It was the first time Jean Bruce 's OSS 117 aka Hubert Bonnisseur De La Bath adventures had been transferred to the screen .
The plot is almost devoid of interest :it deals with thefts of secret documents and microfilms ;it seems that the safe in Mr Lead (sic)'s desirable mansion is not safe at all and that the Deuxième Bureau has been leaking.So begins the task for the best French secret spy and his female counterpart .The title "OSS N 'Est Pas Mort " is justified for the hero spends a good third of the film bedridden in a gloomy hospital where he pretends to be severely wounded after a car crash (sabotage).But he is presented with candied fruit (the box contains a small tape recorder ,smart,huh?)and pastries by sympathetic ladies.
This spy thriller is actually a whodunit: who,in Mr Lead 's house helps the villains get the stuff? Mr Lead? his wife? his daughter? his secretary?his servant?.One of the spies has his way with girls: he tells them nobody likes him,he is now a hunted man,and if she helps him ,he will take her away to the islands in the sun.
In the cast and credits ,the name of the actress who plays the OSS girl (hot Magali Noel )appears before that of her male co-star;it may be a wise choice ,for Ivan Desny is a listless OSS ,and not handsome enough at that.Yves Vincent ,who created the part of Stanley Kowalsky in " a streetcar named desire" on stage in France ,tries his best with an underwritten (and almost ridiculous) part of the would be miserable spy .Marie Déa ("Les Visiteurs Du Soir" "PIèges" "Orphée" ) is wasted.
Any takers? Cheesecake all over the movie:scantily dressed ladies abound .
OSS 117 was not lucky in the movies: in the sixties,in the wake of James Bond ,six more movies -plus another one ,feat.Sean Flynn in which ,Bonnisseur De La Bath was renamed "Smith"- ,more entertaining ,but not particularly memorable.
It was the naughties before OSS 117 became a popular hero in the movies ,in the riotously funny spoofs featuring the excellent Jean Dujardin.
