Up to His Ears (1965)

The farcical adventures of unhappy suicidal billionaire Arthur Lempereur.

Director:

Philippe de Broca

Writers:

Jules Verne (inspired by the book), Daniel Boulanger (scenario and dialogue)

Stars:

Jean-Paul Belmondo, Ursula Andress, Maria Pacôme

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jean-Paul Belmondo	...	Arthur Lempereur
Ursula Andress	...	Alexandrine Pinardel
Maria Pacôme	...	Suzy Ponchabert
Valérie Lagrange	...	Alice Ponchabert
Valéry Inkijinoff	...	Mr. Goh
Joe Saïd	...	Charlie Fallinster
Mario David	...	Roquentin
Paul Préboist	...	Cornac
Jess Hahn	...	Cornelius Ponchabert
Jean Rochefort	...	Leon
Darry Cowl	...	Biscoton

Storyline

Turbulent, fast-paced comedy adventure (one of the best of its time) about unhappy billionaire Belmondo, whose suicide attempts keep failing. When he hires some killers to do him in, he falls in love with beautiful Andress and wants to reverse the deal. Belmondo is ideally suited to this role, exotic locations and lots of stunts make this a joy to watch. A worthy companion piece to the Bond movies of that time.

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Plot Keywords:

attempted suicide | friendship between men | airplane crash | release from prison | low hangers | 

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Taglines:

That Man from Rio is UP the Himalayas... UP the Yang-tze... UP in a balloon... UP-stage with a stripper... UP-town in Hong Kong... You can't keep a great adventurer DOWN

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Genres:

Comedy | Adventure

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French

Release Date:

4 December 1965 (France)

Also Known As:

Up to His Ears

Filming Locations:

Langkawi Island, Malaysia

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films Ariane,Les Productions Artistes Associés,Vides Cinematografica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Nearly the whole film was shot locally on site. Only three or four unimportant scenes were made in the studio. This means three or four minutes of a total time of two hours. The rest are exterior shots.

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Goofs

Before meeting of Alexandrine, Arthur fells to a water, is dragged through a steamer's chimney, and covered with flour, yet minutes after he is clean and neat.

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Connections

Referenced in Vente a ligar al Oeste (1972)

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Soundtracks

Thème Des Tribulations D'un Chinois En Chine
Written and Performed by Georges Delerue Et Son Orchestre

User Reviews

dated, not worth your time, exc. for film historians

Mostly inane, disjointed production, not worth your time, except if you wish to see what in the mid-60s did inspire George Lucas and Spielberg at the inception of Indiana Jones. Dated, at best. Yes, it is filmed on location; yes, it might be a spoof of the then-budding Bond movies; yes, it is a tad above the weak French action movies of that time (as opposed to the French films noirs of the 50s, which were excellent) but thisis plodding at best, if not outright boring. Despite Andress' charm (and certainly not her "acting"!), and some stage presence by Belmondo,skip this one (unless you are a film or pop culture historian, with minute archival interests). See "The Man from Rio" instead; althoughit, too, is dated it moves much more smoothly and shows what made Belmondo famous (and also offers on-location shooting). Even with its film history relevance, a 3 out of 10 is still generous.