OSS 117

Has anyone else seen the French Bond parodies? They are way better than Austin Powers.

Comments

  • BirdlesonBirdleson Moderator
    Posts: 2,161
    Maybe you could provide a link to some worthwhile clips.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 6,760
    The very best of Bond spoofs. It makes fun of Bond film stereotypes, but does so with affection.

    Jean Dujardin really studied those Connery moves from the early films by the way.





    I’m a huge fan.
  • BennyBenny In the shadowsAdministrator, Moderator
    Posts: 14,812
    I could've sworn we had a thread for this.
    Moved to General Movies & TV as it's not Bond related.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,728
    Didn't these start out as a series of novels? I'm afraid it's not a subject I know an awful lot about but I'm always willing to learn new things.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 6,760
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    Didn't these start out as a series of novels? I'm afraid it's not a subject I know an awful lot about but I'm always willing to learn new things.

    You’re right, it’s a creation of French writer Jean Bruce. The first novel of this series was published in 1949. They also made a couple of OSS 117 films, with the first one released at the end of the 50’s.

    The series was revived as a Bond spoof by director Michel Hazanavicius, best known internationally for The Artist.

    Ironic how OSS 117’s career started before 007’s, both on paper as well as on screen, and that he’s now better known for being a spoof of the latter than anything else.
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,882
    I believe almost-Bond, John Gavin, also played 0SS117 back in the 60's.

    I have only seen the Jean Dujardin ones. Cairo Nest Of Spies is hilarious. They don't just lovingly spoof Bond, but 60's film-making in general.
  • Posts: 5,774
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    Didn't these start out as a series of novels? I'm afraid it's not a subject I know an awful lot about but I'm always willing to learn new things.

    Indeed, it did, and it was a family affair. The series started in France in 1949 by Jean Bruce (who penned 88 volumes from 1949 to 1963), who, after his death in a car crash, was succeeded by his wife Josette Bruce (143 novels from 1966 to 1985), then by his children, François and Martine Bruce (24 books from 1987 to 1992). There were some 11 movies adapted from the original novels from 1957 to 1971, and even some (73) adaptations in comic book form (published by Aredit/Artima in the 60s/70s).

    So, yes, quite a lot of history there. To note, in the novels and the original movies, despite his french name (Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath), OSS 117 was an american secret agent, first having worked for the OSS during WW 2, then for the CIA for the rest of his career. He was the inspiration for many other fictional secret agents written by other french writers, like SAS, Coplan, La Louve or La Panthère. Here are a few covers :

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    s-l640.jpg

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    Those are, in order, the original covers fro the novel Atout Cœur à Tokyo, the poster from the movie, and the cover for the comic book adaptation.

    Recently, some of the original novels have been reissued :

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