Le magnifique (1973)

Director:

Philippe de Broca

Writers:

Philippe de Broca (writer)
Vittorio Caprioli (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

23 November 1973 (France)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Fantasy | Romance

Plot:

Francois Merlin is an espionnage-book writer. He likes to mix every-day character he can met in his book...

Plot Keywords:

Writer | Terrorism | Exploding Head | Spy Hero | Spy

Cast

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)

Production Companies

• Les Films Ariane (Paris)
• Mondex Films (Paris)
• Cerito Films (Paris)
• Oceania Produzioni Internazionali Cinematografiche (Rome) (as Oceania Films S.p.a.)
• Rizzoli Film (Rome) (as Rizzoli Film S.p.a)

Distributors

• G.E.F. (1973) (France) (theatrical) (as G.E.F./C.C.F.C.)
• Compagnie Commerciale Française Cinématographique (CCFC) (1973) (France) (theatrical) (as G.E.F./C.C.F.C.)
• Rizzoli Film (1973) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Studio Canal (2000) (France) (DVD)
• Cine III (1976) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)

Also Known As:

Come si distrugge la reputazione del più grande agente segreto del mondo (Italy)
How to Destroy the Reputation of the Greatest Secret Agent... (UK)
The Magnificient Secret Agent (Philippines: English title)

Runtime:

95 min | France:93 min | Germany:94 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

Albanian | French | English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:16 | Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

17 Rue des Tournelles, Paris 4, Paris, France

Company:

Les Films Ariane

Trivia:

7th highest grossing movie in France for its year.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In Tatiana's bungalow, Bob Sinclar watches a movie screen displaying the shark attack of the opening scene. The cigarette smoke disappears behind the screen, showing that the film with the shark was added after the scene was shot.

Quotes:

Bob Saint-Clair: Ah, betrayed!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Cucurrucucu Paloma

This film careens wildly through moments of high camp, pathos and outright slapstick

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.