| Photos (see all 15 | slideshow) |
| Jean-Paul Belmondo | ... | Bob Saint-Clair / François Merlin | |
| Jacqueline Bisset | ... | Tatiana / Christine | |
| Vittorio Caprioli | ... | Karpof / Charron | |
| Hans Meyer | ... | Colonel Collins | |
| Monique Tarbès | ... | Mrs. Berger | |
| Mario David | |||
| Bruno Garcin | ... | Pilu | |
| Raymond Gérôme | ... | General Pontaubert | |
| Jean Lefebvre | ... | The electrician | |
| Fabrizio Moresco | |||
| André Weber | ... | The plumber | |
| Hubert Deschamps | ... | Le vendeur | |
| Bernard Musson | ... | Interpreter | |
| Thalie Frugès | ... | Publishing House Hostess | |
| René Barrera | ... | The Chinese / The Bride | |
| Rodrigo Puebla | ... | Benson (as Rodrigo A. Puebla) | |
| Jean-Pierre Rambal | ... | The Lecturer | |
| Gaëtan Noël | ... | Doctor | |
| Micha Bayard | |||
| Roger Muni | |||
| Victor Jarson | |||
| Caline Bautte | |||
| Claude Salino | |||
| Jean-Paul Jarre | |||
| Max Desrau | |||
| Robert Berri | (as Robert Berry) | ||
| Lucienne Legrand | |||
| Guy Simonnet | |||
| Sébastien Floche | |||
| Laure Moutoussamy | ... | Une amie de Charron | |
| Michel Thomass | ... | Le faux pope | |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Pierre Assena | ... | Jean (uncredited) | |
| Maurice Auzel | ... | Mécanicien aéroport (uncredited) | |
| Jack Berard | ... | Interpreter (uncredited) | |
| Philippe de Broca | ... | Un plombier (uncredited) | |
| Henry Czarniak | ... | (uncredited) | |
| Raoul Guylad | ... | The Albanian (uncredited) | |
| Charly Koubesserian | ... | Guard (uncredited) | |
| Louis Navarre | ... | Intrepreter (uncredited) | |
| Jacques Wajsmark | ... | (uncredited) | |
Directed by | |||
| Philippe de Broca | |||
Writing credits(in alphabetical order) | ||
| Philippe de Broca | writer | |
| Vittorio Caprioli | writer | |
| Jean-Paul Rappeneau | writer | |
| Francis Veber | uncredited | |
Produced by | |||
| Robert Amon | .... | associate producer | |
| Georges Dancigers | .... | producer | |
| Alexandre Mnouchkine | .... | producer | |
Original Music by | |||
| Claude Bolling | |||
Cinematography by | |||
| René Mathelin | |||
Film Editing by | |||
| Henri Lanoë | |||
Art Direction by | |||
| François de Lamothe | |||
Set Decoration by | |||
| Robert Christidès | |||
Makeup Department | |||
| Marc Blanchard | .... | key hair stylist | |
| Charly Koubesserian | .... | key makeup artist | |
Production Management | |||
| Alain Belmondo | .... | production manager | |
| Alain Pancrazi | .... | unit manager | |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director | |||
| Tony Aboyantz | .... | assistant director | |
| Claude Gorsky | .... | assistant director | |
| Jesús Marín | .... | assistant director | |
Art Department | |||
| Jacques Brizzio | .... | assistant decorator (as Jack Brizio) | |
| Pierre Duquesne | .... | assistant decorator | |
Sound Department | |||
| Jean Labussière | .... | sound engineer | |
| Jean Nény | .... | sound engineer | |
Special Effects by | |||
| Georges Iaconelli | .... | special effects | |
| León Ortega | .... | special effects | |
| André Pierdel | .... | special effects | |
Camera and Electrical Department | |||
| Philippe Bordas | .... | assistant camera | |
| Maurice Chapiron | .... | still photographer | |
| Jean-Paul Cornu | .... | assistant camera | |
| Jean-Paul Schwartz | .... | camera operator | |
Editorial Department | |||
| Monique André | .... | assistant editor | |
| Catherine Dubeau | .... | assistant editor | |
Other crew | |||
| René Chateau | .... | press attache | |
| Suzanne Durrenberger | .... | script supervisor | |
| Elisabeth Manet-Schwatz | .... | production secretary | |
| Janine Ruault | .... | administrator | |
| Armando Solís | .... | administrator | |
| Louis Trinoner | .... | administrator | |
| Georges Aminel | .... | voice dubbing: Karpof/Charron/Colonel Collins (uncredited) | |
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| Johnny English | Casino Royale | On Her Majesty's Secret Service | Spy Hard | Team America: World Police |
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Albanian agents are smuggling missile platforms into Mexico. An American agent is devoured by a shark in a phone booth. Superspy Bob St. Cloud is sent to Acapulco to investigate. There he meets the beautiful Tatiana, but their romance is interrupted when they are attacked by an army of Albanian scuba divers, armed with machine guns. In the middle of the carnage, a cleaning woman pushes a vacuum cleaner up the beach. She enters the door of a small beach house where...
In a shabby Parisian flat, Francois Merlin, writer of cheap fiction, is pounding out his forty-third spy novel. He sees a young sociology student through the window of a nearby flat. Though he's never met her, she becomes part of his novel.
From this beginning French director Philippe de Broca (King of Hearts) creates a bizarre comedy of frustrated desires and fantastic dreams. Like Walter Mitty, Merlin creates a fantasy life within his novels far more exciting than his own.
French film star Jean-Paul Belmondo shows great versatility in a duel role as the campy hero Bob St. Cloud and the burnt-out Francois Merlin. Jacqueline Bisset is the vampish spy, Tatiana, as well as Christine, the sociology student who studying the popular appeal of Merlin's escapist novels. Vittorio Caprioli also plays a dual role as Bob St. Cloud's arch-enemy, the evil Colonel Karpoff, and as Merlin's smarmy publisher Georges Charon.
De Broca is a master of light comedy and his film careens wildly through moments of high camp, pathos and outright slapstick, as the story switches back and forth between the fantasy of Merlin's novel to the reality of his own life. In the end Merlin must battle his own fictional alter ego, as well as his publisher, for the love of the fair Christine.