The Reluctant Spy

The first of two movies ,based on the Monsieur Stanislas ,an advertising executive overtaken by events ,who wants to lead a peaceful life but is involved ,like the hero of "north by northwest",in a spy story :like him,he lives with mother (and grandmother).

It was the time Jean Marais was relinquishing the sword of the swashbucklers for the broader horizons of the spy thriller;Hitchcock's influence ("stagefright" "the man who knew too much") shows now and there but the characters are often funny : hats off to veteran Noel Roquevert and his syringe;Genevieve Page,who was fluent in English and worked with Wilder ,Cukor and Daves ,is an elegant leading lady who in her native country never got the parts she deserved.