Poppies Are Also Flowers (1966)

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:

Narcotics | Opium | Iran | Smuggling | United Nations

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:

One of the film's producers was Edgar Rosenberg, who had just married comedienne Joan Rivers. Rivers, a visitor to the set, rather maliciously writes that Rita Hayworth was a real handful during this time: demanding, incoherent but still looking very glamorous. It is quite possible that by this time, Hayworth was already beginning to suffer from the effects of Alzheimer's Disease, which would eventually kill her.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Killing Floor (2007)

Soundtrack:

Lemon Tree

"It doesn't make sense! Not any of it!"

Hilariously awful star-studded turkey, an apparent do-gooder drama concocted by Ian Fleming, sponsored by Xerox and directed by Bond-filmmaker Terence Young, details the United Nations' efforts to stop the trafficking of opium out of the Middle East. Bungled ingredients include star-cameos, an introduction by Grace Kelly (!), and Yul Brynner (misspelled in the credits) as a fez-topped Colonel who rides out to meet his enemies on horseback as if this were a Samurai western. The curious, sloppy over-dubbing leaves some of the actors looking like foreigners in a spaghetti spy-drama, while Kelly implores us to remember that...yes...Poppy flowers are attractive and innocent-looking, but their seeds are producing drugs that are destroying our young people! Not as fast as films like this. E. G. Marshall's somewhat bemused performance is the only asset the picture has to offer. Also known as "The Poppy Is Also a Flower", "The Opium Connection" and (my favorite) "Danger Grows Wild". NO STARS from ****