Poppies Are Also Flowers (1966)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Terence Young

Writers:

Jo Eisinger (writer)
Ian Fleming (story)

Release Date:

26 October 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

In an attempt to stem the heroin trade from Iran, a group of narcotics agents working for the UN inject...

Plot Keywords:

Smuggling | Opium | Iran | Narcotics | Naples

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy.

Cast

E.G. Marshall	...	Coley
Trevor Howard	...	Sam Lincoln
Gilbert Roland	...	Serge Markos
Rita Hayworth	...	Monique Markos
Anthony Quayle	...	Captain Vanderbilt
Angie Dickinson	...	Linda Benson
Yul Brynner	...	Colonel Salem (as Yul Brinner)
Eli Wallach	...	'Happy' Locarno
Harold Sakata	...	Martin
Senta Berger	...	Nightclub Wrestler
Hugh Griffith	...	Tribal chief
Marcello Mastroianni	...	Inspector Mosca
Georges Géret	...	Superintendent Roche (as Georges Geret)
Howard Vernon	...	Medical expert
Stephen Boyd	...	Benson

Also Known As:

Danger Grows Wild (UK)
Mohn ist auch eine Blume (Austria)
Opération opium (France)
The Opium Connection (USA) (video title)
The Poppy Is Also a Flower (USA) (promotional title)

Runtime:

USA:100 min | 80 min (TV version)

Country:

France | Austria | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Optiphone)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Norway:16 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Iran

Company:

Telsun Foundation Inc.

Trivia:

Both Terence Young and Euan Lloyd worked for free while all the big-name actors were paid $1.00 for their work.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Killing Floor (2007)

Soundtrack:

La Bamba

My kind of film

I really don't care that the majority of people didn't enjoy this film. I thought it was a very watchable escapism film. Nothing complicated or confusing. I think the appeal is more for the 60+ crowd who grew up with the many international stars appearing. The sexy Angie Dickinson was in a featured role. I can't think of a better bad man than Harold Sakata (Goldfinger fame). The international locations and seeing Iran as it use to be.

The version I have runs a tad over 84 mins. The VHS picture quality is quite good. When I first saw this film on the big screen, it ran longer. From my fading memory, the original film had an excellent female mud wrestling scene, something I had never seen before. Well, that scene is gone, not fitting for TV around 1970. Much like the gypsy fight scene in From Russia With Love is mostly cut for TV.

During the film, the UN investigators spiked the opium with a radioactive dose to help follow the shipment. What happens to the ultimate users who ingest this cocktail? Never explained in the film.

At any rate, for us oldsters, seeing all of these stars in one film is a treasure. If you are too young to know these people, then take a pass. This is not a high brow boring film. Just check your brain at the door and enjoy.