Niente rose per OSS 117 (1968)

User Rating:

4.8/10   

Directors:

Renzo Cerrato
Jean-Pierre Desagnat

Writers:

Jean Bruce (novel)
Renzo Cerrato (writer)

Release Date:

20 August 1968 (Italy)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Plot:

A secret agent is sent to the Middle East to destroy a gang of assassins.

Plot Keywords:

Middle East | Secret Agent | Assassin | Acronym In Title | Code Name

Cast

John Gavin	...	Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, alias OSS 117
Margaret Lee	...	Aïcha Melik
Curd Jürgens	...	The Major
Luciana Paluzzi	...	Maud
Robert Hossein	...	Dr. Saadi
Rosalba Neri	...	Conchita
George Eastman	...	Karas
Guido Alberti	...	Melik
Piero Lulli	...	Van Dyck
Renato Baldini	...	MacLeod
Luciano Bonanni
Romano Moschini
Raf Baldassarre
Seyna Seyn
Giovanni Pallavicino

Also Known As:

Murder for Sale (Australia) (video box title)
No Roses for OSS 117 (USA) (literal English title)
OSS 117 - Double Agent (USA)
OSS 117 Murder for Sale (UK)
Pas de roses pour O.S.S. 117 (France)

Runtime:

USA:91 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian | French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16 (nf) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1969) | Sweden:15

Company:

Da.Ma. Cinematografica

Trivia:

This secret agent movie features a number of actors associated with the James Bond spy series. Luciana Paluzzi as Maud played Fiona Volpe in Thunderball (1965); Curd Jürgens as the Major would go on to play Carl Stromberg in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) whilst 'John Gavin' as Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, alias OSS 117 was once contracted to play James Bond in Diamonds Are Forever (1971) (the contract was payed out but he did not get to be James Bond).

Movie Connections:

Follows Atout coeur à Tokyo pour O.S.S. 117 (1966)

Rate this "F" for "Forgettable"

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.