Vittorio Gassman and Adolfo Celi play two Italian buddies who go on a trip to a ski resort along with their wives. They devise a plan to get rid of them for a few days and flirt with the other ladies there, but Gassman gets in over his head when he meets an enigmatic blonde woman (the gorgeous Beba Loncar) who may actually be an assassin, and gets involved in a bizarre espionage adventure that takes him from Italy to Egypt, under a different identity. For James Bond fans, this obscure film has definite curiosity value for the presence of Adolfo Celi (Largo in "Thunderball") and Daniela Bianchi (Tatiana in "From Russia With Love"). Let me clear this up: Celi has a totally disposable part that could be played by anyone. But Bianchi, although it takes a while for her to appear, has an important role as an agent with shifty loyalties (and she even gets to fire a machine gun - that's almost worth the price of admission right there!). I personally found her better - and more beautiful - here than she was in "From Russia With Love". The film begins as a rather unfunny slapstick comedy (Gassman falls down on the snow a lot - ha ha ha), but after about 30 minutes the plot actually gets intriguing and almost dreamily weird. In the second half, it becomes a slightly more serious spy comedy, with lots of twists and turns. Overall it's worth a look; the print I saw had pretty atrocious picture quality, but you get used to it after a while. I doubt we'll ever see a remastered version of this one. ** out of 4.
5 Reviews
Whoa the guy out of his element spy-er; camerawork is notable
Apollo15AnnoPianoCatDogSnailAnt3 December 2019
This is a flick that is about essentially the guy who is regular drawn into the world of spies. Frequently the camerawork is very clearly done as close-ups are there intermixed with further distance filming (yet no zooming which they could easily do w all those closeups yet this is a creative decision of someone wanting a calm like balance with the filming.) Rec. by Eurospy Guide by Matt Blake/David Deal.
Vittorio Gassman in a spy spoof going... south by southeast?
toskomst25 July 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Slight spoilers.
What's certain is that Gassman, like Cary Grant in Hitchcock's timeless classic «North by Northwest» (1959), is the innocent man on the run after getting caught up in some spy racket. Gassman, along with former Bond villain Adolfo Celi and their respective wives, come to Sestriere to spend Christmas at the skiing resort. He's attracted to a Romanian blonde, in the Eva Marie Saint role, and before you know it, a mysterious man dies in his arms and he's whisked off to Cairo seated next to former Bond babe Daniela Bianchi on the plane.
Not the most common plot development in a skiing movie, surely, but at least Sestriere to Cairo is south by southeast on the map.
Gassman tries in vain to talk himself out of his predicament, playing his stock character who grumbles about the state of the world, polite to your face, but derogatory in a very Italian way as soon as you turn your back. He finds himself escaping from agents and double agents all over Egypt all because of some sinister world domination scheme. There's even a couple of car chases at the market and in the desert. Definitely not what I expected from a skiing movie.
And speaking of. I'm about to clock in at 6 500 movies, but this is the first time I've seen an action sequence in a ski lift. And a near-death experience by rolling logs of timber in the skiing slopes. And a kidnapping where two beautiful blondes in Santa Claus costumes drag poor Gassman into the back of their reindeer sled, drugging him and shuffling him off while he waves frantically. If I was ever to get kidnapped myself, it rather sounds like a good way to go.
Anyway. This is your typical 60s spy spoof. No more. No less. David Niven in "Where the Spies Are" (1965). Rod Taylor in "The Liquidator" (1965). There really were a lot of these.
What's certain is that Gassman, like Cary Grant in Hitchcock's timeless classic «North by Northwest» (1959), is the innocent man on the run after getting caught up in some spy racket. Gassman, along with former Bond villain Adolfo Celi and their respective wives, come to Sestriere to spend Christmas at the skiing resort. He's attracted to a Romanian blonde, in the Eva Marie Saint role, and before you know it, a mysterious man dies in his arms and he's whisked off to Cairo seated next to former Bond babe Daniela Bianchi on the plane.
Not the most common plot development in a skiing movie, surely, but at least Sestriere to Cairo is south by southeast on the map.
Gassman tries in vain to talk himself out of his predicament, playing his stock character who grumbles about the state of the world, polite to your face, but derogatory in a very Italian way as soon as you turn your back. He finds himself escaping from agents and double agents all over Egypt all because of some sinister world domination scheme. There's even a couple of car chases at the market and in the desert. Definitely not what I expected from a skiing movie.
And speaking of. I'm about to clock in at 6 500 movies, but this is the first time I've seen an action sequence in a ski lift. And a near-death experience by rolling logs of timber in the skiing slopes. And a kidnapping where two beautiful blondes in Santa Claus costumes drag poor Gassman into the back of their reindeer sled, drugging him and shuffling him off while he waves frantically. If I was ever to get kidnapped myself, it rather sounds like a good way to go.
Anyway. This is your typical 60s spy spoof. No more. No less. David Niven in "Where the Spies Are" (1965). Rod Taylor in "The Liquidator" (1965). There really were a lot of these.
International Intrigue from the Italian Alps to Egypt
Uriah4318 November 2022
This film begins with a married man named "Lucio Ridolfi" (Vittorio Gassman) and his wife "Hilde Ridolfi" (Emma Danieli) accompanying another married couple "Riccardo" (Adolfi Cell) and "Simonetta" (Isabella Biagini) on a vacation in the Italian Alps. Along the way, Lucio happens to notice a beautiful blonde named "Helen" (Beba Loncar) and, being quite promiscuous, decides to flirt with her with the hope of possibly having an affair with her in the near future. To his surprise, she reacts favorably to the idea and even arranges a time and place not long afterward. What she doesn't tell him, however, is that she has an ulterior motive for wanting to see him and soon his entire world is turned upside down as he becomes involved in an international scheme to undermine the American economy. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this film includes several twists and turns throughout the course of the movie, and it became a bit difficult for me to fully understand what was going on at times. But then, that's what makes this film somewhat enjoyable--and everything is explained in the end. Admittedly, it's not a great comedy by any means, but it has its share of good moments here and there and I have rated it accordingly. Average.
Entertaining!
RodrigAndrisan30 September 2021
After watching all my life a bunch of bad or very bad Eurospy films, finally a successful one, being an adventure with spies and comedy at the same time. Thanks to the intelligent director Luciano Salce and the talented Vittorio Gassman. There are many funny scenes, absolutely worth seeing. Adolfo Celi, the great Italian actor, has a small role. Beba Loncar and Daniela Bianchi, the beautiful blondes of the film, appear quite consistent. Bianchi has a cool scene with a machine gun, repeated the following year, 1966, in "Special Mission Lady Chaplin.", another decent Eurospy. And Loncar, surprise surprise, she's - only in the movie - Romanian, like me.
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