Oss 117 Fury in Bahia" 1965 with Frederick Strafford , Raymond Pellegrin, Mylene Demengeot. "Oss 117 Terror in Tokyo" 1966 by Michral Boisrond with Frederick Stafford, Marina Vlady ."Oss117 Vendetta of spies" 1979 by Pierre Kalfon with Luc Merenda ,Elsa Martinelli , Genevieve Grad. "Oss117 Tue Le Taon" 1971 by Andre Leroix with Alan Scott. And "Oss 117 El Cairo nest of spies" and "Oss 117 lost in Rio" by Michael Hazanavicious with Jean Dujardin , Beatriz Bejo.

So so spy thriller

[JohnSeal · 4/10 · 1 August 2001]

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.

Life is not a bed of roses ....

[dbdumonteil · 7 June 2007]

....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

Rate this "F" for "Forgettable"

[dinky-4 · 4/10 · 21 August 2004]

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.

French EuroSpy Movie with John GAVIN, Luciana PALUZZI and Curd JÜRGENS

[ZeddaZogenau · 7/10 · 5 January 2024]

The "French James Bond" OSS 117 and his fifth mission - this time with John Gavin

In the EuroSpy film series about OSS 117 released by the French mini-major GAUMONT, the main actors took the lead. After Kerwin Mathews and Frederick Stafford, Hollywood smartie John Gavin (Psycho) was already the third OSS 117. The Golden Globe winner (Time to Live, Time to Die) did so well that he was seriously considered James Bond -The successor to George Lazenby, who left the company, was traded. The attractive John Gavin would also have cut a good figure as 007. Under the direction of experienced director Andre Hunebelle, filming took place in Rome (gorgeous images of the Eternal City) and Tunisia.

This time OSS 117 has to deal with a gang that hires out hitmen and is called "The Organization". To get in there, the super agent with a freshly operated face (that's how the change in actors is explained in the film) pretends to be a bad bank robber who likes to shoot tons of people. This brings him to the attention of the organization and quickly frees him from the clutches of the police, who were able to arrest him after an hour with the lovely dancer Conchita Esteban (Rosalba Neri). He is prepared for his work in a strange villa. The beautiful doctor Maud (Bond villain Luciana Paluzzi) is responsible for his physical needs, including in bed, of course! There (in the villa, not in bed!) he also gets to know the boss of the gang, called the Major (strangely slippery: Curd Jürgens), and his tall assistant Karas (George Eastman). Soon we're off to the Orient for our first job, which is fraught with all sorts of complications. Love is once again not neglected (Margaret Lee as Aicha), but there is also a really nasty colleague (Robert Hossein as Dr. Saadi) of the cuddly Maud. Will OSS 117 succeed in preventing the planned assassination attempt on the scientist van Dyck? Will the Major's gang of criminals be defeated?

Beautiful ladies who tie the attractive hero to the bed in rows, lively fistfights (including with George Eastman), beautiful pictures and a humorous plot - you can't expect more from a EuroSpy classic. 316,000 tickets were still sold in West German cinemas; the heyday for this type of film was certainly over. This film is still fun to watch in the home theater today.

Nothing Special . . . Just Passable

[zardoz-13 · 5/10 · 22 December 2009]

John Gavin plays the eponymous spy O.S.S. 117 on an assignment in the Middle East to expose an assassination ring run by Curd Jurgens. "OSS 117: Murder for Sale" qualifies as another James Bond wannabe movie. The debonair hero likes to make jokes and he seduces beautiful women. At the outset, our hero has had plastic surgery so that he resembles a killer. The police capture him after an amusing fight where he uses a bed sheet like a matador. Later,the resourceful villains break him out of custody in one of the few scenes that stand out in this thoroughly ordinary thriller. They swoop down on his police escort with a helicopter and dangle a UFO type object that dispenses knock-out gas. Our hero is taken to Curd Jurgens whose bodyguard is none other than George Eastman. The villains dispatch him on a mission that will take three days to finish. A doctor injects him with poison and informs the protagonist that he must administer a hypodermic injection every day at 5 PM or the hero will die. O.S.S. 117 gets into just bland fights, including one of a tiled rooftop with Eastman. The people who made this derivate 007 adventure even imitate the fast cutting in the hand-to-hand combat scenes. Our hero doesn't have any gadgets, but he has the amazing ability to imitate other voices.

Infiltrating a Secret Criminal Organization

[Uriah43 · 6/10 · 18 April 2021]

After a series of high-profile assassinations the United States decides to assign OSS Agent 117 "Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath" (John Gavin) to investigate. To that effect, in order to obtain some credibility with this unknown organization and help him to gain access within it he has plastic surgery to resemble a wanted and very dangerous criminal. Sure enough, he is accepted rather quickly but what he doesn't know is that the person in charge-known simply as "The Major" (Curd Jurgens)-is quite suspicious and has his own internal network which continually maintains surveillance on everyone. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was the first film in which John Gavin appeared as OSS Agent 117 and he performed quite admirably in that regard. Along with that, I thought that the plot was quite entertaining with Margaret Lee (as "Aicha Malik") also putting in a credible performance. Admittedly, I was rather disappointed with the limited screen time for both Luciana Paluzzi (as "Maud") and the aforementioned Curd Jurgens but all things considered I found this to be a solid EuroSpy film and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Godawful movie (SPOILERS - BE WARNED)

[gabknight7829043 · 1/10 · 12 August 2008]

Once again, I shall warn you that this comment contains a lot of spoilers.

When a "serious" adaptation of OSS117 contains less actions, makes less sense than the recent pastiche with Dujardin, there's something really wrong about it.

The first scene of this movie shows good promises though, with the eponymous spy going through a window and escaping while shooting two bystanders an a guard. You think you're in an action movie.

However, the 40 next minutes prove you wrong : the 3 victims proved to be faking, and after letting himself be captured (twice, by the police then by the Organisation he's supposed to infiltrate), he doesn't do much more than hitting on a female doctor, who simply disappears halfway through the movie. A girl also gets infatuated with him after he rescues her from a false attack, but he doesn't seems inclined to tell her the truth.

That sums up the movie : a lot of fraud, a lot of (bad) romance, very little action.

The movie is ridiculous from A to Z :

• The main villain's lieutenant is sent from Europe to middle east to kill the hero, and comes back without even trying to get near him.

• Travels from Europe to Middle East are accomplished in the blink of an eye.

-The main female character sees her father getting shot in the back and left dying, however, when rescued, she shows absolutely no concern over him.

-The hero is poisoned and has to take an antidote before 5 o'clock. He however waits until 4.55 to enter the office it's locked in.

-The hero has to kill a diplomat : he replaces him by another corpse. however, while the diplomat is a tall, thin man with red hair, the hero replaces him with a short, fat guy with black hair. Though he detonates the place, the guy is supposedly identified by its remains...

-when O.S.S. 117 abducts the said diplomat, he's supposed to keep him off the game for a few days. However, he manages to lose him by letting him without surveillance, unrestrained and next to a car with its key on.

-the house of the organization, which is supposed to be the home of dozens of professional killers, has about half a dozen inhabitants at most, with barely one showing while the house is invaded.

More James Bored than James Bond

[Wizard-8 · 3/10 · 25 March 2018]

The fifth entry in the official French "OSS 117" movie series is yet another entry that's nothing to get excited about. Even the presence of European cult actors Curd Jurgens and George Eastman add very little to the movie, mainly because they are given very little to do that could make them stand out and give the movie a little oompth. Obviously, the script is the main offender to be found in the movie. It's a really slow-moving story, with so much padding that it's clear the story could easily have been condensed to fit in a hour long time slot (with commercials) on a television show. Also, huge chunks of the movie go by with no action or anything else particularly exciting to keep the audience interested and paying attention. And when the action does make a rare appearance, it is mostly very forgettable. The production values are serviceable, as always, but it does very little to keep the audience awake. Having now seen all the movies in the series, I can safely say these movies are best left unwatched, even if you are deeply into Eurocult movies of the 1960s.

B-Bond à l'Européenne

[MegaSuperstar · 16 January 2018]

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.