OSS 117 TUE LE TAON (ORTF, 1971)

Secret agent OSS 117 and a female colleague are on a mission in Belgium.

OSS 117 tue le taon ("OSS 117 kills the gadfly") (1) is a black and white 75-minute French film for television aired by the Première chaîne of ORTF (Office de radiodiffusion-télévision française) on November 13, 1971. It is based on the book of the same title published in 1957 in the long-running OSS 117 series of spy novels (1949-1992) by Jean Bruce (2), Josette Bruce and François & Martine Bruce. CIA agent Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath a.k.a OSS 117, the hero of these literary adventures, first drew the attention of the cinema.

From 1957 to 1970, the character was played on the big screen by Ivan Desny, Kerwin Mathews (The 7th Voyage of Sinbad), Frederick Stafford, John Gavin (Psycho) and the future star of the Poliziottesco genre (3) (later co-star of Châteauvallon) Luc Merenda. At some point Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath was one of the numerous movie competitors of James Bond (4) but there were no more OSS 117 films for almost 40 years until Jean Dujardin became the secret agent in three comedies between 2006 and 2021. Directed by André Leroux and produced by ORTF through its regional station of Lille, OSS 117 tue le taon is actually a pilot for a never-made 13-episode series. The beginning of the TV movie was shot in December 1970 at the Mont Noir (in the north of France).

 

Thanks to a fake car accident and the announcement of a plastic surgery operation to the press, OSS 117 goes to Antwerp as the famous zoologist Professor Hermann Beck. Assisted by fellow agent Muriel Highball, posing as the sister of Beck, he investigates the kidnapping of the professor's wife and son. Mathieu Weber, a journalist and former intelligence operative, puts them on the trail of a mysterious man nicknamed "The Fly". OSS 117 tue le taon was adapted by Marcel Jullian (Le Cerveau, Docteur Caraïbes), Josette Bruce and André Leroux. Alan Scott (Le gendarme à New York, Lola) plays Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath (5). The charming Aude Loring, whose resume includes Two for the Road (1967), Le chirurgien de Saint-Chad (1976) or Le dernier métro (1980), is agent Muriel Highball.

Yves Geffray, the producer of OSS 117 tue le taon, was the head of the ORTF Lille production unit which contributed to the success of L'homme du Picardie (1968). Before that, the technicians of ORTF Lille worked on Alerte à Jonzac (1967), Meurtre dans la cathédrale (1967) or La grande crevasse (1966). Yves Geffray also produced Adieu mes quinze ans (1971) and La malle de Hambourg (1972). In spite of the compulsory stunts and fights, the TV version of OSS 117 is a failure. Though his performance is rather honourable, Alan Scott is not a patch on his predecessors and the glasses he wears (most of the time) makes him look like Gotlib drawn by the comics artist himself. Right from the start, OSS 117 tue le taon sounds like a 1950s French crime movie because of the black and white (the films were in colour since 1964) and the music of Georges Delerue.

Hubert's mission is basically a P.I. job and the villain is underwhelming. At least the cast list is interesting: Vania Vilers as Lieutenant de Waels, German actor Reinhard Kolldehoff (here credited René Kolldehoff) as Mathieu Weber. The inspector is played by Joss Morgane, who was in OSS 117 prend des vacances (1970). Charles Millot (Les Barbouzes) plays a Russian agent. Jacky Davin, who plays the newsreader, was a journalist from ORTF Lille. Also with Arch Taylor (Mr. Smith, Hubert's boss), Jean-Paul Frankeur (Claus), Serge Spira (2nd Russian agent), Claude Carvin (Professor Beck), etc. Jean Galtat is the stunt coordinator. Fernand Clarisse is the set decorator.
 

Cinematography by Marc Fossard (Le trompette de la Bérésina). Editing by Nicole Mahé. Main title design and animation by Jean-Pierre Sornin & Michèle Chantebout. In  1974, ORTF co-produced À vous de jouer Milord, a TV series with a secret agent named Hubert... Hubert de Pomarec, played by Henri Piégay.

(1) "Le taon" is pronounced like "le temps".
(2) Pseudonym of Jean Brochet.
(3) Italian crime/action films of the 1970s to the 1980s.
(4) For more about the OSS 117 character, the books and the movies pre-Jean Dujardin, read the excellent OSS 117 - Les dossiers secrets by Philippe Lombard (Gaumont Vidéo, 2005).
(5) Some sources say that Alan Scott was American but others say he was British or even Australian.

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